Managing Project on Purpose !!

A Project is defined as a sequence of unique, complex, and connected activities having a Goal that must be finished by few resource in specific time, within budget and according to specification. Business growth across domains depends on some successful effective project management. But few uncertain situation or may be inaccurate calculation dampen innovation and inhibit success. Organizations put their power behind professionals with a versatile skill set who can manage change and achieve project goals on time and within budgets.?A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which reviewed 10,640 projects from 200 companies in 30 countries and across various industries, found that only 2.5% of the companies successfully completed 100% of their projects. Projects fails as they focus on implementing rigid processes and rational components of the project managements. Human side or the emotional side are mostly ignored which impacts projects success in a huge way. Even in Project management as per PMBOK it focus on human hours and is limited to rational factors like planning and controlling . If there is no connection in terms of common Purpose for each individual and just focusing on rational factors and looking for human hours totally ignore the power of human connection and engagement.

What is Project Management on Purpose ?

Purposeful Project management is defined as sequence of activities with PROJECT PURPOSE sitting at the core managed by people with synergy, aligned and envision together to move towards ORGANIZATION PURPOSE.?The Goal is of course to finish the project in specific time, within budget but with a focus on human connection and synergy. This is due to alignment of Project purpose and strategy with their individual Purpose. The choice of human resource should not be only on the basis of manhour but also on the basis of Purpose. There should also be frequent connection between executive team and Project team to have alignment between strategic goals and tactical implementation.

There are 5 phases of Project management as developed by?Project Management Institute (PMI)?which includes?Conception and initiation, Planning, Execution, Performance/Monitoring, and Project close. In purposeful project management, the purpose is at the core and acts as filter at every stage while making any decision. Let’s Understand each phase of Project management and how to manage each phase Purposefully.

1. Project Initiation?– This Phase is mainly to Define the Goal of the Project at a broader level and begin with Business Case. Project Feasibility is to be researched and Stakeholders decide about Go and No-go of the project.

In Purposeful Project during this phase, Purpose acts as strong filter to understand if the change associated with project will contribute towards the Organization Purpose. The Goal of the Project should be aligned to Organizational Purpose. Also the Go and No-Go decision should consider Purpose as filter.

1. Project Planning?– This Phase typically begins with setting Goals and focusses on developing roadmap for others to follow. During this phase also the scope of project is defined and project plan is developed which establishes baseline performance measures. Roles and responsibilities are defined clearly.?Only 55% of people involved in projects – team leaders and project managers – feel that the project’s business objectives are clear to them.

In Purposeful Project during this phase the Purpose of Project should be defined and ensured it is aligned to Organization Purpose and strategy. Project should also define what Objective of Organizational Purpose will be covered under the project.

1. Project Execution?– This is one of the most important and contains the main meat of the project where many things are happening simultaneously. Most important things which happens in this phase are Resource allocation, Project execution, Task assignments, Project scheduling, KPI’s, Project tracking and modification in case required.

In Purposeful project management, one of the most important step would be hire and allocating project members who are inspired and aligned with purpose of the project to have maximum impact and productivity. This is the Phase where mostly projects get deviated from Organization Purpose so Project manager should ensure the alignment and avoid any tradeoff which can compromise Organization Purpose. Also defining KPI’s and Metrics which determines movement towards Project and Organizational Purpose

1. Project Monitoring?– This Phase is all about project progress and Performance of the Project and it ensures everything is happening as per the project management plan. KPI’s defined are used to track the progress of the project . During this time Project managers also needs to adjust and manage schedules and resources to keep the project on track.

In Purposeful project management it is important to understand engagement level of the team members to reaffirm if everyone is inspired with the Purpose of the project. If required reallocation can be done to people who are more aligned. Project manager also needs to monitor that every decision should keep Purpose at its core. It is very important to celebrate every small progress highlighting its contribution in journey towards the Purpose of the Organization.?Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer’s new stream of?research, based on more than 12,000 diary entries logged by knowledge workers over three years, discovered progress influences more positive emotions

1. Project Closure?– This phase is closure step as the name suggests where all the resources allocated are released . Success and Value is highlighted and recognized. Project manager also in some cases organize a meeting which is Postmortem to brainstorm what went well and what was the learning in the project which may help further. Project report is made by Project manager to be submitted .

In Purposeful project management it is important to highlight wins and progress in terms of step towards Purpose of the organization. Project manager should highlight contribution of each members in terms of Purpose of Organization as it connects people with Organization and thus improves engagement level. The learning and challenges needs to be highlighted to organization for future references.

Project management is one of the most growing area in todays time as it was not recognized before as distinct occupation. It has a great framework which has power to achieve goals aspired by any organization but just due to misalignment with Purpose of Organization and focusing mainly on rational factors contributing to huge amount of project failures. Identifying Purpose of the Project and managing the project with alignment between Organization, Project and Resources may be a powerful approach to achieve the Purpose and thus has potential to exponentially enhance the impact for a better world.