As projects get bigger in size and complexity, it’s important to implement a Project Business structure that improves the chances of success of those projects. Continuing to operate in a siloed environment results in poor collaboration and low productivity. Ultimately, projects are delivered late and over budget due to this lack of structure and control.
As mentioned in a previous blog, when you recognize that the bulk of what you do is projects and that makes you a Project Business, you are able to develop a new way of thinking and the ability to recognize new solutions to problems that have plagued your industry for years.
This is the fourth blog of a seven-part blog series (see the third blog here) that discusses why productivity in Project Business has flatlined by addressing the seven challenges of a Project Business.
Challenge #4: Lack of Project Business Governance and a Standardized System
Project Businesses operate in a very fragmented application landscape. Commonly, they adopt a wide variety of tools and solutions to manage their business needs. This can include systems and apps for project accounting, scheduling, estimation, time and expense, and most of all spreadsheets. To manage an entire project life cycle, Project Businesses attempt to operate within this complex set of tools. Of course, simply managing data and processes among these apps is difficult, but more importantly, it is an environment that is extremely hard to control and standardize.
As a result, companies end up with a complete lack of Project Business governance – a standardized approach to the management of processes and data in project-based companies.
“If you have workloads that take place in Excel, it’s very difficult to enforce governance,” said Henrik Lerkenfeld, VP of Engineering at Adeaca. “It’s difficult to say, ‘This is how we get from A to B.’”
The number one strength of Excel is flexibility, but “Flexibility is the enemy of governance,” Lerkenfeld says.
This means that not only are you unable to control the process, it also means that it can be very difficult to trust the output. If you don’t understand the process, how can you rely and react to the output of that process?
In addition, instead of having a standardized and governed set of processes, you’re relying on individuals.
“If you have a very good project manager, then the project succeeds,” said Lerkenfeld. “Another project with a less efficient project manager will not yield as good a result.”
Not only are the success of projects reliant on individual people, but in the long run, it makes it difficult for Project Businesses to have scalable business processes.
Project Business Governance is Key to Running Like a Well-Oiled Machine
In traditional industries, processes and data are standardized no matter who is doing the work. While Project Businesses are more complex than traditional industries, that makes it imperative that Project Businesses standardize and structure their processes as much as possible. Not only does it improve the efficacy and efficiency of employees, it produces standard metrics that can be trusted to measure performance. Only with a comprehensive system or Project Business governance can a company truly understand what is going on and make data-driven decisions.
Download the Project Business Automation Blueprint to learn more about creating a comprehensive business system for your Project Business.
