Article #1 – The two most common organizational mistakes as they relate to project and program management.

This is the first of two articles, with this article focusing on the two most common mistakes that companies can make when it comes to project and program management.  As a note here, while different, this article uses project and program management interchangeably as they are both affected the same way.

The impact of the following errors in judgement is so great that if these two common mistakes aren’t resolved, then the other factors listed above will be minimized to a much greater extent.  Additionally, no matter how strong the PM team may be, if both errors are made, they will have a direct impact on the effectiveness of the PM function, up to and including the removal of the project management team altogether.  The irony is that the company will blame project management, even though the failure of the PM function was most likely a direct result of hiring the wrong people, and/or the fact that organizational leadership placed the management of the PM function under the wrong department.

To start with, the reason why program management is such a powerful asset to any organization, is the fact that PMs touch so much of an organization.  How many roles within a company touch almost every aspect of a company?  Maybe the general manager, and the company janitors, but that is most likely it, other than project management.  Sure, other people within the company may talk to various entities in the company, but on a regular work-related basis, likely not.

It is for this very reason why project management is such an important role.  If this role is utilized correctly, the PM will connect with finance, planning, procurement, scheduling, manufacturing, operations, sales, the production floor, development and test, engineering and software, quality and any other area that is not listed here.

With this point in mind, we will address the two biggest mistakes that a company can make when it comes to implementing an effective project management team.  What I am about to say will be extremely controversial to some, especially to those who don’t understand the importance of project management, but the #1 mistake companies make is hiring technical experience over project management experience.

I see and hear about this over and over again.  Unfortunately, the biggest culprits of carrying on this fallacy are senior management and Human Resources.  It normally comes in the vein of the recruiter asking the potential candidate, do you have any experience in this industry?  Yes/No?  If the answer is no, then the recruiter says, sorry, but you aren’t hired.  This is the case, even if you have 15 years of project management experience under your belt.  Crazy, but this is a common reality.

The issue with this mistake is that HR is hiring based upon a check box, rather than truly understanding what project management brings to the table.  It is a simple, but important mistake from an HR perspective, and from the hiring manager’s perspective as well.  People don’t realize that the project manager’s role is not getting into the details of the technology.  It is getting the very best out of a project team, where the PM has no authority over the team that they are managing.

Note: Unless a PM has direct reports, they do not have any authority.

Industry experience has almost no value when it comes to this key aspect of project management.  It is also why, as a PM, you can easily move between industries and companies, as this skill set works in every environment.  I know, because I have applied these same principles in the military, defense, space, aerospace, industrial, energy, and education industries.  If you ask me the following questions, I’ll give you the following responses.

1)      Do I manage programs differently in each company?  No.  There are different tools and processes potentially, but the basics are all the same from a project management perspective.

2)      Is the industry different?  Yes.

3)      Was the lack of industry knowledge impactful?  No, in fact it was a benefit.

4)      How was it as benefit?  Because I look at things differently as a PM.  What people in the company see as the way we have always done it, I see what is broken or inefficient, and what is impacting each program.  Industry knowledge has nothing to do with any of this, while project management experience does.

If you ask HR though, normally this incorrect need for industry experience is completely missed, likely not because of them so much, as it is the hiring manager who also doesn’t understand this important detail.

I have no technical degree, and yet I have managed a number of turnaround cutting edge technology programs of very large dollar values where my predecessors were technical PMs.  Why was I successful, and they were not?  For the same reasons that I have listed above.  Also, the #1 mistake that these PMs would make, was relying on their technical background to resolve issues that they technically understood.  But that isn’t our role as PMs, and because of this mistake, too often they missed other parts of the project having major issues at the same time.

Note: The PM role is a leadership role, not a technical role.

This focus on technical and industrial knowledge above project management knowledge, is even more impactful when organizational management, also has the incorrect understanding of what they think the PM role should entail.  If management does not understand the importance of the project management role, then they too are helping to continue this error in foresight.  You can often tell this mistake by the fact that the person in the PM role is completely out of their depth.  While management may not see it, the rest of the organization will, and as such the organizational leadership are setting the PM and their organization up for eventual failure.

The bottom-line fix is hiring experienced project managers over industry knowledgeable project managers.  Hire the experience, and your company will reap the benefits.  Hire someone without project management experience, and don’t be surprised if your projects continue to struggle.

Mistake #2 can be a bigger mistake than mistake #1, in that companies are starting to place project management under sales.  Why?  Because of comments such as, “this was how it was done in my last organization.”  This is a major fallacy in logic, as sales is inherently the opposite of program management.

Sales quite often will work to cut the cost of a project to make a deal with the customer.  Project management on the other hand, when given the opportunity, will plan their projects based on realism, and what it will truly take to manage the project.

Note: Project management planning involves taking into account the realities of the customer, the team involved and the organizational culture.  For instance, if the company regularly lays people off, you will not have a high performing organization.  If this is the case, then there is no way for the project to be completed in a highly efficient manner, because people are more worried about their jobs, than they are on the project that they are working on.

These two roles are direct opposites in most cases.  In fact, in my 25+ years in program management, rarely have the sales team’s submittal and the project team’s proposal looked the same or similar.

This basic premise alone highlights the conflict of combining these two roles together under the same umbrella.  The fix is simple.  Place program and project management under its own department, and have it report up through the general manager.  Then, do the same thing for the sales team.  This way there is no conflict of interest, and you as an organization are more likely to see the benefits of this decision.  Leave project management under sales and don’t be surprised if projects don’t improve.

If you have resolved these mistakes within your own organization, then the next article will address strategic planning, risk mitigation, stakeholder management, and the implementation of effective change control.