Although the project has a concrete goal, it is not yet certain that we will achieve it. It often happens
that we fail earlier or lose ourselves too much. Therefore it is necessary to set milestones or key points
by which we measure whether we are on the right track.
In companies the owners define goals through vision, strategy and mission. The analysis of Manager
Association from September 2005 showed that 78% of a sample of 207 interviewed directors have a
defined vision and strategy of the organization. If we were then to ask these directors whether they
could present us with a t.i. “Strategic Development Program for the next 5 to 7 years”, the percentage
of positive answers would be much lower.
The fact is that the owners are still satisfied with the simply written objectives of the company through
the vision and strategy, and they do not order the operational program through the projects because
the awareness of the owners is probably too low. not mature enough.
The main task of the t.i. “Strategic Development Program” is to enable the company, based on a
detailed analysis of the business activity of the last 3 to 5 years and data on the development of the
sales and purchase markets, to define not only the vision and strategy, but also clearly defined
strategic goals to be realized through
the projects. The literature suggests that corporate strategies are
realized by projects. In telecommunications it is common practice to replace almost all the technology within 5 years, so it makes sense to prepare development programs somewhere between 5 and 7 years, while
in the energy sector the shortest reasonable period is at least 10 to 15 years, as the projects themselves usually have a duration of 5 to 7 years. We achieve larger and more important strategic goals through projects. The strategic goals are derived from the strategy. Strategies are the way to achieve goals. For smaller projects it is sufficient to make an initial record of the project and define the minimum elements (vision, strategy, goal and purpose, implementation tactics, key events, project organization, key success factors, resources, project cash flow, IT and funding). In case of larger, longer or more risky projects, we prepare a project start plan, which, in addition to the elements of the initial record, includes the definition of cross-project integration, success factors, ensuring optimal project implementation procedures, identified risks and solution, conditions for project implementation, In case of strategically important projects, where we realize the strategic goals of the company, we usually advise the owners, before preparing a project (initial start-up or start-up plan), to draw up a socalled strategic project development plan in the company, in which we define strategic development areas and establish different strategies in each area (products, organization, personnel, development, technology, promotion, vertical and horizontal communication, financing, placing the product/service on the demand market, comprehensive customer management, etc.)).
So what are the strategic goals of this project?
The PMBOOK-Guide therefore identified the t.i. “Project Scope Management” – the process leading to
the project goals, which distinguishes:
- The PMBOOK Guide therefore identified the t.i. "Project Scope Management" - the process leading to the project goals, which distinguishes
- Scope Planning (clear written definition of the objectives as a basis for future project definitions)
- Scope Definition (breakdown of the main objective into smaller, manageable objectives, objective and purpose, intermediate objective, etc.)
- Scope Verification (confirmation of the objectives by the client, administrator, principal)
- Scope Change Control.
That is why it is important from the very beginning that all three (the owner, the trustee and the
project manager) look at exactly the same picture and all see a forest with fifty-two spruces and eight
larches and in the middle a stream that flows down a very narrow riverbed into the lake.
But that is not enough. When a project manager has a big picture in front of him, it is his job to make
it happen. Sam? Hart. He has to find people around him with whom he can achieve the final goal, all
(strategic) intermediate goals and all objective and goal-oriented goals. But not everyone is equally
capable. The composition of the project team should be such that we will have a team that knows
attack, defense and tactics and is well aware of the opponent’s weaknesses. There are very few players
in the world who score goals. And the project manager has to find them if he wants to score goals. He
usually always has the “same” group at his disposal, he is rarely allowed to “hire” players from outside.
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»Given the clearly defined goals of the project, it is more important to find a group of people who can achieve these goals.«.
Example:
A medium-sized company in Slovenia has a well-prepared “Strategic Development Program for twelve
years in advance”, which defines all strategic projects, SWOT analysis for each of them, sets the main
objectives by time periods and provides a financial structure that can be partly completed with own and partly with loans. As the company has a high credit rating and a high reputation in the region, the
banks compete with them for loans. The only embarrassing thing is that most of the management is about to retire and only a fifth of the young people have been laid off in recent years. There are too few project managers to achieve all the strategic goals set. Since they have almost a monopoly position, they were in no hurry, not even in terms of staff training. Due to the conservatism of the management, hiring project managers is also out of the question. What is to be done? It is necessary to find “managers” within the company. People with a leadership personality, conflict-free and goaloriented, and with a high degree of company affiliation. You have not heard of HRM. Lately, however, they have tried to understand that it is not enough to have a project management policy, a project office and training on real projects and that management works in the old-fashioned way. The process. The process. The Process. Yes, what do the goals have to do with the process? Enough or nothing. How do you take. When they realized that they had to “bring in” their competencies into projects, things
went in the right direction. Today they are already breathing easier, although line managers
(occasionally) still look down on project managers.
