9 Levels of Project Management

Level 1 - Communication

Organize a recurring meeting with the involved parties to talk about the project.? Take & share notes on who’s doing what.? Between these meetings, follow-up with the different team members to talk about how it’s going if they need any help. Communicate with other project stakeholders.?

Level 2 - Basic Structure

Level 1, plus… Mature the meeting so the previous-meeting’s commitments are discussed and people are accountable.? Also, formally go “around the room” to ensure that everyone gets a chance to talk.

Level 3 - Planning

Level 2, plus… Organize the team’s commitments around deadlines into a project schedule. This plan becomes a regular part of project discussions. In time, the “critical path” is identified as the most crucial part? of the plan.

Level 4 - Risk

Level 3, plus… Work with the team to identify how the plan could fail - create a list of risks to manage.

Level 5 - Vision

Level 4, plus… Use the critical path and Risk Register to drive team discussions. Publish an agenda. Focus team on the 20% of issues that will drive 80% of project success.? Visualize this data and communicate a path to success to the team & to outside Stakeholders.

Level 6 - Coach

Level 5, plus… Be a trusted mentor or coach to your team members so they start to develop their own vision and feel empowered. Encourage team members to fix problems between themselves without your involvement. Mediate disputes when necessary.??

Level 7 - Adapt

Level 6, plus… Realize that project plans never come together perfectly, new risks always emerge, assumptions are usually wrong, and change is the rule, not the exception. Thus, you need new tools and processes to lead that don’t depend on things going according to plan.? Develop Values & Principles that embrace change and fuel team effectiveness on the essential priorities.

Level 8 - Scale

Level 7, plus… Extend the tools, Value, and Principles up to portfolio-level and down to issue-level. Think in fractals, where themes are the same even if at different levels.?

Level 9 - Simplify

Level 8, plus… Realize that complexity is the enemy of success. Strip out whatever is not essential, even if it involves returning to Level 1.