The Project Manager Orders... "A Berry Pie Please"
I believe that many of us in the process and project world are blind to the idea that content is at the core of what we do.
How many meetings you have been to that focused on the work methodology and process content rather than timelines and budgets? Imaging you were a bakery. Would you only talk about timing and costs when no customers are coming back for seconds?
Think about it. We’re not in business to keep people busy, check off lists, or measure things, but rather we’re in the business of building solutions and delivering accomplishments.
Ultimately, it’s about getting work done so we can meet our needs/desire for making a profit, for serving the public, or for making the world a better place.
Streamlined Processes
I recently spoke with Barry, one of my customers who's the director of operations at a large non-profit that provides renewable energy services around the world.
He said what’s important to him is not an ROI from from automating their new product development process (NPD), but rather from having a formalized and streamlined process.
A streamlined content that’s improved from lessons learned will help your projects managers produce better results. If you keep your content fresh and always improving, they will keep coming back ordering a new copy of your latest project template.
At Pie, we're constantly asked by customers if we have industry content to help them get started with a draft process, or content that's easy to configure into their specific needs.
Repeatable Processes
Pie customers understand the value for making a difference with reusable content, rather than focusing only on metrics or checklists.
For example, a mid-sized consulting firm that implements electronic health records (EHR) at hospitals, positioned themselves as the leader in their industry not only from hard quality work, but also from content that's repeatable, scalable, and constantly changing for the better. As a side note, they received the prestigious Best in Klas healthcare technology award, which is like wining a gold medal in the Olympics.
In your competitive environment, will you succeed without great content? Will your project managers cringe when assigned to a new project, or will they fearlessly order and execute a process that has grown more powerful from lessons learned?
As our customer know, process content is key. Some customers and partners have built processes of all type in Pie. Here's a sampling:
Ambulatory (Healthcare EHR), Analog Block Design, Annual Marketing Plan, ARRA Monitoring, Blog Posting, Budget Management, Business Proposal, Business Unit Close Down, Chip Design, Chip Digital RTL Design, Clinical Trial, Customer Bug Ticket, Development, DMAIC, DPM PMLC, Event Management, Google Apps Implementation, Google Adwords, Governance, Government Grants Management, ICD-10 Implementation (Healthcare). Issue Reports, ITIL Change Management, ITIL Incident Management, M&A Executive Oversight, M&A Due Diligence, Marketing Campaign, Meaningful Use (Healthcare Compliance), Meeting Prep, NPD Ideation, NPD Life Cycle, On Boarding Employee, Pandemic Execution (Who Organization), Pandemic Planning, Project Management (PMBOK), Project Management (IIL UPMM), Project Management (GPM Global PRiSM), Procurement, Program Governance & Control, Program Vendor Management, Project Health Check (Dr. Kerzner), Project Proposal Intake, QA Management, RFP Contract Process (Procurement), Sales, SAP ASAP, SAP Business ByDesign, SDLC, Security, Social Event, TEDx Event, TEDx Sponsorship, TOGAF ADM, Vendor Evaluation, Webinar Execution, and more...
Just like a bakery needs to have delicious pies for customers to come back, think about how important it is to have the right process content for your projects.
If it's just a list of tasks, the project will go sour even if it's on time and on budget. If it has a well thought out process from lessons learned, your chances of success will be higher and your managers will come back for another nice pie.
What content are you creating, executing, and improving?
Written by Paul Dandurand, Pie CEO
Photo credit by Natalie Maynor