Project Recovery

Even if our resumes and LinkedIn profiles portray us as superhuman, we all fail. And nowhere are those failures more apparent than on some of the big IT projects we lead and manage.

The important question is: How quickly can we fail at something before we make a big investment in it? Failing fast is an IT project management practice that can save an organization millions of dollars.

The checks and balances of large organizations are all well intentioned, but the combined effect is the same: slow, lumbering projects.

At the same time, enterprise IT projects start to acquire a certain credibility the longer they're allowed to survive. Projects start to attach themselves to the careers of certain managers, and there's a reciprocating effect: The projects take on a heightened importance among line-level staff ("Oh, what will Ms. X think if I don't do well on this project?"). The project's sponsors damn the torpedoes and plow ahead, because the project simply must work. "My name's on it!"

Projects also acquire a life of their own. You know how data center technicians will insist that, this time, one more reboot, one more fix, will make the upgrade work rather than concede that the project is turning into a nightmare? That's how some project managers get. Instead of raising a flag to warn that a project (a) doesn't have enough resources, (b) was ill conceived, or (c) is subject to new information that makes it a bad idea, project managers have been trained to push the puck forward, forward, forward.

The wheels of bureaucracy will eventually grind to the realization that the project is indeed a bad one--but not until the big investments have been made.

Alex Adamopoulos, CEO of Emergn, a project portfolio management consultancy whose customers include British Airways and BT, says he has seen millions of dollars spent on projects before organizations muster the will to declare them a failure. Organizations are wasting more than money. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of employees disrupt their work processes at a certain point in a big project's lifecycle.

So if a project is doomed, organizations usually treat as a hero the person who pulled the kill switch early on, right? You'll have to read the full article to get that juice.

Abraham Maslow devised a Hierarchy of needs and came up with five different levels namely: Physiological, Safety, Love and Belonging, Esteem, and Self Actualization. And he according to him, all of the lower levels must be attained in order to experience the higher levels. By formulating these different categories he was able to relate it with human's basic concerns and desires. But his primary focus was on the most intellectual people at his time to base his research.

The instinct to survive or human survival instinct as they say is the lowest level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Because this is a physiological need. It is basic for every human being to look for food to satisfy his hunger, drink to quench his thirst, breathe, use the bathroom and procreate. Failing to do these things will not lead to life and survival. An employer must see to it that his employees' working condition is comfortable, safe and conducive to his working condition otherwise the quality and quantity of his output will be compromised.

Safety is the second step because people need to feel safe. Part of this need is having a secure job and financial stability. It is important for an employer to establish this feeling of safety. Employees are likely not to work as hard if they believe their job is in jeopardy. The employee may do something to negatively affect the business if their security is an issue.

The third level within the Maslow theory of motivation involves a human motivation to feel like they belong and are loved. Employers who can help employees establish friendships with one another help create an environment in which the employees feel like they are accepted, and that they will enjoy working in. Scheduling events and pairing compatible people on common tasks create excellent bonding opportunities.

The fourth level is all about a person's self esteem or self worth. All of us are motivated to belong; the sense of belongingness is very important for every individual. By being a member of a group, there is a capacity for us to experience feeling of accomplishments and faith in ones capabilities. Planning for a company recreation and events like a sportsfest can help bridge the gap and thus create a sense of camaraderie between employees, which ultimately improves their performance. In addition to this it will give them a chance to unwind and at the same time boost their confidence level.

Self-actualization, the ability to solve problems and use our creativity, is Maslow's final level. This level also involves our moral compass, and can only be accessed once all of the lower levels mentioned have been achieved. We need self-actualization to become truly mature men and women.

Abraham Maslow invented a Hierarchy of Needs by which he tried to convey mankind's fundamental issues and wants. He focused on some of the most intellectual folks of his day to base his research. The Maslow Hierarchy of Needs incorporates five unique levels: Physiological, Safety, Love and Belonging, Esteem, and Self Actualization. All of the lower levels must be achieved prior to anyone could attain the higher tiers.

