In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, traditional project management techniques often fall short. Terry Dean Schmidt's "Strategic Project Management Made Simple" offers a fresh perspective on how to lead projects strategically, aligning initiatives with organizational goals while maintaining the flexibility to adapt to changing conditions. This comprehensive guide provides invaluable insights for both novice and experienced project managers looking to elevate their approach and drive successful outcomes.
Introduction: The Strategic Mindset
The book begins by emphasizing the importance of adopting a strategic mindset in project management. Schmidt argues that successful project delivery in today's fast-paced environment requires more than just following established procedures. It demands a holistic approach that tightly aligns initiatives with organizational strategy while remaining agile enough to pivot when necessary.
The author introduces readers to the concept of strategic thinking in project management, setting the stage for a deeper exploration of the tools and techniques that can transform project outcomes. By adopting this approach, project managers can navigate the complexities of modern business environments more effectively, ensuring that their projects not only meet immediate objectives but also contribute to long-term organizational success.
Building a Strategic Foundation
The Logical Framework Approach
At the heart of Schmidt's strategic project management methodology lies the Logical Framework Approach, often represented as a LogFrame matrix. This powerful tool provides a structured approach to project planning and management, enabling project leaders to clearly outline objectives and track progress throughout the project lifecycle.
The LogFrame matrix is typically organized into four rows, each representing a different level of project objectives:
Goal: This represents the broader, long-term objective that the project aims to contribute to, usually at the company level.
Purpose: Also known as the outcome, this is the direct impact of the project. It answers the question of why the project is being undertaken and how it supports long-term goals.
Outputs: These are the specific, tangible results or products that need to be produced to accomplish the project's purpose. Outputs are entirely within the project team's control.
Activities: These are the day-to-day tasks that need to be completed to achieve the outputs.
For each of these components, the LogFrame approach encourages project managers to consider four strategic questions:
- What are you trying to accomplish, and why?
- How will you measure success?
- What conditions must exist?
- How will you get there?
By systematically addressing these questions for each level of the project, managers can create a comprehensive and logically sound project plan.
Stakeholder Involvement: The Key to Success
Schmidt emphasizes the critical role of stakeholder management in project success. He advises bringing key players on board early in the process to build commitment and ensure smooth execution.
The first step in effective stakeholder management is identification. Project managers should consider all potential stakeholders, including:
- Customers and end-users
- Project team members
- Sponsors
- Participating organizations
- Vendors
- Gatekeepers controlling needed resources
- Potential opponents or blockers
Once identified, it's crucial to analyze each stakeholder's interests, influence, and likely level of support. If gaps exist between the current and desired levels of support, proactive steps should be taken to secure buy-in.
Schmidt suggests several strategies for gaining stakeholder support:
- Communicating the project vision clearly
- Engaging in reasoned discussion
- Accommodating stakeholder interests in the solution
- Negotiating support trades
- Applying pressure through legitimate power channels
- Leveraging existing relationships
The author emphasizes the importance of involving stakeholders directly in planning activities, such as collaborative LogFrame sessions. This approach not only builds shared ownership and commitment but also helps surface potential issues early on and shapes win-win plans from the outset.
Throughout the project's execution, regular communication and updates are essential to keep stakeholders engaged. Project managers should continuously monitor the stakeholder landscape for changes that may impact support levels and be prepared to take corrective actions if necessary.
The Four Strategic Questions
1. What Are You Trying to Achieve, and Why?
Schmidt stresses the importance of clearly defining project objectives, noting that many projects often start with vague or poorly articulated goals. To address this, he recommends a thorough problem diagnosis process. Project managers should avoid settling for oversimplified definitions or catchphrases, instead digging deep to identify the core issue that's worth solving.
Once the problem is clearly understood, objectives should be established using precise language with well-chosen verbs and descriptors. It's crucial to distinguish between the different levels of objectives (goal, purpose, outputs, and activities) and ensure logical connections between them.
For example:
- Goal: Increase market share for a particular product
- Purpose: Increase customer adoption of the product
- Outputs: Launch new features, run tests, build marketing campaigns
- Activities: Specific tasks needed to achieve the outputs
Schmidt emphasizes the importance of creating measurable outputs with clear deadlines. This hierarchy of objectives also serves as a management contract, clarifying accountability at each level.
The author advises carefully examining the presumed "if-then" links between levels to strengthen the strategy's validity and avoid wishful thinking or faulty logic. For instance: "If we achieve the output of a new product feature, then we'll accomplish the purpose of customers adopting it. If we accomplish that purpose, then we'll reach the goal of increased market share."
By clearly defining objectives and fitting them into true if-then statements, project managers provide a solid backbone for their initiatives, moving teams from fuzzy notions to solid alignment around a common goal.
2. How Will You Measure Success?
With objectives clearly defined, the next crucial step is determining how to measure success. Schmidt emphasizes the importance of defining quantifiable measures at every objective level:
Goal measures: These capture macro, long-term impacts, such as a 5 percent increase in customer satisfaction or 10 percent growth in market share.
Purpose measures: These define the conditions that will exist if the project succeeds, often using "from-to" thinking. For example, if customers adopt a new system, the user rate might improve from 20 percent to 40 percent.
Output measures: These detail the quality, quantity, and timeframe specifications for project deliverables. An example might be a training course completed by 150 employees in Q3 with a test score of 80 percent.
Activity measures: These track costs, timelines, and quality metrics for specific tasks, such as meeting project budgets and milestones.
Schmidt advises quantifying measures wherever possible and identifying specific means of verification, such as reports, surveys, or observations. He places special emphasis on purpose measures, considering them the most important as they reflect real-world success rather than just project completion.
The author encourages project managers to track what matters, not just what's easy to measure. Well-defined, verifiable measures keep teams focused on producing actual impact rather than simply completing activities. They provide an objective yardstick to assess progress and redirect efforts if needed.
