Prioritizaton and the "Drive-By" Project

There always seems to be a lot more to do than there is ever time to do it.



Keeping people busy doesn't seem to be a problem for most organizations, the issue for businesses trying to remain profitable in tough economic times is keeping people busy doing the right things. For those with a lot of project based work, the need to prioritize initiatives and spend resources working on the right projects is critical.



I don't think it's a matter of prioritizing the good projects from the bad projects. I think the issue is choosing the best projects, the ones that will provide the most business value—that is the challenge. In a perfect world there are a lot of very worthy initiatives that could, and maybe even should, be worked on. But we don't live in a perfect world.



I think that's why the "get'er done" or "drive-by" project is such a problem. Those projects may be worthy, but if they don't measure up to the "does this provide the most value" test, they ultimately limit an organization's capacity to work on the things that do. Which negatively impacts productivity and ultimately profitability.



I've noticed, that in theory, everyone agrees with this concept. Practice is another matter. In the heat of battle it's difficult for decision-makers to step back and ask the question, "Will this 'drive-by' project provide enough value that Johnson should drop what he or she's doing to work on it?" Sometimes the answer is definitely yes, but there are probably times that the answer should be "no."



Simply stated, the idea behind portfolio management revolves around identifying projects that meet certain criteria (goals and objectives), creating a detailed plan, and then executing on that plan. Project management software does a pretty good job of helping do that. However, ask yourself, "How does my work management methodology and project software address the 'drive-by' tasks and projects that come up every day?" You know, those tasks that never get plugged in to the Gantt chart.



It doesn't have to be a catastrophic failure that causes an organization to falter. Sometimes it's the accumulated weight of a thousand insignificant inefficiencies that cause the most damage. How does your project management software help your organization deal with the 'drive-by" project? I'd love to learn about what you are doing to solve this issue in your organization.



Automatic Project Status Updates: What is an Hour Worth?



How much is an hour really worth?



For most organizations, the value of an hour is pretty significant. Let me explain.



As I've said before, sometimes small incremental efficiency improvements can create exponential gains in productivity and cost savings. Let's consider a case in point:



Let's consider an employee who earns $50,000 per year. If we don't include benefits, etc., that hour is worth roughly $25. What is the value, over the course of a year of a one hour a week savings for that same employee? That $25 now becomes $1300. The relatively small savings of an hour starts adding up quickly, doesn't it?



There are a number of areas where project management software can automate or improve functionality, saving time and making project based work more efficient. Here are just two of them:



* Automating Project Status Reporting—Saves time for project managers who must manually collect and update status reports

* Instant Top-to-Bottom and Bottom-to-Top Visibility—Allows project team members and managers to view status information at their fingertips—potentially eliminating the need for excessive status meetings every week.



The savings aren't cited casually either. I have spoken with a number of project professionals who claim these two benefits alone generate a significant amount of the savings they achieve with their project management software. In fact, one executive recently admitted they had to encourage project teams to meet occasionally because the software made status updates so seamless, they virtually eliminated update meetings. (This type of functionality is particularly beneficial to global project teams.)



Just for fun, let's take this one step further. Imagine the value of saving an hour a week for a project team of five. That $25 now becomes $6500 per year. It starts adding up fast, doesn't it? And we haven't discussed re-purposing that hour to something more productive. What kind of savings could that produce in your organization?



About this Author:

As an "accidental" project manager and marketing veteran with over 25 years of experience, Ty Kiisel makes the concepts and best practices of web-based project management software accessible to both the expert and novice project professional by weaving personal experiences, historical references and other anecdotes into daily discussions around effective leadership approaches that maximize the effectiveness of project teams. Ty is also the host of the popular podcast, TalkingWork.com.