The Swiss Project Management Journal
Projects Bejond Boundaries
To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.
JOSEPH CHILTON PEARCE
Appreciate
the Unknown
Planning a Project where there is a
lot of unknown
By Philippe Lauper, Prefix
W
henever I face a project where
there is a lot of unknown, like I did
with the Solar Impulse project, I first take
the time to acknowledge the benefits that
this kind of project can represent. There
definitely is a frightening dimension to it,
but the unknown is also a synonym for
discovery, for innovation and for freedom.
And for the project manager and the rest
of the team, such a project is a perfect
opportunity to escape monotony!
Define intermediate deliverables
My next move will be, just like any other
project, to determine clear objectives and
to break these down into macro phases
and key milestones. I choose milestones
that correspond to intermediate deliverables rather than target dates that won’t
mean much in an unknown situation. For
example, my first milestone was the delivery of the functional requirements specification of the Solar Impulse airplane, the
second milestone was the ultimate load
test of a prototype section of the wing
spar.
Allow for a flexible path
I will make sure the first key milestone is
reachable and that the path to it is broken
down into controllable – or known –
activities for the team. I will leave the rest
of the plan in high-level form, adaptable
to any development that will most likely
arise from this initial phase. I will repeat
this process detailing only the following
phase and keeping the next ones at a
macro level every time I reach a new
intermediate deliverable.
Provide a flexible project environment
Based on my experience in several startups and with R&D projects in the academic world, working on projects with a lot
of unknown usually requires creative
people. To be happy and successful, they
will need a project environment with flexible boundaries, management rules and
communication tools. For example, I can
use a tool allowing the creation of a Gantt
chart but communicate with the team
through a calendar form or a Kanban
board.
ilip
Ph
Project Management Institute
SWITZERLAND Chapter
20
L
pe
au
r
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2016 Edition