Paul Heffernan - project guidelines

There is quite a lot of interest in project management. I think people kind of know they should know something about it and the reality is that no matter where students go they are very likely to be involved in projects of one sort or another.

I have about 20 years in industry, of that probably 10 to 15 years was in project management. When I came to the university my research was not necessarily in project management, but I saw a demand for it and basically I have taught, having had that background in a range of industries and a range of environments. I teach project management now in a way which is something that I see as an essential skill for all of our students no matter what they end up doing.

It’s absolutely vital that you understand what you’re trying to achieve on a project because ultimately you are not going to be successful if you can’t define completion. Planning actually helps you to understand the project, better understand the parameters that are important and so on. So as the project goes on if you have planned it properly it actually gives you a better chance to respond to changes. You understand where you want to be, so you can understand how where you are differs from where you want to be.

I will always start with a basic framework and in a way what you are doing with a project management framework is trying to say is , here is the target , here is the goal we have all accepted it and now people can be motivated to deliver . So that’s how it happens, each individual part of the project and individual is responsible for delivering something, understands what they have to deliver and is ready to do it .

I think communication is absolutely vital because one of the reasons for talking about clarity is that – it’s about expressing that clarity because most projects , any serious project involves more than one person. In fact the definition I use for my students is that a project involves more than you because if it just you, it’s just task, and yes you can use some of the principles but it is not quite the same so communication the key.

I think what you have to accept is that you’ve got to step into the unknown .
That projects are by their nature are novel; there is an argument that if it’s simply a repeat that it is not a project. It is highly unlikely that everything will go exactly to plan. If it does then you are probably not doing anything very challenging.

My own experience has shown that you don’t have to be an expert in a domain that you are managing with projects. You have to have an understanding, and you have to make the effort to understand it, but ultimately you are trying to release the potential of the people, their capability’s and the ability of the people who are on your team. So what are you there for?
You’re there to facilitate that process, you cannot be an expert in everything. Don’t try to be, but you have to have an understanding – you have to develop your own understanding and give people the confidence that you understand enough to be able to help them to do their job better and that’s why it is worth putting the effort into the process and that’s why the communication becomes important because you’re trying to get all these people not to do things because you are telling them to do them but because they know that’s what needs to be done because they understand what you are trying achieve too.