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Published on Monday, November 25, 2002 - 03:16 PM
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Written by: George Pitagorsky
Challenging. Stimulating. Fast moving. These are some of the words we commonly use to describe our experience of project management. Unfortunately, we also use these words. Chaotic. Stressful. Anxiety-inducing.
Perhaps, by cultivating and concentrating on the descriptions from the first list we can minimize the number of times we use the words on the second list to describe our process.
“If you actually apply this PM stuff well, it takes the stress out of project work.”
Project management as a stress management technique? Recently, I had workshop participants from two very different PM seminars, which dealt with opposite ends of the PM spectrum, express this theory to me, surprising us all. I had never acknowledged project management (PM) as a stress management technique and decided to give it some thought. It became clear to me that by applying the basic principles of Project Management, the anxiety, chaos, blaming, anger, etc. that creates stress during the life of a project, can certainly be reduced, if not eliminated.
To use PM techniques as a stress reduction method we will identify some of the typical causes of stress in projects. We will then examine how different aspects of PM, if applied effectively, can eliminate the causes of stress or temper its effect on the well being of the project managers, everyone else involved and the project itself.
Causes of stress
In projects, as elsewhere, stress is relative to the degree of external factors impacting an entity. It is defined in terms of pressure, tension and strain; words that tend to have negative connotations – stress hurts.
What causes stress in your projects?
There are some very common causes, which are endemic to the nature of project management across all industries. These include, among others:
1: Uncertainty and fear of not being able to meet time, cost and/or product/quality objectives
2: Poor communications between departments-internal and external
3: Frustration at not having things the way they “should” be or “could” be
It is this last item, of things not being as we’d like them to be, which represents an actual stand-alone category of stress- producing-conditions:
a: policies and procedures that seem to get in the way and provide little or no benefit
b: insufficiently skilled or too few resources
c: constant change
d: poor designs
e: incomplete requirements
f: unrealistic (perhaps ridiculous) expectations
g: lack of consensus on objectives, strategies and/or tactics
The Buddha said that the root cause of suffering is the wanting of things to be different than they can be. There are two healthy options, 1) accept things as they are and act to change them and 2) accept things as they are and wait for them to change without taking action.
Wanting things to be different than they are is a constructive “want” if you can implement change. The other option is to give up the “wanting” and accept things as they are. Accepting something as it is, is not the same as liking it, nor is it being fatalistic. Acceptance simply means acknowledging things as they are, objectively and without emotional attachment. It is akin to defining the current state in a change management effort – how things are, presently, and not as they “should” or “could” be. Acceptance alleviates stress. Remember, no matter what you do, things will change. Can you direct the change? How much control do you have? Are you ready to adapt to the outcome of the change? Do you really think you know that the change will turn out the way you want it to?
PM to the Rescue
Project Management (PM) includes the full range of project related activities – a holistic systems approach that recognizes the interplay between:
· project portfolio management,
· organization,
· multi-project, and single project management processes
and rests on this set of key principles
· plan realistically
· be flexible
· adapt to the conditions in and around your project
· manage relationships and expectations
· communicate consciously and
· stay in control, by “working” your plan
· continuously improve.
Addressing Uncertainty
For many, uncertainty itself is stressful. Some people need to know how things will turnout, or they become acutely uncomfortable. Dealing with the generalized need for certainty requires that a deep personal change take place for us to accept this notion: nothing is certain. The only things we can count on are death and taxes and even taxes are not 100% certain – if you have the right accountant.
In the context of projects, we do have a far more manageable scope of uncertainty than, say, in international affairs. Manageability is created by a wealth of knowledge culled from past experiences. We can be relatively certain about the length and cost of a project that looks like projects we have managed many times before under relatively stable conditions. Do we ever get to 100% certainty? No!
PM, when done well, establishes a base for an effective performance, in which the project performers (including the project manager) as well as other stakeholders (e.g., clients, sponsors, etc.) all have a clear and mutual understanding of the project’s goals. Any uncertainty about the end result is acknowledged. The project’s objectives and the acceptance criteria for the product are clearly established by the managers and stakeholders as they build the base of the work.
It is in this time period that the project’s expectations are clarified. If the outcome is fuzzily described and not articulated in language used by both managers and stakeholders, then stress is guaranteed. The performers produce what they understand to be the desired product and the recipients are dissatisfied. Recipient dissatisfaction is stressful to the project performers and to the recipients alike.
However, the perceived success of a project is not solely dependent on whether the final product is acceptable. Success criteria include delivering the product within time and budget constraints. Often, project performers are “forced” into committing to fixed completion dates and budgets, while facing uncertain product requirements and acceptance criteria, unknown and untested resources, and unfamiliar environmental conditions. Stress is guaranteed!
Progressive Elaboration
A best practice for addressing uncertain objectives on a project with a fixed deliverable date and budget is to include progressive requirements elaboration and iterative estimate refinement in project planning.
