Technology has moved on…..!
Technology has made rapid giant leaps in every dimension. For instance, we have moved from mainframes to the cloud in computing. The advancement is in every aspect of the hardware and software industry. Moreover, there are no signs of slowing down. In fact, the pace of change is ever-increasing.
Yet, we still use primitive methods to implement technology within the business.
Project Methodologies
We are moving from Waterfall to Agile, assuming that Agile will fix all problems. It is far from the truth! Few creative people in the industry produced hybrid methodologies. It turns out to be nothing more than a Sales pitch to keep the waterfall and agile community happy.
Innovation in project organisation
Pick up a 20-year old project Charter and review roles and responsibilities. If you compare it with the current Charter, you may find a slight difference. We are led to believe that the project roles are unchangeable. Does that mean that we have not found better ways to organise ourselves to implement technology projects? Why?
We are still stuck with Job Titles
We still look at the job title to assess how the project resources can offer value in the given project. We still focus on organisational hierarchies rather than the strength of the resources.
PMOs are policing agencies
PMOs’ purpose is to enforce what has worked in the past. They are too busy in policing to implement tried and tested methods. So, innovating new ways is often out of the question.
Education
We have done truly little work on educating Project Sponsors and executives. Similarly, we should educate project teams about their role, project objective and constraints. Also, we must inform organisations about emerging technologies preparing for the future. It includes but is not limited to developing in-house capabilities, outsourcing and partnering.
Summary – Technology has moved on, but we are still there!
In Summary, we have a long way to go! The majority of client and vendor organisations are short-sighted. They are reactively acting to catch up. We need to have a long-term vision and an action plan. We break barriers of existing structures of job titles, methodologies, processes, and procedures. We rethink the way software vendor engages their customers at the commercial level. The problem is that we are looking at the new world with the old pair of glasses. We need to crush them and view them with the new pair instead.
