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not, the plan should be modified as appropriate during the project. This
could mean modifying current communication activities, eliminating ineffec-
tive activities, or coming up with new communication ideas based on the
experience of the project so far.
Good proactive communication is vital in a culture change initiative like this.
It is not the only area Reyna must address, but it is the foundation upon
which all other culture change activities will be built.
C H A P T E R
23
Scale Your
Processes
Based on
Project Size
Sam in Human Resources set up a meeting with me for the afternoon
of May 28 with a new employee. It was Ron Jobs, the recent graduate
Sam mentioned to me last month. He had accepted our offer and had
been on the job for about a week. The two of them came by my office
around 2 p.m. and Sam introduced us.
Tom Mochal, this is Ron Jobs, he said. Ron just graduated from
Northeast Illinois State and started with us last week. Ron looked
young. I wondered if I looked that young when I graduated college. He
was 22 or 23, and his overall look was crisp and professional. I didn t
know how smart or skilled he was, but he looked like a businessman. I
was impressed.
T. Mochal et al., Lessons in Project Management
© Tom Mochal and Jeff Mochal 2011
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Scale Your Processes Based on Project Size
It s a pleasure meeting you, I replied. Actually, I remember Sam
speaking briefly about you after your initial company interviews. If I re-
member correctly, you were top of your class.
That s right, Ron said with pride. I am really anxious to get started
and prove myself.
That s actually why I brought Ron by today, Sam interjected. He is
starting a new project and I want you to give him some advice on how
best to proceed.
Surprisingly, Sam said little else and left shortly thereafter, giving Ron
and me some time to discuss his assignment. He was responsible for
creating a real-time equipment utilization report for a manufacturing di-
vision client. Actually, I was a little concerned. It was not unusual to give
new people responsibility, but to ask Ron to lead a project as his first
assignment seemed aggressive. Perhaps he had some prior experience
managing projects at school.
Tom, Ron began, I know you have a standard project charter docu-
ment and I want some help developing it for the first time. I have a
good idea what the objectives and scope are, but I m not sure about a
couple of the other sections like risk, budget, and the overall approach.
Great, I replied. We can walk through the major risks, and I can also
give you a risk template for you to complete on your own.
Good. I am also not sure exactly how we do budgeting here, so I will
need some help going over my estimate and determining what the cost
will be.
The kid sure seemed to be asking the right questions. Not a problem. I
can give you an overview of how we do budgeting, and then you can
confirm some of the details with your manager.
I think the only other area I am not sure about is the project approach
section. I just need more clarity on what you expect to see there.
That section can be a little tricky, but by the time you get your initial
schedule laid out, you should have the information you need to complete
the approach. How many people will be working with you on this project?
Ron was a little surprised. Well, right now I am the only one identified,
he said.
99
Lessons in Project Management
Now it was my turn to be surprised. Really? You are going to put the
whole application together yourself?
Yes. There will just be one new online screen to create, Ron said.
I was beginning to get the picture. Ron, how much effort are you esti-
mating it will take to complete this work?
I should be able to complete it in about 40 hours, Ron said.
I was able to shift gears and start down a new line of questioning. The
rest of our conversation focused on gathering only the information Ron
needed to define a small enhancement project.
LESSON
Much of the work done in a company can be structured and organized as a
project. In turn, all projects need to be managed. However, the process (or
methodology) used to manage the work needs to scale up and down, de-
pending on the size of the work effort.
For instance, large projects should have a formal definition and planning
phase, as well as rigorous processes for managing and controlling the work.
In fact, it is not unusual for a very large project of 10,000 hours to require
1,500 hours of project management time. Medium-sized projects still re-
quire some level of planning and some processes for managing and control-
ling the work. For instance, on a 1,000-hour project, only 150 hours of pro-
ject management time might be needed. Note that the percentage is the
same (15 percent), but the total hours are down considerably. The same ri-
gorous project management processes for a 10,000-hour project would not
be needed for a 1,000-hour project.
How about a small project? A person may not need much formal planning
or managing at all if the project is small enough. The planning and managing
could probably be done in the person s head as he goes. For instance, a 10-
hour project may only need an hour of project management. This hour is
not spent on formal project management procedures, but it might include
completing a simple work authorization form, mapping a plan of attack in
your head, and some simple communication with stakeholders.
Let s look again at Ron s project. I give him credit for being eager to follow
project management processes, but he is not scaling the processes appro-
priately. It doesn t make sense to spend 10 hours to write a project charter
for a project requiring only 40 hours of effort. He doesn t need to define
100
Scale Your Processes Based on Project Size
formal objectives, scope, or approach. Those concepts have less meaning
for small work efforts. The chances of running into a major change or having
to manage a risk are very small on a project of this size. Even if he does,
what would be the consequences? Perhaps his 40-hour project will end up
taking 60 hours. This is 50 percent over its original estimate, but it is not
going to bankrupt the company. Projects of this size do not need formal
project management processes.
Fortunately, our department has some processes and forms that reinforce
the scalable nature of the work. For instance, we have a one-page document
called a Service Request Form that is used to define small enhancements and
other minor initiatives. Once I realized the work effort was small, I made
Ron aware of this form and we spent the rest of our meeting going over the
handful of items on it. All projects should be documented and approved
even small ones. The Service Request Form allows the client manager to see
the request and the estimated effort. The client manager can then approve
the service request as well as prioritize the work against all of the other
service requests that might be under consideration at any given time.
The lesson for Ron is to make sure he does not blindly follow a methodol-
ogy. Our organization has some standards for all projects, and of course
these should be followed. However, after the mandatory standards, the rest
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