At a certain point in time, the company is in a phase of transition from a functional organization to a
process organization, and in addition, the company has several projects every month. How can these
matters be handled?
It is possible:
- a development strategy that must clearly state that the company will be restructured in three years to implement all nine strategic projects, while ensuring the expected growth each year (as requested by the owners) and managing the costs that must account for half of the company's growth. Would you be able to do that?
- by renewing operational procedures (basic and support processes), through which we prepare the company to take on strategic challenges, projects,
- by adapting ERP and BIS, which have to support new processes,
- through reorganization in the sense of optimizing business processes,
- clearly defined goals with HRM and CRM and a group that will build up both areas in three years
Even today, company managers still make the classic mistake:
- because they subordinate IT to human resources or finance,
- they organize their business in the general sector (or human resources), as they are responsible for systematization
- Nobody deals with the processes anyway, except one month before the recertification of ISO9001: 2000, maybe even ISO14000, and then most companies (with no exceptions, have not yet arrived).
That is why I advise it:
1. only set strategic goals once you have prepared the company for these challenges.
2 When you run “projects” in a company, you should be aware that this is a parallel branch of
government and business.
3. not everyone is a “project manager”.
4. as long as the project teams do not receive at least the same services from the support processes
(purchasing, sales, accounting, finance, information technology, human resources, security, education
and training, perhaps even from the project office, office operations, etc.) as the sectors, services in the
existing organizational scheme, no projects will go ahead.
5. set up a workplace optimization, determine the real intellectual value of the employees and give
them appropriate tasks
6. find a critical mass of employees in the company who are able to manage projects (do not work on
projects, but manage them as managers) Directors make the biggest mistake when they declare
themselves as managers of one or even several projects in addition to the duties of a director. Then
everything comes to a standstill, even regular business.
7. create a really useful support environment for project management (especially an organizational unit
that supports projects of project office baking, project controlling, process management, organization
and business informatics) Create a clear and strong support environment for vertical and horizontal
communication (you can use Microsoft technologies like Share Point Portal and MS, and Project Server
Portal is welcome for more projects and more employees.
8. above all, train people and give them skills.
The driver in the passenger seat or even the back seat can still only watch the driver while driving.
Strategic goals are, so to speak, the points with which we check whether we are on the right track. We
never simply compare the amount of work done, but rather whether we have spent the planned
amount of money, whether we have met all deadlines, whether the planned amount of material has
been used, whether the communication channels have worked as planned, whether all personnel
resources have been involved, whether we have acted with foresight … in short, we have to check all
the parameters we originally planned. So the strategic goals could be divided into several parts, or.
each area must have its own strategic goal (e.g. Strategic Human Resources goal – to train 10 experts
in the field of maintenance of Windows information systems by the end of the year).
Achieving one strategic goal is actually the first step of the next strategic goal. The project has several
strategic goals, separated by content and deadlines. When achieving each strategic goal, it is always
necessary to check whether the next goal can be achieved, whether sufficient financial means are
planned, whether sufficient human and material resources are available. Before we continue with the
implementation of the strategy, it is necessary to check whether we are on the right track and it is
necessary to compare the strategic goals directly with the final goals, we must constantly measure the
deviations, if there are any. If there are deviations, it is necessary to change the strategy, trying to keep
the strategic objectives the same, but almost certainly we must not deviate from the final objective.
The final goal is always determined by the client (owner of the capital) and the strategic goals are
determined by the contractor.
Literature:
1 Glasser, William (1994). Control Theory or How to Establish Effective Control about your life.
Ljubljana: Taxus 2. William Glasser, 1999: Choice Theory – A New Psychology from Personal Freedom,
Perennial, The William Glasser Institute 3. Project Management Institute (2000 edition), A Guide to the
Project Management Body of Knowledge, PMBOOK Guide, 2000 edition 4. International Project
Management Association, ICB IPMA Competence Baseline, Version 2.0
Author of the article: pedagogue, entrepreneur & crisis manager
I teach you to look “at yourself” as a third person. For more information or an introductory meeting, write to me at official@milankrajnc.com
Dynamic Leadership model
The purpose of the book is to present a dynamic leadership model, which in more than a hundred cases has proven to be a great way to get out of business and personal crisis and how to overcome difficulties without even going into crisis.