Small, but perfectly formed
Herne Consultants Ltd

Does size matter? It is true that economies of scale often translate into benefits for a business, but it is sometimes worth questioning whether the current vogue for large-scale projects is the right thing for your organisation.

The problem with large projects is quite simple - they are unwieldy to manage. As the scope of a project increases, so too does the complexity. The more detailed it becomes, the longer the project takes until completion. And often, circumstances change and the project is obsolete before it is even complete.

The solution seems to be to design small, so that objectives can be tightly monitored and the result produced truly addresses the company's particular pain points. The second ingredient is integration. If these small, flexible projects integrate with each other, they can still work within the overall strategy. This makes for an agile programme that is component based, growing and evolving easily, rather than a static, monolithic project created in one big bang.

For many, this approach is a major departure - and one that will involve a change of mindset from the board downwards. Businesses will also have to compartmentalise internal processes into specific services, clearly mapping out each business capability.

If directors link together small specialisms, the company's project programme will function like a business "brain" - working as a whole, but with the ability to work independently if one section needs change.

This article first appeared in the June 2002 edition of  Director Magazine.

The authors, Professor Robert Macredie and Dr Mark Lycett, are leaders of "Fluid Business" at Brunel University.

Learn more about how you should approach your Project programme by reading about Profit Linked Quality

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©2006 Herne Consultants - Last reviewed 3^rd May 2006