At the base level of Maslow's theory of motivation sits the human motivation factors. To thrive, we need to feed ourselves, drink, inhale, make use of the bathroom, and carry on the species. Should we not do these actions, we would not carry on. An important leadership quality, therefore, would be to ensure that their employee's primary concerns and comforts are fulfilled to allow them to arrive at their full aptitude. As an example, if an employee were to be very cold in your place of work, then she would not work as quickly and efficiently as if they had been in a very pleasant ecosystem.

The hierarchy defines safety as the second level. Humans need to feel safe. This includes physical safety as well as financial security. An autocratic X theory manager constantly threatening employees with layoffs or termination would explicitly remove this feeling of safety.  Employers benefit by ensuring that employees feel a sense of security. If they are concerned about imminent layoffs, employees may have trouble concentrating or feel less motivated to work hard. They may even find another job to take, or even take some form of vengeful action to get back at the company.

The third level of the Hierarchy deal with one's need to be loved and belong. It is critical for an employer to help employees develop friendships with each other. An employer can create this environment by scheduling events or pairing similar people to work together so they build a bond. In doing this a environment that employees like working in will be developed.

People have the need to feel as though they are part of a group. This is the fourth level of a person's esteem. In group situations, we have the ability to feel emotions of achievement and confidence. We start to gain the respect of others which in return boosts our self-esteem. An employer can create activities outside of work to help engage his employees. Whether it is a team sport or relay picnic event, co-workers can team build over the activities, have a great time, and boost their confidence in themselves.

The final level according to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is self-actualization. Reaching this level means achieving maturity. We can achieve this level once we have attained all the lower levels that have been discussed. The ability to deal with problems and create solutions for this problem is very important for it also deals with our feeling of morality and our values.

The requirement from every business is for folks who have proven to be talented in taking on projects with no difficulty and proficiency. Rather than an situation tied to a particular business, it is one of work culture. There happen to be a variety of rewards for people who happen to have the skills to be able to become really good at running projects. First-rate project management skills are regarded as a key attribute for hitting goals efficiently. To be able to carry out assigned duties in an effective fashion in the allocated schedule, project management training is a desirable course to be pursued by everyone.

The outcome of a project depends upon following some important guidelines, a few of them are as follows:

1. For completion of target/work on time, everybody must be organized in their work allocation and distribution. This organization can be done mentally, but it has to reflect on the desk of worker as well as in their work. Keep paperwork in the right place as required by nature of work, timely presentation of data and paperwork are the signs of a properly organized employee.
2. One needs to group the project into easily workable parts and give proper attention to each division of work so that it is completed perfectly. This way, an entire project can be completed successfully in time to produce desired results.
3. Knowledge of and comfort with a variety of hardware and software is generally more effective and preferred. Work performance, time management and efficiency are heavily determined by the skilled use of computers, the web and digital formats.
4. Leadership skills are not something someone is born with - they have to be acquired by hard work and experience and a willingness to learn. Training to manage projects provides the required framework to gain the necessary experience for becoming a good project manager. As new developments in the rapidly changing business world result in constantly changing challenges, learning never ends. Continued training is of crucial importance to keep one's skills honed like a good blade, which is why courses should be taken in regular intervals.
5. If you are in dire need of help from somebody due to pressing demands, you are free to take help from people you have access to. You should not feel bad about involving other people within your workplace in some demanding situations. If your requirements are extreme and you are just unable to handle it all alone, a request to your superior or colleague can be done in a polite manner.

Apart from obeying the project management basics, the most important factor is planning. Only planning guides a person in the correct goals that a person wants to achieve. Planning and the output obtained are directly proportional, which means good planning gives good output, or success. On the other hand, poor planning gives failure.

The training in the field of project management is recommended to people of younger generation as they are inexperienced and will be in a position to grasp the contents of the training. But whereas they can be subjected to regular exposure to such management tasks that will make them well versed in the field and get themselves experienced for projects in the future. To be more effective and successful in the field of management, they can be taught about the knowledge of computers and get trained in IT management courses.