3. What Conditions Need to Exist?
Every project rests on assumptions – external factors that are often uncertain. Schmidt argues that these assumptions frequently go unacknowledged, potentially derailing progress when they fail to hold true. By explicitly addressing the question "What conditions must exist?", project managers can bring hidden risks to light and prevent unexpected surprises.
The author emphasizes that assumptions always exist, whether verified or not. Making implicit assumptions explicit is crucial for project success. He advises articulating and documenting assumptions to avoid preventable disappointments stemming from vague or faulty definitions.
When formulating assumptions, Schmidt recommends expressing desired conditions using quantity, quality, and timeline measures where possible. These assumptions should be placed at each appropriate LogFrame level – goal, purpose, output, and activity. The aim is to cover every factor that could potentially impact the project.
Examples of assumptions at different levels might include:
- Goal level: Funding approval
- Purpose level: Employees adopt the new system as intended
- Output level: Technology integrates with existing IT systems as expected
- Activity level: Team completes user research within a given timeframe
Schmidt advises determining which assumptions are the focus of another team's project and communicating extensively to minimize negative cross-project consequences. He also recommends analyzing the likelihood and impact of assumption failure, ranking them as high, medium, or low risk. Focus should be placed on managing high-risk assumptions, with backup plans ready to mitigate potential issues.
By proactively surfacing and testing assumptions, project managers can reduce surprises and adapt plans to changing conditions more effectively. This approach is key to converting strategy into reality.
4. How Will You Get There?
With the strategy set, the final step is detailing exactly how to bridge objectives to on-the-ground action. Schmidt's approach to answering "How will you get there?" brings focus to execution efforts.
The author recommends breaking the project into logical phases or chunks, naming and framing each one. Near-term chunks should be planned in detail, while more distant chunks can be outlined at a higher level. For example, the detailed plan for Phase 1 might contain 25 tasks, while Phase 2 has 10 placeholder tasks. This approach focuses resources where they're needed today while scoping future work.
Schmidt advises using the LogFrame activities row to summarize key tasks at a high level, then employing tools like work breakdown structures, schedules, and responsibility matrices for more detailed planning. For instance, the LogFrame might list "Conduct R&D" as an activity, while the work plan details the specific R&D tasks required.
The author emphasizes the importance of maintaining line of sight through the objective hierarchy, from activities up to goals. R&D tasks should clearly link to output deliverables, which in turn should enable the project purpose and goal.
When listing activities, Schmidt recommends:
- Identifying task sequences, predecessors, and dependencies to spot issues early
- Defining resources needed for each task to develop a realistic budget
- Clarifying roles in a responsibility matrix to ensure accountability
- Scheduling key milestones and completion dates to track progress
By combining smart project chunking with high-level LogFrame planning, project managers can create a solid bridge between objectives and detailed execution plans, ensuring clear visibility throughout the process.
Adapting with Learning Cycles
Schmidt recognizes that even the best-laid plans often deviate from reality. To address this, he introduces the concept of strategic learning cycles. This approach allows for continuous monitoring, review, and evaluation of progress, enabling easy adjustments and keeping projects nimble and relevant.
The author outlines three key components of strategic learning cycles:
Monitoring: This focuses on understanding tactical progress, answering the question, "Are you on track to produce the outputs as planned?" Monitoring involves translating activities into deliverables and managing the budget and schedule.
Reviewing: This involves taking periodic high-level looks at the project strategy. Given new learnings or changing conditions, reviews ask if the project is still on track to achieve its purpose and goals. Schmidt emphasizes that reviews should consistently challenge the plan to strengthen it.
Evaluating: This occurs once the project is complete. Evaluation assesses whether the project accomplished its purpose and moved the needle on its goals, answering the question, "Did you get the impact you wanted?"
Schmidt advises building in milestones for these strategic check-ins upfront and using assessments to update plans and teams based on new insights. These check-ins can help refine objectives, measures, and activities in the LogFrame. The author recommends planning strategic reviews before launching new phases and scheduling post-project evaluations to cement learnings.
By being flexible and making adjustments based on feedback, project managers can keep their plans current, steward resources wisely, and incorporate new lessons. Schmidt likens this approach to skilled navigation, where monitoring provides course corrections while reviewing and evaluation ensure reaching the intended destination.
Final Thoughts: Embracing Strategic Project Management
In conclusion, "Strategic Project Management Made Simple" offers a comprehensive framework for successfully executing initiatives in today's turbulent business landscape. Schmidt's approach emphasizes the need for a strategic mindset that goes beyond traditional project management techniques.
By utilizing tools like the Logical Framework, asking critical questions, and proactively managing stakeholders, project managers can align their plans with organizational strategy while maintaining the flexibility to adapt based on learnings and evolving conditions.
The book provides practical guidance on:
- Building a solid strategic foundation
- Involving and managing stakeholders effectively
- Clearly defining and measuring project objectives
- Identifying and mitigating risks through assumption analysis
- Breaking down projects into manageable chunks
- Implementing learning cycles for continuous improvement
Schmidt's methodology empowers project managers to guide their teams' efforts more effectively and create tangible impact. By adopting these strategic project management principles, leaders can navigate the complexities of modern business environments with greater confidence and success.
As the business world continues to evolve at a rapid pace, the ability to think and act strategically in project management becomes increasingly crucial. "Strategic Project Management Made Simple" equips readers with the tools and mindset needed to drive results while remaining adaptable in the face of change.
For project managers looking to elevate their approach and consistently deliver successful outcomes, Schmidt's book offers invaluable insights and practical strategies. By embracing these principles, project leaders can transform their initiatives from mere task completion exercises into strategic drivers of organizational success.