Читать книгу Project Management For Dummies - Stanley E. Portny - Страница 33

Be prepared for other people to fight your attempts to use proven project management approaches. Take it from me: You need to be prepared for everything! The following list provides a few examples of excuses you may encounter as a project manager and appropriate responses you can give:

 Excuse: Our projects are all crises; we have no time to plan.Response: Unfortunately for the excuse giver, this logic is illogical! In a crisis, you have limited time and resources to address the critical issues, and you definitely can’t afford to make mistakes. Because acting under pressure and emotion (two key characteristics of crises) practically guarantees that mistakes will occur, you can’t afford not to plan.

 Excuse: Structured project management is only for large projects.Response: No matter what size the project is, the information you need to perform it is the same. What are the end goals? What do you need to produce? What work has to be done? Who’s going to do that work? When will the work end? Have you met expectations?Large projects may require many weeks or months to develop satisfactory answers to these questions. Small projects that last a few days or less may take only 15 minutes, but either way, you still have to answer the questions.

 Excuse: These projects require creativity and new development. They can’t be predicted with any certainty.Response: It’s true that some projects are more predictable than others; however, people awaiting the outcomes of any project still have expectations for what they’ll get and when. Therefore, a project with many uncertainties needs a manager to develop and share initial plans and then to assess and communicate the effects of unexpected occurrences.

 Excuse: As long as everyone does their job, we don’t need any formal planning.Response: Everyone involved in any project needs to understand their goals, their deliverables, on whom they must depend, and any potential conflicts that could block a successful outcome. Formally and holistically planning the project up front will help to ensure project goals, deliverables, and expectations are consistent and understood by all.

Even if you don’t encounter these specific excuses, you can adapt the response examples we provide here to address your own situations.