Programme and Project Management and Direction

I had cause recently to review the PRINCE2 and MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) publications issued by the UK Government through TSO (The Stationary Office). These are excellent learning resources and certainly give you a tremendous list of things to worry about as either a new or established programme or project manager.

I have to ask though, how many successful (i.e. those that deliver against objectives, goals and requirements) programme and project managers can put their hand on their heart and say “yes, of course I follow all of the process laid down in the PRINCE2 and MSP methods”, very few! Yet, week after week another programme or project role comes up with either or both of these training programmes identified as essential without any reference to how they contribute to the requirements of the role, the flexibility of their application in the role or their contribution to the outcomes sought.

Fundamentally, I cannot agree that doing thirty or so hours of online training followed by an open book examination makes a project or programme manager. One is left to draw the conclusion that having the designation of PRINCE2 and/or MSP practitioner has become nothing more than another box ticked for lazy recruiters and this seriously devalues the original intent of both these methodologies. Consequently, how many high quality staff are missed by organisations in desperate need of professional project and programme managers and directors because they don’t have the label? After all, there’s barely a week passes by without another story in the media about another failed project or programme within or without Government and how many of these projects or programmes are managed by someone with the practitioner label but lacking experience or genuine expertise?

It is time for recruitment agencies and their clients to become much smarter at specifying their requirements for project and programme managers, improving their sift criteria and recognising that, good though they are, these training programmes do not and cannot ensure a project or programme is delivered successfully. Yes, having a PRINCE2 or MSP practitioner in a role could help but having the label is not even an order qualifier because all it really shows is that someone can study for tens of hours and deliver an acceptable response to an open book examination.

Successful, business-orientated project and programme management and direction is not just about compliance with a shopping list of processes and documentation but is also about vision, innovation, leadership and outcomes. These are skills you cannot train or achieve by delivering or learning processes, structures and procedures by rote. The ability to lead, innovate and envision comes with experience and developed expertise as well as fundamental instincts around benefit realisation, outcome generation and teamwork.

A truly successful project or programme manager has the skills to reference the methodologies, interpret them to suit the cultural and organisational imperatives and use the processes to achieve outcomes but they don’t do that because they’ve passed the examination they do that because it’s the right thing, at the right time for a particular organisation.

So, the next time a client sends you a programme or project requirement or you’re asked to develop one consider that to get the right person for the role make sure the requirements specification allows you to see beyond the training and checklists to the experience and expertise offered and the role goes to a project or programme professional who can:

Manage upwards and outwards	Lead downwards
Acquire the necessary resources, finance and personnel	Create a project team with shared objectives, goals and vision
Negotiate with customers and stakeholders to agree the benefits sought	Define the requirements, desired outcomes and success criteria
Provide the team with the Motivation, Authority, Resources, Information and Accountability to succeed in project or programme delivery	Evolve a sufficiently flexible project or programme to respond to set-backs, unexpected successes and changed constraints
To take a broad view and deliver a narrow focus	And above all demonstrate a track record of active leadership and management