People diversity. Cultural diversity. Business diversity. The list could go on.
For the moment, I am interested in business diversity. Different businesses operate differently while the ultimate motto does not change much – add value and thereby optimize revenue, growth, and profitability.
Let us go further into the businesses.
Today’s businesses have moved a majority of their work to a project-based approach. If one were to look around, it is not surprising to see projects almost all around us – construction, engineering, pharmaceuticals, software, professional services, et al. Business leaders and professionals have realized the value of project management principles and processes. When delivered right, project management can drive outcome predictability with resource optimization, and thus offer higher business value.
If project management could offer so much value, why do business leaders and professionals continue to struggle to deliver – and deliver consistently?
The answer lies in project diversity!
What are some of the indicators of project diversity?
- Industry and product/service lifecycle
- Project management frameworks
- Predictive/ Traditional/ Waterfall
- Agile – Scrum/ Kanban/ XP/ DSDM/ Crystal/ Others
- Project management methodology and processes.
- Business processes and decision workflows
- Contract types (With Customers and Vendors)
- Fixed Price / Fixed Bid
- Cost Plus
- Time & Material
- A combination of the above
- Payment types
- Fixed date payments
- Periodic payments
- Milestone-based payments
- Earned value-based payments
- A combination of the above
- Resources
- Human resources
- Full-time employees
- Part-time employees
- Full-time contractors
- Part-time consultants
- Others
- Material resources
- Bill of Material / Bill of Quantity
- Inventory
- Job work
- Made-to-order
- Others
- A combination of the above
- Human resources
The current status of enterprises as small, medium, and large are no longer a barrier when it comes to pitching for and executing large-scale projects.
The challenge is not getting medium and large-scale projects but in their execution.
The reason – such projects have multiple drivers of diversity. Managing a project in a traditional or predictive mode and leading another project in a Sprint-based Scrum approach with different processes and metrics are two different worlds when we talk about PPM solution!
Let us not even get to the other diversity drivers mentioned earlier!
Most organizations struggle to execute projects as they are not able to successfully address the various diverse factors. Today, most of the PPM (Project and Portfolio Management) software solutions claim to be flexible; they are not designed for the dimensions of diversity as elaborated earlier. However, it does not make sense to invest in different PPM solutions to cater to diverse project needs.
What happens in such a context?
Not surprisingly, firms look for ‘workaround’ solutions just to tide over the situation. Such workarounds could be simple to complex, and more often than not, such solutions are unsustainable and additionally, waste company’s resources! In the long run, such an ad hoc approach could put the organizational capability at risk.
Is there a way out to deal with high levels of project diversity?
For firms to deal with project diversity, it is vital that they evaluate PPM solutions on two broad dimensions.
- Align industry-specific business processes with project solutions.
- Use relevant software technologies to offer flexibility in solution design.
We at ProductDossier were the earliest to extract this critical business insight and successfully incorporate them into our flagship PPM software solution that we call TouchBase®.
We welcome you to a new world of PPM solution designed for your organization specific needs.
