Question: How do you eat an elephant?
Answer: One bite at a time
When I heard that CustomRetailer wanted me to focus on the topic of project management, I must admit a little smile crossed my lips. I couldn’t help but think of that old joke, “How do you eat an elephant…?”
Project management is tough. Sometimes just approaching a big project feels like eating an elephant. Where do you begin? Will you ever finish? It can be overwhelming.
Project management is also a subject that I’ve studied quite a bit. While I grew up through the ranks of sales and marketing, I frequently found myself drawn to project management and product development. The first project I ran was a cross-functional product development project that led to the creation of the IntelliPad. Project management became a fascinating challenge, and I studied a number of great books on the subject.
One of the key things I learned is that any project can and should be broken down into more manageable parts—and those parts generally come in six stages. Follow these six stages, and I guarantee your chances of a successful project outcome will increase dramatically.
Strategy
While technically not part of a project, understanding where a project fits within your overall business strategy is crucial. Let’s say for example, your strategy is mid-level installs that enable your crew to be in and out quickly and your cash flow to be steady. You’ve structured your business processes and your staff around this strategy, and it’s something you know you can execute. Along comes a mega-project and it’s tempting. But if you carefully consider the project against your overarching business strategy, you’ll come to the conclusion that it just doesn’t fit. Therefore, the first stage of any project is strategic. Make sure you don’t take on just any project. “If it doesn’t fit—just quit.”
Concept
The concept phase can also be thought of as the planning phase. Once you’ve leaped the strategy hurdle and you know the project makes sense in the context of your overall business strategy, this is where you begin.
What kinds of things get done in the concept phase? Simple. Performance, cost and schedule issues. This is where you decide the scope of the project, compare design alternatives, budget manpower, set roles and responsibilities, define tasks and timelines, and generally, plan, plan, plan! It is usually said that the concept phase takes up as much as 25 percent of the schedule. That may seem like a lot, but errors at this stage are relatively cheap to fix. Get it wrong here and things can really spiral out of control later. When you’re done with the concept phase, you should have a nicely detailed “roadmap” or “vision” of the project.
Detailed Design
Once you’ve worked out the planning and you know who will do what, when and how much it will cost, it’s time to move on to detailed design work. Blueprints, fixtures, software—it’s all developed here. If you’ve done a good job in the concept phase, the design phase goes smoothly. If you haven’t, you may find things begin to get out of control here. Be careful. It’s easy to create a “trout with feathers” (i.e., something that neither swims nor flies). If that appears to be the case, STOP. Go back to the concept phase and start over. Once you’re committed to a detailed design, changes can get expensive quickly.
Verification & Testing
We start this phase with something called a “Chicken Test.” It’s a simple test of the core intention of the project. The name comes from the practice of shooting chickens into jet engines. If the engine stalls, the test is a failure and it’s back to the drawing board. Develop your own “chicken test” to make sure your design meets your “vision.” If it doesn’t, go back to the design phase and try again. If it does, keep on testing to make sure that you’ve got the details right. When you do, it’s time to move on to the next phase.
Production or Implementation
If you’ve done a good job in the concept, design and test phases, the implementation phase goes smoothly. In product development, this phase is the initial production. In installation, it’s the trim out. Whatever your project, this is where you find out how well you did in the previous phases. Unfortunately, changes at this stage are very expensive and potentially disastrous. As the old carpenters’ saying goes, “Measure twice, cut once.” You’ll quickly find out how well you measured.
Learning & Feedback
The last stage of any project is the learning stage. Whether the project went well or poorly, it’s vitally important to conduct a “post-
mortem.” This is where you document all the things that went well and all the things that didn’t. If you do a good job here, your next project will go that much more smoothly. If you don’t, you’re doomed to repeat your mistakes. Often this phase is skipped as unnecessary. DON’T SKIP IT. Learnings here can make all the difference in your future success or failure in managing projects.
