(^180) 97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know
Flexibility Simplifies Project Management
Krishna Kadali, M. Tech
Kondapur, Hyderabad, India
MIyAMoTo MUSAShI, A FAMoUS 17 Th-CEnTURy SAMURAI, believed in
the principle, “Do not develop an attachment to any one weapon or any one
school of fighting.” This advice also rings true in our project life. It is impera-
tive that we not get too attached to any one management principle, software
tool, or programming language as our only weapon. It is only through seeing
our resources in a flexible way, arrangeable in many varying configurations,
that we are able to prepare the best response to the customer problems that
become our project.
Take an open-minded approach right from the beginning when you define
your project requirements. If you already have your weapon and fight plan
chosen before you talk to the customer, how can you be sure your solution is
the best one?
Before picking your weapon, examine all your customer’s requirements. What
problem is the customer trying to solve using your new software? The prob-
lems are usually attached to some business logic showing that the current
resources aren’t feature- or function-rich enough. Next, consider the pool of
existing factors and systems within your organization. Reusing parts of exist-
ing environmental systems skillfully can shorten and ease your project path.
Available enterprise environment factors include such diverse things as the
company infrastructure of existing facilities, equipment and software, com-
mercial and private databases, programming tools, and human resource skills.
A resource-oriented analysis of the customer requirements to be met by the
software or other project deliverables will reveal some of these underlying
resources that already exist in the organization: “Our users must be able to see
the XPP34 call center system side by side with our corporate accounts receiv-
able system. Your product will need to be merged, or be compatible, with our
4465IL legacy software.”