Page 40 - Straight Talk On Project Management IV

Be an IT Project Marie Kondo - declutter your Portfolio

When we're called in to rescue AWOL IT Projects, we
come across a lot of the usual suspects: scope creep;
unrealistic budgets; overambitious timescales; etc.
More recently though, we are seeing a new trend.
Projects are failing just because they are heaving under
unnecessary layers of CLUTTER!
As IT Projects have got more complex, teams have
started to fall into the trap of over-complicating their
approach to managing them. Where's Marie Kondo
when you need her?

If you haven't heard of Marie Kondo, she is a Japanese
tidying guru. In her Netflix programme, she promises
that her "KonMari" method will deliver, not only a de-
cluttered house but also a clean and de-cluttered mind. I wondered whether this was something we
needed in IT Project Management.

So where to start?
1 - Declutter the docs

Have you ever heard a Project Manager complain that they completed a document during a project,
then picked up another and found themselves writing or even copy and pasting the same
information? They'll say that it slows down productivity and adds little benefit. It’s time to declutter
your docs!

Let's drill down a bit on this because Marie Kondo's method of decluttering really works here.
Faced with IT Project docs, she'd say:

i) Take your time, don’t force it. There are people in your organisation that do not want to stop using
that template and it will take time to bring them around. Be patient, ironic that as change managers
we can sometimes be rather resistant to change!!

ii) Tidy by category, that’s reasonably easy as we’re already talking project documents but the
information in them may be, as mentioned earlier, copied and pasted elsewhere!
iii) Be appreciative. Appreciate the work that went into the creation of a document. Chances are the
person next to you spent hours creating drop-down lists in it two years ago.

iv) Ask if it sparks joy. This is one of my favourite parts of Kondo's approach to deciding what you
keep and what you let go of - how much joy does the item bring you. Tough one, in terms of IT
Project Management, but if a document is cluttered and incomprehensible the person you are
asking to complete it, will dread doing so. The Kondo method, at its core, means to work out not
only the usefulness of an item but also if there is another layer that creates a positive response.

v) - Skip the big reveal (to your department). It’s tempting to try to show off the work, but your
department will already notice the change. Who needs a fanfare (or as one CIO puts it the pat on the
back parade”)?