When you practice project management by the numbers, even the biggest projects are easily digested! CR
Answer: One bite at a time
When I heard that CustomRetailer wanted me to focus on the topic of project management, I must admit a little smile crossed my lips. I couldn’t help but think of that old joke, “How do you eat an elephant…?”
Project management is tough. Sometimes just approaching a big project feels like eating an elephant. Where do you begin? Will you ever finish? It can be overwhelming.
Project management is also a subject that I’ve studied quite a bit. While I grew up through the ranks of sales and marketing, I frequently found myself drawn to project management and product development. The first project I ran was a cross-functional product development project that led to the creation of the IntelliPad. Project management became a fascinating challenge, and I studied a number of great books on the subject.
One of the key things I learned is that any project can and should be broken down into more manageable parts—and those parts generally come in six stages. Follow these six stages, and I guarantee your chances of a successful project outcome will increase dramatically.
Strategy
While technically not part of a project, understanding where a project fits within your overall business strategy is crucial. Let’s say for example, your strategy is mid-level installs that enable your crew to be in and out quickly and your cash flow to be steady. You’ve structured your business processes and your staff around this strategy, and it’s something you know you can execute. Along comes a mega-project and it’s tempting. But if you carefully consider the project against your overarching business strategy, you’ll come to the conclusion that it just doesn’t fit. Therefore, the first stage of any project is strategic. Make sure you don’t take on just any project. “If it doesn’t fit—just quit.”
Concept
The concept phase can also be thought of as the planning phase. Once you’ve leaped the strategy hurdle and you know the project makes sense in the context of your overall business strategy, this is where you begin.
What kinds of things get done in the concept phase? Simple. Performance, cost and schedule issues. This is where you decide the scope of the project, compare design alternatives, budget manpower, set roles and responsibilities, define tasks and timelines, and generally, plan, plan, plan! It is usually said that the concept phase takes up as much as 25 percent of the schedule. That may seem like a lot, but errors at this stage are relatively cheap to fix. Get it wrong here and things can really spiral out of control later. When you’re done with the concept phase, you should have a nicely detailed “roadmap” or “vision” of the project.
Detailed Design
Once you’ve worked out the planning and you know who will do what, when and how much it will cost, it’s time to move on to detailed design work. Blueprints, fixtures, software—it’s all developed here. If you’ve done a good job in the concept phase, the design phase goes smoothly. If you haven’t, you may find things begin to get out of control here. Be careful. It’s easy to create a “trout with feathers” (i.e., something that neither swims nor flies). If that appears to be the case, STOP. Go back to the concept phase and start over. Once you’re committed to a detailed design, changes can get expensive quickly.
Verification & Testing
We start this phase with something called a “Chicken Test.” It’s a simple test of the core intention of the project. The name comes from the practice of shooting chickens into jet engines. If the engine stalls, the test is a failure and it’s back to the drawing board. Develop your own “chicken test” to make sure your design meets your “vision.” If it doesn’t, go back to the design phase and try again. If it does, keep on testing to make sure that you’ve got the details right. When you do, it’s time to move on to the next phase.
Production or Implementation
If you’ve done a good job in the concept, design and test phases, the implementation phase goes smoothly. In product development, this phase is the initial production. In installation, it’s the trim out. Whatever your project, this is where you find out how well you did in the previous phases. Unfortunately, changes at this stage are very expensive and potentially disastrous. As the old carpenters’ saying goes, “Measure twice, cut once.” You’ll quickly find out how well you measured.
Learning & Feedback
The last stage of any project is the learning stage. Whether the project went well or poorly, it’s vitally important to conduct a “post-
mortem.” This is where you document all the things that went well and all the things that didn’t. If you do a good job here, your next project will go that much more smoothly. If you don’t, you’re doomed to repeat your mistakes. Often this phase is skipped as unnecessary. DON’T SKIP IT. Learnings here can make all the difference in your future success or failure in managing projects.
When you practice project management by the numbers, even the biggest projects are easily digested! CR
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