Progressive elaboration recognizes that objectives and requirements can be stated in a high-level, 10,000 foot, view and then broken down and described in greater detail to get closer and closer views until the level of detailed specificity required by the project performers is reached. Several iterations of breakdown, review and modification of the project’s requirements may be required, depending on the nature of the product.
Take a catered party for example. In the beginning the caterer is told that there’s going to be a party with music, food and drink for about 50 people sometime before Christmas.
· How much will it cost?
· How long will it take to prepare for it?
Well, without more details – the type of food, whether the music is to be live or not, the venue and how close to Christmas, etc. – there is no way for the caterer to give a “stress free” quote. However, with effective communications, which takes time, skill and effort, the details are worked out and the caterer can commit with a high degree of confidence. This may create stress on the client – but that is a different kind of stress, usually around budget. The progressive elaboration process, if done well, will work out a deal everyone can live with and can be actualized. Cost, time and product quality (features, functions, behaviors, etc.) must be realistically balanced.
Some might find the progressive elaboration process stressful as well as time-consuming. It is not nearly as stressful as managing a project built on fuzzily articulated specs which in turn, guarantees a disappointing outcome for all concerned, the caterer, client and guests. The best thing to do is to accept the need for an interactive communication process, possibly using prototyping and modeling techniques, to adequately define complex project requirements.
Iterative Estimate Refinement
What are the major stress factors for project performers and clients?
· One of the major stressors for project performers is the one of having to commit to an “arbitrary” deadline or budget. “Arbitrary”, in this context, means that the deadline or budget is not based on the amount of work that needs to be performed or the costs of materials and labor.
· One of the major stressors for clients and other recipients is not being able to get a commitment in the face of some external requirement like a regulatory constraint or the announced release of a new product or a limited budget.
These conflicting needs can never be fully reconciled. Forcing the performers to commit to an arbitrary deadline is common since clients and sponsors have more power (they have the money and authority) than performers, who lack the strength, authority and courage to push back and negotiate rational agreements. Conflicting needs lead to both parties being stressed at different stages of the project. The performers are stressed during the project and the clients are stressed when the delivered product and/or price is not at all to their liking.
The solution is not to manage open-ended projects without any constraints. We solve this issue of conflicting needs, by having the performers provide multipoint estimates (e.g., optimistic, most-likely and pessimistic) coupled with the assumptions that support each point. Then, during the early stages of the project, as the requirements are progressively elaborated upon and agreed to by the clients, the range of the estimate is reduced and its accuracy improved. The client needs to have the ability to opt out at any of the points at which revised estimates are presented, particularly if they increase the pessimistic cost and time estimates.
Will stress go to zero with progressive elaboration and iterative refinement?
No. There is still uncertainty. There is still pressure on the performers to meet aggressive deadlines and budget constraints. But, the unnecessary stress of working towards what everyone on the project team knows is an impossible/irrational goal is gone. Further, the probability of getting to the end date and being disappointed with the results is significantly reduced.
Prerequisites
The 8 Prerequisites for stress reduction through progressive elaboration and iterative estimate refinement.
1: Project performers who have:
a: the courage and skills to push back when faced with arbitrary demands and
b: the skills and intelligence to negotiate win-win solutions with their clients and managers.
2: A well documented plan
3: Clearly stated assumptions
4: A reasonable set of alternatives to help the client see the trade-offs among time cost and quality
5: Changes to the schedule and/or budget that include corresponding changes to:
a: project resources
b: product requirements
c: techniques to be used in performance
d: project environment
6: Relationships.
Clients and senior managers must have the good sense to cultivate relationships with project performers that will encourage push back and negotiation. No one benefits from forced commitments to irrational deadlines and budgets. It is fine to push for aggressive plans, but aggressive implies that the plan is possible to be actualized. This needs to be clearly communicated.
7: Recognizing uncertainty.
The need for recognizing that there is certainly uncertainty. Build in the risk reserves that will enable a high degree of confidence in the reliability of the project schedule and budget. Manage the project so as to reduce the risk and uncertainty and, therefore, the reserves, as the project progresses.
8: Get Real!
Stop deluding yourself by the false belief that by simply setting a deadline guarantees that the deadline will be met.
Other Stress Reduction Methods
There are other ways in which effective PM helps to reduce stress. Instituting a rational portfolio management and multiproject management process, for example, can alleviate the stress triggered by overloading resources with work, in an attempt to adhere to a timeline and budget cast in stone.
A management team’s policies, organizational structures, roles and relationships and procedures can be refined to support project work. In addition, candid communication with the appropriate level of documentation can be instituted to reduce misunderstandings and rework while also promoting collaboration.
These are topics for future discussions of stress reduction through more effective PM.
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Tip of the day:
Establish an environment where reporting bad news in a timely manner is encouraged rather than an environment where fear prevents the flow of critical information.
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