(^48) 97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know
Managing Human Factors in IT Project Management
James Graham, PMP
Ta’ l-Ibrag, Malta
AS SoFTWARE PRojECT MAnAgERS, we obsess over the schedule details.
We huddle with our teammates to try to anticipate risk factors that could
derail our projects. We crunch numbers to see if we can squeeze the project
deliverables out of the allocated budget. But we tend to overlook, or ignore, the
most prevalent cause of project failure: the human factor.
From errors, to accidents, to out-and-out nonperformance, human failure to
perform can often be tied to our tendency to repeat our past behaviors. If it
worked successfully for us last time, it should work again. There is an old say-
ing: “For he who is a hammer, every problem is a nail.” Psychological research
shows that people under the influence of stress may revert to the learning or
experiences that are hammer-like, because they found success with them in
the past. What is more stressful than undertaking a new software project?
Because the objective of most projects is to create a new product, service, or solu-
tion, agility and flexibility of mind and working style are major positive behav-
iors to encourage instead of repeating past actions. Following old processes may
be counterproductive when you’re faced with a new, different challenge.
Consider a business analyst who is highly experienced in one formal software
project management methodology. Intellectually, he may agree with his devel-
opers’ explanation of why a more agile approach to software development
makes sense. But when faced with time pressures that appear to compromise
the project, he may revert to using some favorite techniques that worked well
in past, non-software-related experiences.