Handle Your Business

No, this is not a reference to ‘The Borg’ – the nemesis of Star Fleet in Star Trek (well, actually it is), but more to say that we are all project managers and to deny otherwise is futile!

Let me explain. I recently did a project where I put an extractor fan in my bathroom. Well, being perfectly honest I didn’t ‘do it’ – as I am not a qualified electrician – I merely project managed it. My mandate/driver for change was to stop mould developing on my bathroom ceiling. So, I had options:

1. Open the window when taking a shower or bath
2. Install an extractor fan
3. Do nothing (and continue to get mould)
4. Don’t have a shower or bath, or indeed any form of hygiene that created humidity.

Clearly, 3 and 4 were not options. So I am left with 1 or 2. Option 1 is the cheapest option, but with two children under 5 years old, giving them a bath in the middle of winter with the window open is not desirable. So, there I am discussing the merits of a 35KW extractor fan, how long the fan overrun should be and do I connect the extractor fan to the bathroom light or a separate switch? How I pine for my hedonistic twenties!

But is this a project? Well, yes. It is introducing ‘change’ to my ‘business-as-usual’ (i.e. my life) and it will bring ‘business benefit’ (i.e. no mould on the bathroom ceiling). So, I ran this project like, well, a project. And.I used PRINCE2! Why? Because it is the industry standard project management methodand ‘I can’. I do maintain my wife is a lucky lady!!

Even though it was a small project, I still ran it using PRINCE2 – I still needed a business case (options 1 – 4 above and selected option based on business need, cost, benefits etc). I still needed monitoring and control (I phoned the electrician up and asked ‘how is it coming along? A Checkpoint Report in PRINCE2). I still needed to manage risk (what if the electrician fell through my ceiling?). I still needed to keep key stakeholders informed, but did I arrange a meeting with my wife and do a PowerPoint presentation on the status of the project? No, but we communicated throughout (for clarity, my wife was the Project Executive). O.k. I may be being over simplistic, but all the hallmarks of PRINCE2 are there.

Have you been in similar situations? Have you gone through the same thought process as I did? If you can draw analogies, then PRINCE2 is for you.

I said above that I used PRINCE2 because ‘I can’. And ‘I can’ because I have done the training and got the Prince2 qualification which gives me a certain level of competence to be able to use PRINCE2 in the best way for my own means (an understanding wife letting me ‘indulge’ in PRINCE2 at home also helps!).

This competence starts with correct training and attaining the PRINCE2 qualifications. So, go onresistance is futile!

 

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