GANTT CHARTS, PID, PLANS AND RISK LOGS
As someone who has managed projects and change for over 30 years there are some things I value and some the client does and a lot that doesn't really add value despite promises.
For a projects and change rescue (my ususal engagement when it comes to mediation) the key artefacts are..
The PID - what were the roles, goals, controls, plan, deliverables and budget
The Contract - what did we contract for (compared to what we need or received)
The lasted update report - What does this say about what's decided, delivered, delayed, dysfunctional or disputed
The Gantt Chart and Risk Log are generally up-to-date at the beginning and maintained occasionally but seldom represent the truth. They generally used as assurance that we have a plan, are making progress and managing risk. However, the reality is that the documentation seldom conveys the situation any more than a map truly explains the effort of climbing a mountain or the weather on the moor as we wade through on our way to the top.
WHAT ARE THE TRUE DETERMINANTS
The reality is that projects are the stage on which people act out their hopes, dreams and dramas and are often where organisational proxy wars are fought for people and resources, hearts and minds. Many projects are the canvas on which personal or corporate ambition are painted and so it is important to recognise this despite the absence of psychology and culture in the PRINCE2 or Agile-Scrum toolkit and training. This is one of the reasons I trained as an ICF Coach and Mediation Practitioner.
My experience is that priority, focus and resources are the key determinants and momentum the greatest predictor for success. A team 100% focusses on process and goals, delivery and deadlines will always outperform a team distracted by 99 other projects, business-as-usual and the every-day admin of organisational life. I know this as a 4 x GB Gold Medal winning athlete and coach, but also as someone who had had the experience of being a shepherd with insufficient sheep and no sheep-dog. More leadership is not the answer any more than 5 extra coaches will actually improve peak performance at the Commonwealth Games Triathlon or Coastal Rowing Championships.
It is about people and process, performance and productivity. The right and sufficient people doing the right things, with the necessary resources (and removal of distractions) to perform and produce the results.
HOW DO WE MONITOR AND REPORT PERFORMANCE, PROGRESS OR PROBLEMS
The update reports for Teams, Project or Programme Board are often sanitised, fact based and summarised without the subjective elements that are oil to the machine. Moreover the complexity of updating all the project artefacts means they languish, in part because the Teams, Project or Programme Board do not have the time or capacity to comprehend these maps without meaning.
The key to the necessary understanding and decision making is engagement of the stakeholders and translation of maps into meaning, plans into plots, scheduling into story. This is where stakeholder management, communication and change-management come in. People inherently understand role, plot and story and this is what is necessary but lacking from facts and figures.
Traditionally it has been difficult for each project participant to convey their issues and needs and for these to be translated and communicated to the stakeholders responsible or accountable for delivery. It's simply too complex and what happens is that the experienced projects and change manager summarises and makes judgements just as a doctor might when diagnosing a patient and prescribing actions. The difference between a doctor and a project manager is the former is dealing one-to-one with the health of a person and the latter many-to-one with the health of a project (with consequences for the organisation as a whole.)
DOCTORS AND PATIENTS, MANAGERS AND PROJECTS
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize healthcare, particularly in the areas of diagnosis and prognosis.
1. Speeding Up Diagnosis: AI can quickly analyze complex medical data, such as images from MRIs or X-rays, to identify patterns that humans might miss. It can also process large amounts of data from electronic health records to identify trends or risk factors that could suggest a diagnosis.
2. Improving Accuracy: AI algorithms can be trained on vast amounts of data and can become more accurate than humans in some tasks. For instance, in analyzing medical images, AI can help to reduce errors and improve the accuracy of diagnoses.
3. Predicting Outcomes: AI can analyze patient data to predict future health outcomes. This can help doctors to identify patients at risk of disease or to predict how a disease will progress, allowing for early intervention or tailored treatment plans.
4. Personalizing Treatment: AI can help to analyze a patient's individual characteristics, such as their genetic makeup or lifestyle factors, to suggest the most effective treatments or preventative measures.
Case Studies:
Google's DeepMind Health: Google's AI, DeepMind, was trained to detect over 50 eye diseases as accurately as a doctor by analyzing 3D scans of the eye. In a study published in Nature Medicine, DeepMind's AI system matched world-leading doctors in accurately diagnosing a range of eye conditions.
IBM Watson Health: IBM's Watson for Oncology is an AI system that assists doctors in diagnosing and treating cancer. It analyzes a patient's medical information against a vast array of data and expertise to provide evidence-based treatment options. Watson for Oncology has been used in various hospitals worldwide, assisting in treating numerous cancer patients.
Zebra Medical Vision: Zebra's AI algorithms can read medical imaging to detect a range of diseases. In one study, its algorithm was shown to be capable of detecting breast cancer and cardiovascular disease as accurately as a human radiologist.
While these advancements are promising, it's important to note that AI is intended to assist doctors, not replace them. The human touch, intuition, and experience are still vital in healthcare. However, AI can help to reduce doctors' workloads, speed up and improve the accuracy of diagnosis, and ultimately lead to better patient outcomes. I posit that the same is true for projects and change management.
ENTER AI AS NARRATOR OF YOUR STORY
My daughter is a speech and language therapist and from one meeting she may be required to produce several documents, for example one for the clinical supervisor or consultant, one for her own file and child's records, and one for the family. Each appropriate to the purpose and audience. This is good governance and stakeholder management. We have experimented (with mixed results) the ability for AI to generate all the documentation from one base set of observations.
I believe it will be possible to use AI for projects, both for diagnosis and prognosis, and also for good governance and stakeholder management.
Critically AI rather than update stale Gantt Chart and Risk Log can completely, dynamically and instantly re-write Gantt Chart and Risk Log based on natural language input from people: "I was busy doing XYZ this week, but aim to do this between 3 and 5pm on Tuesday, subject to the availability of Jon, Helen and Charlie". However I'd suggest as useful as this may be it is like towing a horse-drawn-cart with a Tesla. It would instead be better to provide customised information like Cambridge Analytica could target precise messages to specific people to prompt their engagement in decisions and delivery.
CONCLUSION
These are draft thoughts following a weekend away trail riding in Wales with a good friend, project manager and AI follower. We are thinking about building this and this article is aimed at assessing interest and inviting feedback.
Tim HJ Rogers
MBA Management Consultant + Change Practitioner
PRINCE2 Agile-Scrum Projects, Programmes and PMO
ICF Trained Coach, IoD Business Mentor, Mediator
#AI #ProjectManagement #ChangeManagement #StakeholderManagement #GanttCharts #RiskLogs #PID #ProcessImprovement #ProjectRescue #Leadership #Performance #Productivity #PRINCE2 #AgileScrum #PMO #ICF #Coaching #Mediation #OrganizationalAmbition #Priority #Focus #Momentum #Success #Teamwork #Communication
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