Money Doesn’t Do the Work

Do you work in an organization where budget is king? Where financial management rules??Was your project approved after its budget was approved, or after the resource demands of the project were assessed against your organization’s resource capacity?

A big budget does not guarantee project success.

Have you ever chatted with a person that shares a really great idea, and then asks you how much you think it will cost to implement their idea? Treat this high-level discussion as an opportunity and a starting point! Give a number. Chances are, the person with the idea will look astonished and ask you how you came up with that number. Your response could be to simply note that the number is based on all of your experience and knowledge applied in the context of the information shared with you. Or any other similar statement that makes it clear that your number’s accuracy is commensurate with the level of detail provided. (This is especially important if your organization’s culture suggests a number is written in stone when it is first communicated.)

Continue the discussion. Ask the person what they think it will cost, and how they came to their number. They will likely reveal some key information about their idea that will help you refine your estimate, and away you go.

Perhaps you came by your budget request by completing your project office’s business case template, and included a budget range based on more detailed information. Good for the project office, because this process helps the organization contain the effort necessary to determine if the idea is worth pursuing.

Here's the critical part: determine who is going to perform the work. Who will structure and plan the project, create the project dashboard, define the result, manage the project(s) that deliver the result, and perform all the roles necessary to transform the idea into the result? Do you need junior or senior level people? Does it make sense to have more than one person in a role? Do you need any subject matter experts? Does the strategy require acquisition, or does the organization already have the capabilities, people, processes and technology it needs?

Answer those questions and you’re ready to transform that shopping list of logical resources into real human beings that will form the team contributing to the success of your project. This is where the magic happens. Put one name next to each logical resource. Who has the most passion for your strategy? Who will feel challenged and rewarded by the road ahead? Are they available? Head counts provide a clue, but are removed from skill set or ability to contribute. Availability is not a skill, yet your project will crumble if the resources you need aren’t available when you need them.

If your organization is on the sophisticated side, a single resource pool accessible to all project managers exists as maintained by the Human Resources department. If the resource information contains role or skill information in addition to names and organizational titles, you are in bonus territory.

Money is definitely one, but not all, of the resources you’ll need to be successful. Avoid the temptation to launch your project before you know how well the required resource capacity aligns with that budget.?

Want to elevate your project management game, learn why I knew I wanted to be a project manager in 8th grade, or meet over coffee? Need a 30-minute free consultation on whatever ails your project??Schedule time with me!

Jan Schiller, ex-PMP, PSM1, FLMI, is a partner with?Berkshire Consulting, LLC. She specializes in revealing the path from where an organization is to where they want to be. Jan delights clients by transforming strategy into results with project management in the financial services, investment, health, beverage, learning management, wholesale printing and life sciences industries. She has helped her clients with the adoption of project management best practices; streamlining business processes; complying with regulations; achieving competitive advantage, innovating effectively, getting things done despite turbulent times, creating a fantastic customer experience, migrating to an industry-standard platform, maximizing productivity, and wrangling projects. In addition to being quoted in?PMNetwork Magazine, she's also discussed how to develop a PMO Project's scope statement on?Phoenix Business RadioX?and contributed to?PMWorld360's digital project management magazine.

? Jan Schiller All rights reserved.