How to Effectively Navigate Change and Project Prioritization

So, one of the most critical issues, when you start building a project plan, is to remember that the outcomes are worth multiples of what your process or activities are. So, too many times people get immersed in building these very long specification sheets, and then they fail to really make sure that it all adds up to a meaningful, valuable, high-impact result that their client really needs. So, your first order of business is to really make sure that your clients are clear about the outcomes and you agree on results first. Then you can build the plan. But too many times, we build the plan hoping for a result. That’s exactly backward. Again, the outcomes are worth multiples of what the process or activities are. Here’s the other part of that: many times, as we well know, IT projects are late. More frequently than we’d like. Here’s the key issue though: if you understand the priorities of outcomes, you may only be able to deliver 80% of the project, but you could meet 95+% of the results that they need. And then you can finish the rest of the specifications and the activities to get to that 100%. If you don’t understand what their priorities are, you’re short 20 or 25 or 30% and it looks bad. If you can deliver most of the results that they want and certainly the most important results they want, you’re going to get a lot more cooperation and a lot more appreciation for all the work that you have delivered that produces their result.

So, one of the other key pieces you always want to be looking at is not only ‘what do they need now?’ but how that feeds their future objectives. Because one of the most important things is to be ahead of the curve, not behind the curve, not trying to fix things that don’t work, but trying to create the things that are needed. And that’s really an important distinction. Too many times, we’re trying to fill gaps. And those gaps don’t necessarily add a lot of value. When instead, what you’re doing is saying ‘Where are we needing to get to?” and “Where should we be able to get to?” You can begin to plan the bridge from where they are to a really meaningful high-value outcome. That’s what a great partner—an indispensable partner does with their clients.

One thing that happens on most major projects is that there are changes along the way. By keeping your focus on what’s most important, in terms of the results, not the activities, the specs, and the process, what you can make sure of is the results that are changing are worth designing around. The technology that’s changing is just a process that needs to be fixed. So, always keep your objectives on ‘Are these results still your most important results?” “Has something changed in your business?” is what you would ask your clients. You want to stay in tune with them in terms of their strategic objectives because that’s what you partner with them to deliver.

Search our hashtags: #leadershipstartshere #stevelishansky #optimizeinternational