Project Management: 10 Brutal Realities of Project Management

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• Times are tough, and project managers need to understand how the downturn may affect their operations. Baseline interviewed two project management experts, Michael Welles of EdWel Programs, a project management training company, and Lou Russell of Russell Martin Associates, a consulting firm, to feel the Project Management Office’s pain.
• Lack of Commercial Paper:The financial markets have seized up, which means there’s less loan money flowing—a huge project killer for companies used to leveraging short-term debt paper to execute big ideas.
• The Stakes are Higher: With resources so precious, C-level executives are scanning project horizon like the eye of Sauron in Lord of the Rings. The same mistake made two years ago could be a potential career torpedo if made today
• Smaller Staffs: Every department is expected to do more with fewer people these days, including the Project Management Office. Some companies are simply slashing projects and associated staff—that’s bad enough. Even more tricky is when the project load stays the same and staff is cut.
• Cloud of Layoffs Looms: Staff cuts make for more work, but at least you know what they’re dealing with once they’re made. It’s difficult to delegate project responsibilities to someone when you don’t know if either of you will be around in two months.
• Training Dollars Disappearing: Training and certification are some of the first things to get the axe in times like these. Keeping employees skilled up will remain a challenge as long as we remain in a recession.
• Morale is Low: More pressure, more work, no job stability and no training all add up to extremely low morale among team members. True, the job market makes it difficult for them to flee. But you’re still not getting the most out of them without working on loyalty somehow.
• Best Practices May No Longer Apply: What worked even six months ago may not work so well in this climate. Long term ROI may not be as important as cost containment, customers might have different needs and certain resources may not be at the PMOs disposal anymore.
• No Room for Radical Approaches: As everyone hunkers down, executives are taking a risk-averse approach. Most project management experts agree that this isn’t the time to revolutionize a PMO or try to start one up if your company doesn’t have one.
• ‘Good Enough’ Syndrome: Even slam dunk project ideas are harder to sell right now. Most executives will likely state that what IT has already is ‘good enough’ for now.
• Uncertainty and Ambiguity are Killing Planning: The economy has not yet hit bottom and until it does it is going to be tough going. Many are finding budgets are in flux, projects are being put on hiatus and everyone is scratching their heads wondering how their organization will look in a couple of months.