Collective Wisdom from the Experts 145
I have seen project managers try to force everyone participating in the project
to keep to the activities and schedule recorded in the original plan. They fail to
realize that, as they recognize changing conditions, it would be more useful to
lead the team in replanning activities based on the new circumstances.
Plans and documents contain essential information for a business to meet its
goals. However, the plans and documents by themselves are actually quite use-
less. They need people to act upon the results they highlight and for someone
to convey the information they contain to other parties who would then ben-
efit from the knowledge.
Therefore, it is always important to consider what is the right level of informa-
tion to be passed on and what is the best method for delivering the information
to other parties concerned with the outcome of this project. Documents are
often the poorest choices to convey important data. The richest level of com-
munication is face-to-face.
Project managers also have the unenviable job of maintaining the delicate bal-
ance between the overhead need to meet traceability or auditing requirements
and other non-document-centric activities that ultimately add value to a project.
Successful project managers do just enough planning, capture just enough
detail, realize that issues will invariably arise as the project progresses, and
recognize when plans need to change because of new or unanticipated needs.
They remember that the documents from the planning process are the means
to a well-run project, not an end in and of themselves.