I recently had this article published this article at http://ezinearticles.com/
There is a not-so-tall-tale of the project manager who spent seemingly hours completing and updating templates. These template were deemed necessary for each project by the PMO Director. This project manager spent so much time with his templates he had very templates he had very little time to actually manage his projects. In short, he was a slave to his tools. This not-so-tall-tale actually plays itself out across PMOs daily. There are 5 templates characteristics to ensure that you are not the central character this tale. These are:
1. Simple
This recommendation seems almost run contrary to what project managers deal with every day. Our jobs are sure not as simple and certainly not easy. Why should our tools be? After all, doesn’t that give sponsors and team members the false impression that our jobs are in fact simple and easy? The answer is to encourage full participation of sponsors and team members to make their jobs as simple and easy even if you risk your own ego and empire building. Before adding a new template to your protocol library ask:
a) What is the objective I am trying to achieve with this template?
b) Can the template at least 80% of the type of projects only partially achieves the objective?
c) Are any two elements within the template that asks the same question?
2. Transparent
There is truth in the saying that if you have to explain a joke, it is not funny. The same holds for project templates. If you have to go to great efforts to explain or justify a templates’ objective to your sponsor and team members, then those template are not needed. Strive to remove the bloated, complicated and non-targeted templates from your library.
3. Flexible
Contemporary thought suggests that companies should have five or less layers of hierarchy, projects should be agile and true change response means having the ability to turn on a dime. The same thoughts need to be applied to your templates. Truly flexible templates should be the following traits:
Does existing templates achieve their objective? For those that only partially achieves their objectives, can those templates be modified?
Can the template be used in 80% of the projects as is? Does your sponsors, team members or project managers have any thoughts/actions around adjusting the templates to meet the other 20%?
Is feedback from sponsors/teams/project managers on the template discussed and weighted before deciding whether to incorporate the change?
4. Concise
Verbal communication is often richer than written communication. It is often easier to be told what to do than it is to read what to do, especially if that reading consist of blocks of text within in 8 point font. Your template should be targeted (use bullets where possible), allow “eye breathing” space (white space), delineate where information is needed (boxes, lines, check boxes) and save trees (does not say in two pages what can be said in one). Concise.
5. Evolve
Like the theory of man, your template needs to learn, grow and stand on its own. A template created and maintained with evolution in mind displays the following traits:
a) Has feedback on templates has been reviewed and incorporated, if applicable?
b) Are you willing to admit the template is not working or modify its elements into another template or delete it entirely?
c) Was the template fully vetted within the PMO or is it simply an inherited template from the last PMO best practice exercise?
The 5 traits presented above when taken together aim and ensure the templates used within a PMO are the best (effective, responsive, targeted) it can be. Avoid the central characteristic in the not-so-tall tale. Ensure your templates are simple, transparent, flexible, concise and evolve so you avoid being a slave to them
