How to overcome project quagmire
Originally published on LinkedIn on November 14, 2024
Bill Gates once noted, “The most brilliant strategy won’t lead to success unless it’s executed effectively.”
It’s not enough to design a strategy -- the various projects making up pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that when combined will lead your organization to success. The projects need to be executed and losing momentum just delays achieving organizational goals.
Transformative changes are challenging. They demand not only financial investment but significant time and effort, often straining resources and affecting both progress and the quality of the implementation.
Consider these three tactics to regain momentum when your projects feel stuck in a quagmire.
1. Prioritize and Focus
Imagine your team's capacity is allocated with 80% to regular work, leaving only 20% for project initiatives. If Project A and Project B each require 20% capacity and promise to deliver value within two months, tackling both concurrently won’t deliver any value until four months later. (Unless the team overextends and runs at 120% capacity.)
Instead, prioritizing one project can deliver value in two months, reducing strain and preserving quality, before beginning the second.
The reality, however, is seldom this straightforward; projects vary in effort, value, and time, which are considerations when prioritizing a project. The point is that an agile approach -- delivering incremental value swiftly through quicker work cycles -- often proves beneficial for the organization.
Executing a project with employees saves on labor costs but challenges remain, mainly balancing project work with daily responsibilities, which can distract and delay the timeline and cost more due to inefficiency.
2. Utilize Contractors to Free Up Capacity
When projects require deep organizational knowledge, consider delegating standard tasks to qualified contractors to free up the capacity of knowledgeable employees.
For instance, an accounting contractor can handle day-to-day tasks, creating capacity for senior accountants to concentrate on strategic projects. This approach not only retains organizational insight but also enhances sustainability post-implementation.
Nevertheless, it's still important to manage the risk that with newfound capacity employees get diverted by other work. In addition, employees still must find incremental time to oversee the contractor's work.
3. Engage Consultants for Execution
Whereas contractors are execution-focused, consultants bring advisory, planning, and execution skills in addition to technical skills. Suppose the project's objectives are clear but the path isn't. In that case, a consultant’s experience and leadership can drive the project with minimal oversight, freeing up company leaders for operational responsibilities or other strategic pursuits.
The consultant’s rate is usually higher than a contractor due to the extensive experience and knowledge they offer. However, consultants usually work on a deliverable basis rather than on a fixed-term contract, only requiring payment for the work done and not downtime, which can be cost-effective.
A third party will lack the organizational knowledge of an employee. However, change initiatives should include a discovery phase of business analysis and requirements gathering regardless of whether conducted internally or externally. In addition, a consultant brings a fresh, unbiased perspective to the project.
Conclusion
Change initiatives inherently involve costs, whether opportunity costs of employee time, inefficiencies from intermittent execution, or direct expenses from hiring third parties.
Remember, these projects were chosen for their critical impact on your organization’s success. Therefore, it is essential to prevent project quagmire and maintain momentum to achieve organizational goals.
