A Common Project Management Execution Mistake
The purpose of this article is to cover a common project management execution mistake that is a little more common than you might think. It involves mixing nouns with verbs, or deliverables with tasks, and we really need to focus on deliverables.
Deliverables are covered under the Outcomes segment in the OVERSEE domain of the MPM model.
Deliverables are covered under the Outcomes segment in the OVERSEE domain of the MPM model.
It All Starts in the Beginning
One of the most common mistakes that managers and even project managers make around projects is in the very initial stages when defining their project. This is one of the concepts for which it seems the most time has been spent when mentoring.
Start by Thinking About What not How
When defining the project, the problem is that they mix what is being created, produced, the results, outcomes or deliverables, with the actions being taken, that is, the how, the tasks, or activities that create those outcomes or deliverables.
Keep the deliverables separate from activities and it greatly simplifies things.
Start with just deliverables and completely ignore the activities that create them and just focus on decomposing all of the tangible pieces that make up the outcomes. This can be done whether the outcomes are abstract, like a marketing results, or tangible like a report or product. And you can do this for anything you have to accomplish in a fixed timeframe.
Pretend it is an Itemized List
One simplified way to think about it is pretend you are giving someone a grocery list of things to get and what would that look like? Would you tell them how to do it, or just give them the items that need to be picked up (assuming you're not being overly controlling)?
Pretend you are creating a Grocery List
Those grocery items are your outcomes or deliverables, and that's what you need to start with when defining your project. Think of your deliverables as tangible things you would exchange for payment.
Summary
In summary, when planning what your project is going to deliver, start by thinking only about the actual pieces of what is being delivered, not how they are delivered.
Resist the temptation to get into the how until you have listed all the pieces of what you are delivering. Keep the what and the how separate initially when planning, and that perspective will help when working through the project and challenges arise in how the project is being executed.
Action Steps / Apply This Knowledge
- Pretend you are creating a grocery or itemized list of an upcoming project or even one you have in progress. List the few top high-level things you are delivering. Stay at one high-level.
- Now drop down a level and list the pieces that make up the high-level things; and again, keep it to only what is being delivered.
- Go down a third level if necessary and list additional smaller deliverable pieces that make up the second level.
- Now you have a list of what you are creating and below all of these you can add your tasks or steps, but during the project when challenges in those steps arise, change the steps, but keep the deliverables constant and that is why you need to keep them separate from the start.
- Prompt engineering guidance for AI GPTs such as chatGPT: “I’m a business leader launching a project whose purpose is Y, and delivering X. What are some important deliverables or outcomes I need to identify when initially defining the project?”
Learn More to Do More
Business evolves through change initiatives otherwise known as projects. The key to managing these change initiatives so you have more time, and less stress is to use simple strategies and tools.
Check out the Learning Hub’s other Articles with Actionable Steps, organized with a busy leader in mind, by topic or main idea, and with some AI GPT (e.g. ChatGPT) prompt engineering suggestions under the Action steps: https://simplepmstrategies.com/learning-hub-index
CONTROL – Common Execution Mistake
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