Why the 90/90 Rule of Project Management Still Exists
Project managers are often their own worst enemies and say things to avoid conflict and make people happy that to lead disaster. Here are few of the classics, according to a colleague, Dick Billows, PMP.
- I understand this is priority #1.Sure we can start immediately,plan as we go and finish it by October 1st.
- Gee, everybody was happy with the project plan, they approved it in 3 minutes.
- I've scheduled every detail. The plan weighs a ton!
- No, you are wrong, that was never part of the scope! It's clearly a scope expansion.
We've all heard renditions of the above. In fact that's why the "ancient 90-90 rule of project schedules" still applies today: The first 90 percent of the project takes 90 percent of the allotted time. The last 10 percent takes the other 90 percent of the time.
Of course, it doesn't need to be that way. And from a business sense, shouldn't be that way.
Untrained project managers lack the necessary skills required to lead cross-departmental work efforts. They often don't know which of the project management techniques or tools to use or how to motivate people who are not directly accountable to the project manager. Remember, one of the top skillsets of an effective project manager is "influence management"
Have you ever asked yourself the question: What problems do I encounter which affected the success of my projects, (and how should project grading be adjusted to account for these mitigating factors)?
Project management is hard. It isn’t rocket science, although the formal discipline of project management as we know it today began as a tool necessary to make rocket science effective in the space program.
If you view project management from a purely technical perspective, it looks easy. There are only a few core ideas, each of which is conceptually quite simple and can be learned in a matter of hours. They include:
The idea of “project” as an activity with a beginning, a middle and an end. The idea of breaking up a large project into a set of smaller and independent tasks. The idea of defining the relationships among the tasks in terms of precedence, which tasks must be completed before others can be started and the description of theses relationships by means of critical path diagrams. The twin concepts of milestones and deliverables, allowing project managers to track and assess the progress of a project.
Still, a majority of all projects fail. Why? There are two basic reasons: untrained project managers and lack of historical data about costs and levels of effort.
As to what can be done, there is a lot. And it extends beyond just knowing how to prepare a project schedule and budget.
Good PMs must like working with people, have good communication skills (70-90% of your time will be spent communicating), able to develop strong working relationships, able to influence others, sell the benefits of your project, motivate and lead others, enthusiastic & energetic, trustworthy, respectful, organized, must be able to deal with ambiguity, have the confidence to ask questions, and listen to what others are saying.
So "soft skills" are of critical importance. You must also like organizational planning, vision, getting people focused in the same direction, and have excellent business skills.
It is extremely easy today to find quality accredited Project management training today, utilizing learner paced e-Learning methods. I did a scan on the RedVector site and found 48 accredited courses on Project Management, averaging $25-30 per course credit hour. Seems an affordable way to acquire or update the PM skills that are needed.
If you are a Project Management Professional (PMP) or are seeking to get your PMP certification, or just increase your project management skills, you may want to look into these offerings.
So is there a alternative to the 90/90 legacy? You bet?
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