Managing change in organizations is one of the biggest challenges in the digital age, where innovation is shaking up habits, generations and practices.
Project management is no exception to the rule, and the implementation of good practices can be part of an obstacle course in such a strategic area for organizations.
Status Quo and inaction: what kind of Symptoms?
First of all, it is good to be able to identify when status quo is occurring in order to be able to deal with it.
For that, three typical causes can help you recognize this situation.
The first one will be the lack of visibility on the added value of a tool or an innovation. Without a clear sight on the return on investment, why change your habits right? Wrong, an objective and pragmatic calculation related to your activity can be essential.
The second is related to the lack of maturity in project management and portfolio management that some organizations may suffer. In such a context, a paradigm shift can further destabilize the activity if it is not linked to rigorous change management.
Finally the lack of involvement of management in decision making. Gaining visibility on the teams' operations can avoid this immobility and bring out issues more easily.
How do I know if the status quo is bad for me? 4 warning signs
Here are some of the warning signs of a penalizing status quo so that you can more easily identify this situation, and justify the introduction of new tools to treat these issues.
Bad review habits
One of the common inefficiency symptoms in project management processes: mismanagement of document's review. Multiplying reviews increases the risk of errors in the rendering of the deliverables, like sending a previous version or reiteration carried out on bad versions, etc.
Taking this issue into account in the management of your processes will enable your teams to increase customer satisfaction.
Different communication practices
A key issue when addressing the generational gap in our communication management.
The status quo is also allowing communication gaps that slow down your activity: delays in rendering, risky capacity management or lack of team motivation can all be signs that there are gaps in communication. This problem is all the more accentuated by the generation of millennials or "Y-generation" with a growing need for communication and frequency of feedback.
Clogged communication channels
In addition to the lack of communication, sometimes channels themselves are inadequate or clogged. Over-information, if you consider spam, promotional emails, etc. can drown your communication in a sea of noise.
To address this issue, project and resource information must be confined to a project and resource management tool to prevent the information from spreading. In other words, you should identify the right channel to share the right information.
A dated knowledge level
Best practices are evolving and a watch on innovations in terms of research, tools and processes is essential. Seeking solutions for the future is already breaking the status quo simply by being open to other possibilities.
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