{"id":311,"date":"2012-07-23T15:47:57","date_gmt":"2012-07-23T15:47:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.actuationconsultingllc.com\/blog\/?p=311"},"modified":"2014-08-17T16:33:58","modified_gmt":"2014-08-17T16:33:58","slug":"project-management-science-101-4-tips-to-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/actuationconsulting.com\/project-management-science-101-4-tips-to-success\/","title":{"rendered":"The Science of Project Management: 4 Tips to Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why do we think that what worked on our last project will work on our current one?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the definition of a project revolves around it being unique, why do we try to standardize our approach so much? Checklists, templates, a PMO mantra of \u201cthis is how you should do project management\u201d isn’t necessarily well received, especially during the early stages of product development.<\/p>\n

Think about it – we approach a project with a bunch of standardized, project management lingo, asking a bunch of questions and it’s no wonder that, out of all the stages of product development, Conceive is where we find the role of the project manager the most underutilized. It\u2019s as if our friends in product management want nothing to do with us. And because there is so much unknown during Conceive, we can quickly fall into the trap of thinking they\u2019re right – there\u2019s not a lot for us to do here – and be resigned to waiting until requirements are further along.<\/p>\n

Product managers, on the other hand, often view themselves \u00a0as solely responsible for figuring out all the answers\u00a0during Conceive<\/span>. This perspective can lead to a lot of\u00a0unnecessary\u00a0pressure.<\/p>\n

Having project managers asking a lot of questions can be viewed by the product manager as challenging their capabilities, authority, or performance.\u00a0We, project managers, often have a long list of questions. \u201cSo how are you going to go about figuring it out? What steps are you going to take? How long is it going to take you? Are you dependent on anyone or anything else to complete your tasks?\u201d These are the typical questions we would probably start to ask – right?<\/p>\n

In our mind completely harmless; in their minds, somewhat challenging. Product managers can become defensive and respond with statements like \u201cthere\u2019s lots going on here!” Trying to figure early stage product development activities out isn\u2019t necessarily a task by task process. Innovation isn’t something that can simply be put into MS Project. We’re going to be involved with market research and customer surveys figuring out our strategy for where we’re taking this product. A lot is going to change and be in flux over the course of this stage. Managing a task by task schedule won\u2019t make sense.<\/p>\n

So what do we do?<\/em> How can we help, if no one is willing to talk to us? Perhaps it\u2019s time to change our approach.<\/p>\n

My background is in science. I was raised as a scientist long before I ever became a project manager. So, my perspective of the Conceive stage of product development is a bit different. To me, Conceive looks like this:<\/p>\n