As business and project leaders, we strive to be ready for fluctuating circumstances as best we can in order not to be blindsided by them, but there are times when even the most assiduous planning can’t prepare us for what may surface, as evidenced with this pandemic. As we slowly emerge, and as restrictions are being lifted and offices are re-opening, it’s a good time to take a careful look at our project portfolios.
When Steve Jobs officially returned to Apple, he knew the ailing company was in need of a rebirth. In less than a year, he assumed the position of Interim CEO and made critical decisions to save Apple from oblivion. In his absence, Apple began manufacturing dozens of different and varying servers, desktops and laptops, in addition to unprofitable printers, digital cameras and other ancillary items. Upon his return, Jobs eliminated well over half of all these hardware and software projects to regain laser focus on their core business imperatives. Although the cuts were painful and cost a lot of jobs, it allowed Apple to concentrate on creating a handful of great products instead of dozens of mediocre ones.
As we reevaluate our project portfolios, we must also ensure we are executing great projects for our companies, and not mediocre ones. It’s best to focus on the vital few, rather than the trivial many, as demonstrated by Steve Jobs.
This doesn’t mean we always need to abandon our projects in the face of change, but we may need to jettison certain elements of them and focus primarily on those areas critical to the business. We must ask ourselves, “if the project cannot be recovered entirely, what aspects can be recovered, must be recovered given the new business requirements and when should they be recovered?”
Typically, business objectives can be recovered to an appropriate level to still provide acceptable benefits to the business and stakeholders. This requires re-defining the project’s anticipated benefits, both quantitative and qualitative, as well as performing the necessary adjustments and fine-tuning to the project approach.
It’s essential to recycle the good project assets and eliminate the bad ones. This concept may sound familiar, as many industry turnaround specialists employ this approach when purchasing bankrupt or fledgling companies, or certain assets of those companies. Buying valuable assets from a bankrupt company is a means of acquiring them free and clear of liens, claims, encumbrances and other interests. These assets, furthermore, are usually purchased at bargain prices. The purchaser can then recycle these good assets for their own use to drive their business forward or even sell them to turn a profit.
We can exercise the same approach with our troubled projects or ones requiring vast overhauls. There will always be good assets to recycle, such as personnel, document artifacts, systems, executive sponsors, vendors and the progress made to date. This also affords us the great opportunity to eliminate the bad assets of the project. Those industry turnaround specialists are not purchasing and recycling the bad assets, only the good ones. We must do the same to transform our projects to drive success, especially in turbulent business situations. Project leaders are turnaround specialists and change agents. We must not lose sight of this important fact.
As you revamp and recover your projects, be aware that it’s more of an art than science. Your recovery approach must be unique to the changing circumstance and altering business landscape. There is no standard model, approach or methodology to embrace entirely, and you can’t run out and receive another certification to be adept in this art. This is another reason why we are adamant that we shouldn’t pigeon-hole ourselves into a certain methodology or approach, but must be flexible and leverage the best of all approaches to customize them for the challenges at hand.
For more information on how we can assist you in optimizing your project portfolio or with your most challenging project and training needs, visit us at
www.reschgroup.com or give us a call at 1-201-803-4653.
