THE LIFE OF A PROJECT
Phase 5 Evaluation
If we have regular reviews we should be able to hold a final review quite easily. Again, if we have clear objectives we should be able to see whether we have achieved them or not. It will help a lot to sort the objectives into ones that set up the system and ones that relate to de- veloping staff.
We shall need to evaluate whether we have made a difference. It is not just about counting people who take the opportunity to develop literacy or language skills, but more about whether this makes any difference to their progression into more skilled work. That might be difficult to evaluate but it has to be the most important aspect of the project. It will also take quite a long time before we can really look at that, so we might plan several stages of evaluation. We might evaluate whether the systems we set up are working well soon after the project has completed. We could also plan an evaluation after a further year or so to test out whether the project has made any real difference to workforce development.
The life cycle model has helped to identify some of the areas that will need consideration, especially the amount of time that will be needed to involve others in discussions. Thinking about the phases has helped to show that the project definition phase will have to be carried out thoroughly with all those Scoping the project 25
involved in the problem area before it is clear where the problems lie or where improvement might be made.
PAUSE FOR THOUGHT
What do you think that Chris still needs to think about in scoping this project?
The objectives of the project will have to be much clearer before it is possible to begin the planning phase. It will also be important to identify a budget and a timescale so that the project can be managed effectively.
This project will need a lot of different people to be involved in defining what the problems really are, and understanding whether these are problems that might be addressed by increasing support and provision through the workplace. It almost sounds as though there should be a project to decide whether there should be a further project – the scoping phase might be a project in itself.
The ownership of this project might be a problem. Chris needs to think a lot more about the nature of the problem and the objectives of the project. Although the organization has identified poor literacy and language skills as holding back low-skilled workers from gaining the skills to progress to better paid work, this might not be how the low- paid staff see the issues. This project might be more about developing individual training plans for all levels of staff and providing suitable support for whatever development needs are identified. It is possible that the organization needs more skilled line managers who are able to carry out training needs analysis before any decisions are made about exactly what sort of training is needed. Chris needs to think more carefully about the real purpose of this project, about who might be the most appropriate sponsor and who the key stakeholders might be.
You might be concerned that there is not enough integration be- tween the stages. For example, when the team discuss and agree the objectives they could also develop details of the planning and scheduling. They might also have ideas about how progress could be controlled in a collaborative way once they are able to start imple- menting the project. There is a danger of letting this project run away if the team start to see what appear to be easy solutions, and Chris will need to be quite structured in helping everyone to identify options before rushing into decisions about potential solutions.
26 Managing projects in human resources
It appears that the organization has agreed to put some investment in the project because of Chris being asked to work on the idea, but funding will be required, at least to cover the cost of the time of ev- eryone who needs to be involved in decision making. An early task might be to estimate the probable time involved, the associated costs and the potential budget.
The model has helped to identify the amount of work that needs to be put into the early phases in scoping this project. It also demonstrates that plan- ning and implementation will not necessarily follow in a neat sequence.
Better understanding needs to be developed about what the project is expec- ted to achieve. As those involved meet to discuss how they might develop the project definition, planning and implementation will begin to happen alongside the development of shared understanding. The life cycle model is often criticized as being too simplistic for use in complex settings because it implies a simple linear progression from one phase to the next. Projects often change as they develop and as more is learnt about how they fit into their setting. In addition, the context of any project may be rapidly changing.
Change will often impact on a project, and flexibility is crucial to success.
Each project life cycle will be different. Real life is more chaotic than this model suggests, but the model does provide a structure that helps to reduce the chaos by putting boundaries around different stages of the project. Mod- els inevitably offer a simplified view of a situation. They can be helpful in providing a structure to gain an overview of a project, but they do not offer a check-list that will ensure successful completion. They do identify the essential elements, but each project is different. People and teams are always crucial as they can make the project succeed or fail.
Projects evolve through a series of loops of planning, acting, reviewing and replanning. Also, many projects begin without essential information that only becomes available later, and often changes the assumptions that have influenced the project until that point. It is important to think of planning as a continuous activity rather than something that can be completed once and used without change for the duration of the project. Expect change and plan to change the plan. Some people think of a project as something that is crafted, like a clay pot, where planning and doing take place simultaneously and each affects the other.
The first stage of the project is vitally important as it is the foundation for all the future work. The project needs to be defined clearly so that all of the people involved understand what is to be achieved and why it is worthwhile Scoping the project 27
to carry out the project. It is important to find out who has an interest in the project area and what their interests are. This will help in identifying clear objectives and goals for the project. It is also important to establish how much energy and resource should be invested in achieving the results within the time available.
In the research they carried out, Elbeik and Thomas (1998: 25) identified 10 factors that managers in multinational organizations see as critical for the success of a project:
1. Clearly defined objectives.
2. Good planning and control method.
3. Good quality of project manager.
4. Good management support.
5. Enough time and resources.
6. Commitment by all.
7. High user involvement.
8. Good communications.
9. Good project organization and structure.
10. Being able to stop a project.
They placed these factors in this order of priorities because the objectives, planning and control underpin a project. You might be thinking that if so much is known about how to make projects successful, why do they fail?
People are often reluctant to put time into the early stages of planning, and want to see some action and results. Managers often lead projects alongside other work that might seem more pressing. There is little to show in the scop- ing stage, and it is tempting to move quickly into setting out a project plan.
It is also important in the scoping stage to consider whether the project is really worth doing. There is no point in going ahead if the project is not likely either to contribute to improvement or to add value in some way, so many projects include an appraisal of the costs and benefits as part of scoping a project. If the project proves not to be either useful or viable, it is better to discover this before much time or resource is invested, even if you were very committed to the proposal.
28 Managing projects in human resources
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Questions, evidence and decisions
It is easy to become enthusiastic about a project if it is something that you care about and would like to see achieved. If a project is to attract investment and support, however, it will have to be identified as both needed and wanted. The key questions are whether the project will achieve what is intended and whether it will work as imagined. There are a number of ways of considering these questions and of assembling the evidence that supports or challenges the ideas that have been proposed.