WHEN IS A PROBLEM also a project? And when is it not just one project but two? How can a structured problem solving process help you solve the problem and therefore have a successful project?
Think back to projects that you've been involved with. How many of them started with the fateful words, “We have a problem.” Maybe sales are down or inventory levels are up. Maybe there are too many customer complaints or the competition is eating your lunch. These are problems that require a solution. All too often, however, the solution is dictated in the form of a project: “Pull together a project team to revise the pricing structure. That will solve our sales problem.”
Of course pricing might be the source of the sales problem, but without defining and analyzing the problem, we won't know if we're working on the right solution. Maybe the real problem is that the sales people aren't adequately trained. Maybe the competition is introducing new products at a faster rate than we are. It is dangerous to launch a project, any project, to solve a problem before you analyze the real source of the problem. This process is called problem solving.
In order to work through the problem analysis, solution selection process most efficiently, it's useful to use a problem solving process. We call our five-stage process DAS/IR. These five stages are broken down into two separate projects: DAS and IR. The first project involves Defining the problem, Analyzing the problem or finding the root causes, and Selecting the solution. The second project consists of Implementing the solution and then Reviewing the results. In order to manage these two projects, you will need to use a project management process for each one.
So instead of diving into the Revised Pricing project, we will initiate and then plan the DAS problem analysis project. Then we'll do the work of the project— defining the problem, analyzing the data, brainstorming, and then selecting a solution. Finally, we'll close out the first project.
We present the solution we have selected to the project steering group and if it is selected as a project, we'll initiate, plan, execute, and close out the second project—the IR project. Thus any problem solving project is really two projects. The first project identifies the problem and chooses the best possible solution. The second project implements the solution.
A good rule of thumb in structuring any project is not to “overdrive your headlights.” That means, if you have a project with many stages, it's difficult to plan too far ahead in the process. In these cases, it's best to break the project into a series of consecutive projects. This has several benefits:
Provides natural gates in the project when a go/no-go decision can be made
Allows you to plan what you can project, which means your plans will be more accurate
Makes the project more manageable
Allows you to involve the people that need to be involved for that stage.
BY USING A STAGED technical process such as DAS/IR you also provide some structure to the people on the team in terms of the steps that should be followed in producing the final deliverables of the project. A structured problem solving process will help you work through the steps of getting to and implementing the right solution as quickly as possible. No matter which problem solving process you use—and there are many of them—the most important thing is not to start a project that claims to be a solution to a problem before some analysis has been done. Make sure that this solution is, in fact, the best solution, and the one that will provide the best return for the time and effort invested. After all, no one wants to waste time on a project that doesn't really solve the problem. ■