A few years ago, when I was working for a major aircraft manufacturer, I had the opportunity to hear a program director say to his project managers: “At launch, we make plans and then the project moves forward, and deviations occur. It is then necessary to take action to return to the reference. Action monitoring is therefore the most important tool of the project manager”.
As a young consultant at the time, I was surprised by the value placed by a seasoned professional on this aspect of our profession. I have since made his maxim my own. Let’s explore together the many facets of action tracking to understand its full value and the best practices to adopt in this area.
Action categories
Let’s face it, the literature is rather thin on the subject. At most, it distinguishes between “corrective” actions to meet the requirements of the project management plan and “preventive” actions, constituting the essence of the risk management plan.
In both cases, these actions will often aim at gathering information or coordinating work between stakeholders. Reducing uncertainty and optimising efforts is a constant concern for project managers.
Note that all project processes generate actions. A project progress meeting that did not stop there would inevitably be flawed.
Associated tools
Numerous generative processes, multi-functional teams; action monitoring requires appropriate tools. A quick look at the key functionalities gives us an initial assessment of the solutions on the market.
- The tool must be collaborative and bring together the stakeholders’ action plans on a common platform. The benefits are twofold: information completeness and the possibility for each participant to visualize all their actions regardless of their origin.
- It makes it possible to distinguish between the notions of progress and completion of an action, to enable the person responsible for the action and the applicant for the action to play their respective roles.
- It is enriched by the management of decisions and information, constituting an IDA (Information, Decision, Action).
- Among the essentials, the ease with which information can be structured, the simplicity with which progress can be captured and the presence of integrated indicators.
One of the best tools on the market is the comprehensive RIDA from Perfony.
How it works
Two prerequisites to fulfil.
- Establish a climate of cooperation so that everyone feels authorised to propose actions to secure the objectives. An idea that is not expressed will not even have the possibility of being rejected; it will be lost before it exists.
- Working transparently: actions are taken in the presence of the interested parties and are formally closed at a meeting to ensure that the project team is properly informed.
Simple but effective rules to follow.
- An action must respect the roles and responsibilities in place, hence the importance of referring to the project’s RACI matrix or creating one if necessary. Identify the person responsible by name, otherwise there is a high probability that nothing will happen.
- An action must be effective. One way of meeting this requirement is to word it with an action verb: to write, to provide, to inform, to validate, and so on. This recommendation seems self-evident, yet how many sentences without verbs and therefore impotent actions can be observed in project registers!
- It must be possible to understand an action several weeks after a meeting without having to present it at the time. It must be self-supporting. If necessary, use the 5Ws and 2H technique (What? Why? When? Where? Who? How? How much?) to obtain complete descriptions.
- Finally, an action must not generate unnecessary work. It must be consistent with other actions underway. Let us remain vigilant when it comes to focusing managerial efforts on projects.
For issues that cannot be dealt with by the usual channels, set up a working group or task force to steer a specific action plan. For this, specific guidelines should be followed:
- Establish the working group’s objective clearly, or better : be SMART. The time spent on this definition is never wasted. Nor is the time spent formalising it, in the form of a mandate for example, because it will help the team to stay focused.
- Ensure the completeness of the process with creative techniques (ex: mind mapping) or analytical (ex: SWOT) techniques
- Prioritise, in particular according to available resources.
- Monitor the progress of the plan, adapt it as necessary.
Behavioural skills
Technique is not everything. Behavioural skills come into play when, after examining a status or a report, the situation materialises in the form of a decision-making or action.
The following skills need to be developed to improve this aspect of project management:
- Systems thinking: Adopting a holistic approach allows the project to be seen as a system of interacting activities and domains. This approach is effective in environments where the management of stakeholders and interfaces is key.
- Critical thinking: Actions, as responses to a deviation, are necessarily generated from attention, doubt or questioning. Critical thinking is therefore useful to identify and deal with real discrepancies.
- Decision-making: Assigning an action to a member of the project team is a decision (you could do nothing). This skill is therefore necessary, especially as many actions pave the way for future decisions.
- Enhancing team skills: Assigning increasingly difficult tasks to a project team member is a good way for the project manager to help a team member (or a team) progress in their current position. This managerial tool needs to be used consciously to offer a motivating challenge while respecting one’s abilities.
PMO
The PMO is at the forefront of analysing project performance. They ensure that clear and analysed reports are available, actions are up to date and proposals are made for new subjects.
Alongside the project manager, like a modern-day Sisyphus, he tirelessly pushes the DEMING cycle: Plan, Do, Check, Act, Plan, Do, Check, Act… with a happier ending, however, the success of the project is at the top of the hill!
At eocen, we are convinced that the added value of a PMO service is not limited to the quantity of deliverables provided. Enabling decision making and monitoring of priority actions are the oil in the wheels of the project process and daily quality assurance. And for a project manager, this is priceless.
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