The Pitfalls of Short-Term Project Management
16 August 2010
Read by 1631 persons
Impossible to escape. Project mode is spreading across all sectors. Thanks to this work organization, companies reduce their design times and lower costs. But obstacles remain numerous.
More responsiveness, optimized resources, and ultimately, more productivity… the positive effects of "project mode" are such that this organization is booming. "Nearly half of the world economy is linked to activities conducted in project mode, compared to only 5% to 10% thirty years ago," explains Christophe Brédillet, director of the project management department at Skema Business School. Today, employees work so much in projects that they forget the very principle. It is a matter of drawing from within the company, and if necessary from outside, all the necessary skills to meet a client's request, develop an innovation or develop an internal organization. A patchwork that is often difficult to put together.
The Golden Triangle: Cost, Time, Quality
"By bringing together all the skills around the table, back-and-forths are limited, decision-making processes are shorter, and adjustments are faster," emphasizes the expert. PSA has thus considerably reduced the design times (by 30 to 40%) of its vehicles in five years. This time saving and the savings generated then allowed it to develop more models. "In 1990, we released a model every two years in Europe. In 2010, this figure should be increased to five," calculates Roland Vardanega, the former industrial technical director of the lion firm. Another feat of the manufacturer: the spectacular drop in rejects. For example, the first C5 launched in 1997 required 30,000 touch-ups. In 2007, the latest version required none. "Thanks to the pooling of skills, we know how to solve problems upstream," says this former PSA manager.
This organization, reputed to be more productive, is not confined to product innovation and is spreading at great speed in companies. Where you don't necessarily expect it. In order to simultaneously disseminate information in all its agencies, Axa France, for example, set up the "léZéKran" project. Objective: to install a network of flat screens updated in real time. IT, logistics, legal, purchasing, communication at national and local level, plus a service provider, were involved for two years.
Projects full of pitfalls
Is "project mode" ideal? Not so sure, because the pitfalls are numerous. A poorly defined mission, a technical error, a disagreement between key players… and the project can fail. The first source of failure is linked to the poor definition, upstream, of a project. Philippe Leclercq, now a trainer at Demos, who was managing a simple IT migration for a dairy group, experienced this: "I had six months to deploy a network for a hundred users and a budget of €1.3 million," he recalls. Except that the specifications had been poorly defined. "From the warehouseman to the billing clerk, the 1,000 employees were concerned," he calculates. In the end, this largely underestimated project lasted two and a half years and cost nearly €8 million. The same misadventure for this innovative start-up on the organic galette. Once the tests were passed, the founders realized that they hadn't thought about the… packaging! This oversight was fatal: the product could not be distributed on time.
Speaking the same language
To be profitable and efficient, project mode requires an organization that is as precise as clockwork. To prevent the machine from seizing up, communication is a determining element, because projects often involve two professions that do not speak the same language. "During a merger of two customer extranets, I avoided the blunder," recalls François Druel, former IT project manager at a telecom operator. I had planned maintenance periods during off-peak hours. For me, this meant between midnight and 5 a.m., but for the IT technician, between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the middle of night work, therefore more expensive." Fortunately, the right question was asked at the right time and this misunderstanding did not have any consequences.
Marie-Madeleine Sève
Posted online August 16, 2010
Capital.fr
More responsiveness, optimized resources, and ultimately, more productivity… the positive effects of "project mode" are such that this organization is booming. "Nearly half of the world economy is linked to activities conducted in project mode, compared to only 5% to 10% thirty years ago," explains Christophe Brédillet, director of the project management department at Skema Business School. Today, employees work so much in projects that they forget the very principle. It is a matter of drawing from within the company, and if necessary from outside, all the necessary skills to meet a client's request, develop an innovation or develop an internal organization. A patchwork that is often difficult to put together.
The Golden Triangle: Cost, Time, Quality
"By bringing together all the skills around the table, back-and-forths are limited, decision-making processes are shorter, and adjustments are faster," emphasizes the expert. PSA has thus considerably reduced the design times (by 30 to 40%) of its vehicles in five years. This time saving and the savings generated then allowed it to develop more models. "In 1990, we released a model every two years in Europe. In 2010, this figure should be increased to five," calculates Roland Vardanega, the former industrial technical director of the lion firm. Another feat of the manufacturer: the spectacular drop in rejects. For example, the first C5 launched in 1997 required 30,000 touch-ups. In 2007, the latest version required none. "Thanks to the pooling of skills, we know how to solve problems upstream," says this former PSA manager.
This organization, reputed to be more productive, is not confined to product innovation and is spreading at great speed in companies. Where you don't necessarily expect it. In order to simultaneously disseminate information in all its agencies, Axa France, for example, set up the "léZéKran" project. Objective: to install a network of flat screens updated in real time. IT, logistics, legal, purchasing, communication at national and local level, plus a service provider, were involved for two years.
Projects full of pitfalls
Is "project mode" ideal? Not so sure, because the pitfalls are numerous. A poorly defined mission, a technical error, a disagreement between key players… and the project can fail. The first source of failure is linked to the poor definition, upstream, of a project. Philippe Leclercq, now a trainer at Demos, who was managing a simple IT migration for a dairy group, experienced this: "I had six months to deploy a network for a hundred users and a budget of €1.3 million," he recalls. Except that the specifications had been poorly defined. "From the warehouseman to the billing clerk, the 1,000 employees were concerned," he calculates. In the end, this largely underestimated project lasted two and a half years and cost nearly €8 million. The same misadventure for this innovative start-up on the organic galette. Once the tests were passed, the founders realized that they hadn't thought about the… packaging! This oversight was fatal: the product could not be distributed on time.
Speaking the same language
To be profitable and efficient, project mode requires an organization that is as precise as clockwork. To prevent the machine from seizing up, communication is a determining element, because projects often involve two professions that do not speak the same language. "During a merger of two customer extranets, I avoided the blunder," recalls François Druel, former IT project manager at a telecom operator. I had planned maintenance periods during off-peak hours. For me, this meant between midnight and 5 a.m., but for the IT technician, between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the middle of night work, therefore more expensive." Fortunately, the right question was asked at the right time and this misunderstanding did not have any consequences.
Marie-Madeleine Sève
Posted online August 16, 2010
Capital.fr
