Is there a relationship with project management skills and the success of project management software?
We discussed some of the strategies that are employed by organizations trying to implement project management software (see earlier post Implementing Project Management Software: Common Strategies). But what does work? What is the right way to implement project management software in a way that meets expectations and provides strategic value to the organization?
No one can come up with a scientific, one-size-fits-all process for implementing project management software. There are too many variables. What is appropriate and works for a large organization may not be appropriate and may even backfire for a small organization. However, we can learn from experience and evaluate some common traits of successful implementations.
The first is the concept shared by some readers that project management skills and knowledge as an organization is important to a successful implementation.
Why might this be and what can an organization do about it? Well…the obvious answer as to why this might be is that implementing project management software is a project like any other project and it needs project management discipline to be successful. But I think there is more to it than that. The goal of project management software should be, at least in part, to improve the project management processes of an organization. In other words, to help it get better at managing their projects so that…fill in your own blank here - products get to market quicker, or more work is done with the same number of people, or customers are happier by eliminating things falling through crack.
The software should complement the project management processes. If there are no project management processes or the skill set to do good project management, the software is not going to solve that. Instead it is simply something that sounds great, but turns out to be only half the puzzle. How can you implement a tool to help you with project management if you do not understand project management? The tendency will be to “whither in the wind”.
Now a point could be made that project management software could instigate good project management processes. For some that may be heresy, but I’ve seen it happen for the simple reason that sometimes you can get people to buy into implementing software instead of reinventing business processes (who wants to do that?). And in some cases it starts a discussion about how to use it properly, which starts a discussion about the right processes an organization should be following (or what they currently are). But even when this is the case, the software is supporting the processes, not a substitute for them. So processes must be put in place by someone (or multiple “someones”) who have at least a basic understanding of project management.
So what can an organization do if they are lacking in project management skill or knowledge? We’ll cover that next…
What are your thoughts on this topic? Send them to blog@teaminteractions.com or post a comment.
