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This is the fourth in a series of project e-Tips on the five big ideas reshaping project delivery. As you read this ask yourself, what action can I take today? Leave a comment with your answer.
 The Project Reformer's e-Tip of the Week |
| 027: Projects Are Single-Purpose Networks of Commitment |
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A project is is a single-purpose network of commitment performed by a temporary social system. Unlike recurring business processes, the network of commitment on a project emerges rather than is designed and refined as performers have experience in the network. Performers in a project get one shot through the network. To complicate this project performers come together as strangers. They often lack experience with each others' reliability to perform within the network. Without the experience with each other, project performers will hold out on making their best commitments. Your role as project leader is to activate the network of commitment on your project. Here are four actions you can take:
These actions begin to bring project performers together as team members who are taking care of each other while they take care of the project. Doing this publicly provides the basis for people to develop trust in each others' competentce and reliability to perform. And it is just the beginning. Your role as project leader requires continued attention on the functioning of the network of commitment.
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©2004 Hal Macomber | weblog.halmacomber.com | e-Tip Archive | PDF | Submit Tip |
I hope you are enjoying this series on five big ideas reshaping project delivery. Only one more to go before I get back to publishing your project e-Tips. And when I do I'll be sending a cereal box as a thank you!
? Guy Kawasaki wrote, "Less is the new more." Easy to learn: symmetry, seduction, subtraction, and sustainability. Very valuable to do. Step 1: Read Matt's book!! just 140 keystrokes.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hal,
I have read your earlier notes on this and heard you speak on this, but here comes the definitive crystallization of the network of commitments issue. Thanks, this is most helpful.
By the way, which are the other big ideas already covered?
Cheers, Lauri
Hal, I ditto Lauri’s comment. This is a marvelous summary of what you’ve been talking about for years. I see application immediately.
Here’s an idea for a follow-up series, Hal, that might really help folks. Can you write a summary of how this fleshes out in a project setting? Even if you disguise the names, show how a PM would actually do this.
I’ll bet you’ve seen this fleshed out and could sketch it out.
Isn’t it great when other people create ideas that you need to do??!!
Thanks! Joe
Lauri,
Thanks for your endorsement. Look back over the last four Projet e-Tips for four of the five big ideas.
Hal
Hal I’ve been thinking about your openning statement “A project is is a single-purpose network of commitment “. The more I thinik about it the more I feel it is a *multi-purpose* network of commitments.
This doesn’t affect the other 5 big ideas and the rest of what you say about this one applies too.
Multi- purpose because there are multiple projects — the clients’ project, the designer’s project, the main contractor’s and each of the specialist contractors’. It may be ( i’m not yet sure) that in an ideal world they will all be aligned; in reality they are not.
Acknowledging the network of projects is vital to allowing them to be openly discussed – perhaps that is a new project tip?
with best wishes
Alan