The Cost of Tactical Project Management: And the Opportunity of Strategic Project Leadership BRIEF Demands facing executive ranks are many: top- and bottom-line results, innovation, global supply chain, regulation, talent shortages, and mergers and acquisitions, among them. Yet, even as these dynamics dominate attention, business-unit leaders and the C-suite seek greater operational excellence and execution traction in everyday work represented in portfolios of projects, accomplished by cross-functional teams. Achieving successful results demands that these projects be tied to business strategy and goals, then delivered efficiently, effectively, and predictably. Consequently, project management is fast becoming a strategic focal point for operational excellence in many organizations. The shift is significant and, for many, still a work in progress. Many of today s project managers are cross-functional strategic assets, creating centers of excellence from first or second generation project management offices (PMOs). But the tactical and task-oriented detail of project management is still critical to success. So project management professionals and their practices are being stretched and tested. Project managers are raising their technical skills, building their business acumen and soft-skill repertoires, and broadening their range of experience. Many factors are flipping the switch for those organizations and business unit leaders who recognize the strategic value of project management and invest in PMOs, connecting their work to strategy and organizational objectives. This brief explores the factors recalibrating the perception of project management from two viewpoints: The limitations of tactical project management The opportunity of strategic project leadership 1
The Limitations of Tactical Project Management The history of business progress and achievement can be mapped to advancements in project management. Although project management tools and tactics were in use for centuries on large-scale initiatives bridges, railroads, utilities, and telecommunications networks among them modern project management roots date to the mid-1900s. Project management techniques played critical roles in the combined industrygovernment-academic efforts behind the Manhattan Project, the Navy s Polaris Project, NASA s Apollo and Challenger projects, developments associated with ARPAnet and the Internet and World Wide Web that emerged from it. Ironically, those roots in government and information technology constrained project management s early growth and application, tying it to information technology and government contracting. This still holds true for many businesses. The view of project management as a tactical discipline further limits its positive impact on business organizations. If senior executives view it as nonessential or overhead, or are not convinced of its value and benefits, it can be cut in times of business uncertainty. Instead of looking to project management to help lead the way forward, some organizations silo project and quality management resources in standalone departments with minimal budgets. There are risks to this tactical perception of project management. It ignores the reality that today s work is accomplished through a series of business initiatives brought to life as projects with disciplined planning, processes, and execution, regardless of scope or organizational size. This sub-optimizes the proven techniques, capabilities, and expertise of strategic project leadership at a time when heightened competition, globalization, and the need for speed make those techniques paramount. Here is a scenario possibly all-too-familiar to help surface the characteristics of tactical project management and its negative consequences. Company A green-lights the business case for a new project, and assigns the project manager. The project manager gets right to work, and she focuses heads-down on her process, taking and responding to multiple stakeholders orders. 2
It is difficult, but she works intensely and draws deeply on these important, well-honed technical project management skills: Technical Skills Communication Scheduling and time management Budget management and cost control Dependency and contingency planning Quality management Risk management Task management Meeting management Documentation management and control If that s all the project manager brings to her initiative, such tactical project management can limit impact and results by: Dwelling on project outputs, rather than business outcomes Failing to recognize critical ties to business values Focusing great project management talent and valued skills on the wrong initiatives Potentially wasting effort and resources Liming operational impact Never contributing to operational excellence or business strategy These limitations serve to further perpetuate senior management s tactical view, so they miss the opportunity use strategic project leadership to accelerate goal achievement across the business in engineering, R&D, manufacturing, marketing, etc. Making the Move from Tactical to Strategic In an increasing number of organizations, however, the shift has started from purely tactical project management to strategic project leadership. 3
What has made the difference? In some cases, structure and experience drive the shift. Companies with experienced, strategic project leaders report into the C-suite in a collaboration characterized by trust and mutual respect, and work in an environment where the C-suite tends to rely on them to accomplish big-picture initiatives. In other settings, project management professionals (and PMOs) have evolved in their strategic reach and impact because they ve invested time and dollars, not only in fine-turning technical skills, but also building their increasingly important relational skill set. Relational Skills Business acumen Change management Collaboration and teamwork Communicating with influence Cross-cultural openness Emotional intelligence Negotiation Problem-solving Strategic decision-making With this proficiency and experience comes heightened responsibilities, accountabilities, and visibility in mission-critical efforts. Whether through top-level leadership and structural alignment, or through project management and leadership skills development, the shift from tactical to strategic project leadership is also a shift to partnerships that move the business and its strategies forward. 4
Pursuing the Strategic Project Leadership Opportunity Now let s revisit the above scenario from the viewpoint of an organization that fully embraces strategic project leadership. In this firm, project management has grown and evolved. Business leaders hold project leadership accountable for major organizational initiatives. Project leaders are in demand because they understand, and effectively act on, business priorities. They have learned and apply the growing relational toolkit capabilities that are in demand throughout the organization. Here are what strategic project leaders are doing to move the business and themselves ahead: Making clear connections between business strategy and desired business outcomes and defining project outputs that lead to operational improvements Using project management as an iterative, respected partnership process by creating dialogue among stakeholders Actively aligning project management with key business strategies and priorities to deliver more predictable, cost-effective, and accelerated results Adapting to business needs and opportunities, and even leading teams to navigate those evolutions Upskilling individuals in technical project management expertise, crossfunctional business experience and relational skills Prompting business leaders to increase investment in project management to improve teamwork, engagement and integration, and nurture a culture of execution excellence The Challenge and Opportunity of Strategic Project Leadership To gain greater efficiency out of every facet of the organization, businessunit leaders are taking a fresh look at project management and teamwork. Increasingly, they see strategic project leaders as a competitive weapon. Capitalizing on the opportunity of strategic project leadership requires changes in mindset as well as operations. For senior leaders, the shift is being driven by project leaders who deliver strategically significant initiatives. For project leaders, the focus is performance improvement. Strategic project leadership is raising the role of the project manager to that of a change agent, advancing the organization s short- and long-term strategic priorities and business outcomes. 5