Drama! Tears! Exhilaratus!

Of late I have found myself doing little development or database work and spending my time in meetings discussing business intelligence plans and requirements. I used to hate meetings simply because they did not have an agenda or somehow it got hijacked by trvial matters. So far these meetings have been very productive. Engaging in planning for aspects of the business that were hitherto beyond grasp is I must say fun and challenging. Laying these plans got me thinking as to why despite the elaborate and detailed plans a project ends up failing even with all factors remaining constant.

Every project management guru says measure productivity. For some of these factors measurement is easy since they are based on output. Productivity on the other hand can be measured for some projects such business development, sales and marketing simply because the output of such projects has a direct impact on the balance sheet.

How do you measure IT projects? Do you look at efficiency, productivity or both? These aspects cannot be quantified. How do you measure the unquantifiable? There’s a school of thought that suggests timelines and other deliverables apart from the end product best measure productivity. However, these factors do not indicate the quality of the work. Would you rather have a project done on time with the necessary deliverables or quality work? What’s the trade off between quality and quantity?

In striving to achieve the basic expectations of time,cost etc. (quantity), we overlook the quality aspect. The nature of IT projects is such that the quality of the end product is what matters to the user and the business. Time, finances and other apects are purely disciplinary in terms of adhering to expectations. The quality of the end product can be used to justify all other factors. Quality justifies productivity. However, in order to stick to proper project management practises, it paramount to provide the business with progress reports.

Though not indicating productivity, they give the business a understanding of the status of the project and insight to the quality of the product.

There’s no formula for determining the productivity because the factors to be considered are endless but a great starting point would be progress reports and the quality of the end product. These two will prove that the team is productive and the project a success.