That one fundamental thing

Project managers need to get better at stakeholder engagement and make it a core part of their jobs, argues Mike Clayton.

At a recent seminar, someone asked me, “What is the one thing in project management that is most fundamental?”

What a good question. And yet, at the same time, what a rotten question to put someone on the spot with. After all, can there truly be just one thing? I wonder what your answer would have been. Lots of things went through my mind, of course.

My first thought was scoping. That is clearly fundamental, but it didn’t seem like the right answer to that question. After all, for years, I have been telling people from various platforms that scoping is the hardest part of project management. The need to negotiate different wants and needs with an array of stakeholders, and then balance these against pressures on resources, makes this a particular challenge.

My next thought was control – the one thing that we, as project managers, crave above all else in our professional lives. But, in an instant, I realised it is not fundamental in the sense of foundational. Rather, control is the wrap-around we try to apply to everything.

A similar problem arises with scheduling, planning and programming. They are certainly at the heart of the project management process, but, by being at the heart, they can hardly be at the fundament, too. I reluctantly dismissed those.

So, it must be governance. Surely we build all our project management processes upon a bedrock of governance? Well, no. By now you will be seeing a pattern: the meanings of words matter to me. Governance is about setting direction and steering your project. So, again, it was not quite the right concept.

This was proving a trickier question than it should have been, but I mentally soldiered on. Where do we start? We start with a simple question, asked of our sponsor, client or boss: ‘What do you want?’ That leads us to our project goal. Now we’re getting somewhere.

But no; sadly not. I teach project managers to think strategically and creatively, and to ask the further question: ‘For what purpose?’ This question leads upwards from the goal to a higher level of abstraction: the purpose. And there you have it.

Or do you? How can a higher level of abstraction be fundamental? We need to go down to the lower levels. But that, sadly, leads us back towards scope, and then downwards to the specifications. I was mentally spiralling out of control. I needed a new approach.

Another thing I often tell people is that it is stakeholders who will determine the success of your project. If this doesn’t make stakeholder engagement fundamental to project management, I am not sure what does. But stakeholders are a challenge because of their different perspectives on scope, schedule and goals.

They also introduce risk, and if there is one thing that characterises the difference between projects and business as usual, it is risk. Risk arises from time pressures, novelty, interconnectedness and the multitude of stakeholders. Did I mention interconnectedness? I was going around in circles.

One last shot then. Let me forget logic and ask: ‘What do I rely on most to understand and deliver projects?’

When I put the question to myself, the answer seems obvious. There is one idea that dominates. It will never solve any of your project management problems, nor provide the answer to any of your questions, but it will make your choices absolutely clear. It is the pyramid of balance: time, cost, quality and scope. That is my one thing.