In Jim Collins’ book “Good to Great” he recommended businesses prioritise getting the right people ‘on the bus’ before deciding where they are headed. I’d say even before getting on the bus you need to decide where you are going — no point having a party bus designed for Las Vegas if you’re headed out into the desert sand-dunes.
As someone who works in technology, you might think I’d put the technology first. I don’t. I’m a firm believer in people–process–technology, and in that order. AI is accelerating the pace of change, but it’s not rewriting the fundamentals. What it is doing is raising the stakes for organisations that haven’t got their people and process in order — because technology amplifies both good and bad habits equally.
With over 25 years’ experience running projects, programmes and portfolios across consumer goods, pharma, hospitality, retail, property and construction — and at a global level — I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on what actually makes projects succeed. The honest answer is always the same three things.
You can overlay any methodology you like and debate which is best. In my experience it’s less about the methodology and more about having the right people, process and technology for the job in hand. Get all three working together and you’re in good shape. Miss one and you’ll feel it.
Here are my thoughts on the key ingredients for each. As you read through, think about a project you’re currently running — or one from the recent past — and honestly rate yourself against each attribute. Where you find gaps, I’d wager you’ll also find the explanation for your delays, rework, or cost overruns.
People
- Committed team — accountable for the collective outcome, not just their part. Ideally with skin in the game and a clear view of the bigger picture.
- Aligned team — aligned over a common goal, with clarity on the outcomes and deliverables. Alignment isn’t the same as agreement; it means everyone knows what they’re aiming at.
- Empowered team — when people understand the bigger picture, they can adapt when they hit the inevitable challenges rather than waiting for permission.
- Skilled team — commitment matters, but enthusiasm alone won’t get you there. You need the right expertise for the work at hand.
- Capacity to deliver — overloaded people can’t do their best work. They know it, and so does everyone waiting on them. Capacity isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s a prerequisite.
Process
- A repeatable, defined process — your team’s energy should go into the outcomes and deliverables, not reinventing how they’re going to work together every time.
- Appropriate oversight and governance — structure gives the team confidence. Oversight keeps score, drives accountability, and ensures that when a decision is needed, it gets made.
- Effective prioritisation and demand management — projects don’t exist in a vacuum. New work constantly arrives. If you’re not actively evaluating and prioritising, you’re just adding to the pile.
- Communication — the right information, to the right people, at the right time. Not a weekly status update that nobody reads.
- Change management — projects exist to deliver outcomes and benefits. That only happens if the foundations are in place for those outcomes to land. Delivery and adoption are not the same thing.
- Continuous improvement — learning from experience, updating processes, capturing what worked. Organisations that do this consistently outperform those that treat every project as a blank sheet.
Technology
- Information availability — the right data, available in real time, so meetings become decision forums rather than update sessions. This alone is a massive accelerator for collaboration and decision-making.
- Single touchpoint — information entered once and routed to where it needs to go. Re-entering data is wasted effort and a reliable source of error.
- Accelerating delivery — automation frees people from processing information manually, which both increases capacity and reduces the risk of things falling through the cracks.
- One version of the truth — connected data means everyone is working from the same picture. Decisions made on stale or conflicting information rarely end well.
So, how did you score?
If you’ve been honest with yourself, you probably found a few gaps. Most people do. The good news is that gaps are fixable — but only once you’ve named them.
That’s exactly the work we do at Prodactive. We bring 25+ years of real project and programme management experience alongside deep Smartsheet expertise to help organisations get all three elements working together. Not just implementing a tool, but making sure the people and processes are set up to get the most from it.
If you’d like to talk through where your gaps are and what it would take to close them, get in touch. No hard sell — just a direct conversation about where you are and where you want to be.
