A few months ago I wrote about companies and users thinking they need a software system for everything under the sun. I continue to be amazed at how many managers and businesses think they cannot take on certain projects or even perform their jobs to the fullest, without software. What did companies do 30, 40, or 50 years ago? Did we just tell our managers we can't do certain things because they are too complex or we don't have the proper tools? That's doubtful. Granted, the business challenges we face today may be more involved than they were years ago, but business is business and the fundamentals require the fundamentals in our employees.

Generally when I hear someone say "we can’t do that right now, because we don’t have a system", I think to myself, "how is a system going to ensure we are doing the right things in the right fashion?" It won't. What a system will do is help you track data, automate and streamline operations. Understandably, systems will generally provide a more in-depth and comprehensive review of data and the ability to review data under differing scenarios. The interpretation of that data, true management and ensuring things are done correctly is an output of the system. An input is good judgment, experience, education and our overall knowledge. I don’t think anything can replace good old fashioned management by involvement, aka. management by walking around. This again does not require a system.

In tough economic times and with increasing pressures on all of us, it is easy to lose sight of the principles that really work. In such an electronic era, we can quickly get wrapped up in typing versus talking, but most complicated business matters I know have not been solved without conventional communication. We can be quick to look at our sinking budgets as an obstacle to our professional success, or we can use what has worked for years and use our mental power to solve problems, be creative, be involved and engaged with our teams and organizations.

In both good and bad economic times, nothing can be truer than the adage: “where there’s a will there’s a way.”

~Ann Drinkwater

http://blog.projectconnections.com/project_practitioners/ann-drinkwater.html

 

Comments

Ann,

I couldn't agree more. The obsession with tools is astonishing.

Here is my observation:

Before most of us transition to project management, we invest many years in mastering our domain of expertise. We were rewarded handsomely for our expertise and technical prowess.

When we become Project Managers, we spend the first few years searching for ways we can achieve the same level of mastery in project management. We look for tools, templates, processes, methodologies. Those of us who grew up with technology, we always relied on it to further our mastery.

It takes us few years and some bruises before we realize that managing human being cannot be mastered thru the use of tools, templates, processes, or methodologies. After few successes and failures, some of us learn that what really causes projects to be derailed are things that have nothing to do the technology or tools. But some never get to this understanding. Project management for them remains an adventure in frustration.