When differences in opinion arise and decision-making is slow, projects can be an uphill struggle. Avoid this by giving everyone a say in the project objectives and KPIs right from the start.

When projects get underway, we are all in high spirits and have a clear idea of what we want to achieve. But as the constraints of reality start to become clear and new decisions need to be taken, it is often more difficult to stay aligned. System design projects are an example: everyone thinks and decides on the basis of their own experiences and needs. Inspiration flies out of the window.

Correct argumentation and context
When decisions need to be approved at a more senior level, the working group often struggles to provide management with the correct arguments and context. As a result, management is not always able to make the best choices.

We have learned through trial and error that it is better to start projects by getting everybody, i.e. management and those directly involved, to collectively draw up inspiring project tasks and objectives.

On one occasion we started a project where we were only asked to automate the existing work permit process and forms. The working group devoted a lot of attention to minor issues such as functionalities for enabling automatic completion of fields and allowing everyone to activate a specific measure in exceptional cases. So instead of concentrating on the big picture, a lot of time was wasted on unimportant details.

Uniform project objectives
The KPIs and project parameters and objectives must be made absolutely clear and tangible. This is not easy – because we are not used to formulating our goals in measurable terms. During a subsequent project, the customer gave us clear objectives in advance, such as more uniform completion of work permits, ensuring that workplace inspections for smouldering material are carried out after welding work, and shortening the waiting times for maintenance engineers collecting their permits in the morning.

As a result, the working group was able to spend its time thinking about methods, responsibilities and IT functions for solving these issues instead of concentrating on unimportant details. This assignment could be clearly communicated to the project team and close cooperation subsequently ensured that the project tasks and objective remained uniform for all parties.

More inspiring
This uniform approach enables faster and broadly-endorsed decision-making by management. Each decision can be made on the strength of a clear assessment of what and how it can contribute to the objectives. Very often, members of project teams fail to see the enormous progress and improvements that have already been achieved. Which is a pity - because it is much more inspiring to build on the steps already made, than to focus solely on the long road still to be travelled.

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