Few organisations do projects completely in isolation. We spoke to Quay’s Principal Consultant, Jon Pascoe, to get his insights about why managing the dependencies between teams, budgets, and projects are critical to driving out the maximum value and how PMOs play a critical role.
Most of us have played Tetris at some point in our lives, that more than slightly addictive game that taunts us to create order out of chaos while we wait somewhere for something. It’s been around since 1985, yet somehow the puzzle of manoeuvring falling coloured bricks to the right spot endures. It looks easy until those little tetrominoes (that’s for the purists) arrive faster than we can work out where to stack the next block.
It seems odd to compare project dependencies to a 40+-year-old game, but from our point of view, it’s a somewhat apt analogy. In complex portfolios, PMOs must decide how to stagger projects, link scope, and meet deliverables targets to build out a project, which isn’t easy when there are shared resources, competing needs for budget, and often tension between where both are allocated.
But when there are multiple projects, the interdependencies between them can present a perfect storm of endless redesign and rework, especially when two or more projects depend on the other. If there’s any lack of clarity about who goes first or how two deliverables affect a baseline, deadlock can occur. Breaking the deadlock requires creating and managing a clear dependency, which is where a PMO plays a critical role.
Understanding project dependencies
According to Jon Pascoe, practice lead at Quay Consulting, poorly managed project dependencies can endanger an organisation’s strategic plan. However, there are several effective ways to manage them to ensure maximum value from project investments.
As Pascoe explains, dependency exists between projects when the success of one or both projects relies on the outcome of the other. Most multi-project undertakings within an organisation have dependencies making execution complex and interconnected.
When there is a string of dependency across projects, he says the failure to meet one deliverable can have a catastrophic flow-on effect, pushing multiple projects “to the right”.
“Dependencies in projects can be based on several factors such as resource, functionality or impact based, or because breaking down the work helps navigate time or cost constraints delivering in parts,” Pascoe explains.
“Dependency can be created or minimised by the way strategy is carved up. Generally, the more you break work down and create more projects, the more dependency tends to be created. The key is carving up the scope in ways that limit the need for dependency, which becomes really important in scaled agile environments as this helps each scrum team ‘run their own race’.
“Managing dependency is an important capability, particularly when delivering results and maximum value from investment is under the microscope in the current environment.”
Common project dependencies
One of the most common project dependencies is deliverable-based. Pascoe says this is when a project requires a deliverable produced by another to produce their deliverable.
He also notes that resource dependencies often impact portfolios when constrained dependencies are left unmanaged or delegated too low in the project management mix.
For example, a new integration technology must be implemented to build new integration services using that technology in projects that follow. A testing environment might be needed by multiple projects but cannot be made available to all at the same time with the required services for the test plans. Each project depends on this resource, and priority will determine the order.
Some supply and demand challenges, like resource constraints, can be more effectively planned with some centrally coordinated controls and processes, helping connect the dots for project managers who rightly focus on their deliverables and can’t always see every impact around them from other projects.
Challenges in managing project dependencies
Pascoe says managing project dependencies requires diverse skills to get effective outcomes, with the project management office needing to take the lead on challenges.
“Helping project teams to coordinate and manage the dependencies across the portfolio is a key value-add that the PMO can deliver back into projects,” he says.
“Project managers already face into a demanding role without having to also worry about the project management and delivery of the projects they are dependent on.”
Without the support of a well-functioning PMO, he says, helping coordinate dependencies and link projects to updated information for tracking and planning, means that project managers themselves often have to pick up the slack. This means they become too outwardly focused on tracking other projects instead of focusing on their own project and stakeholders, which can compromise delivery and allow risk and issues to creep in.
The other main challenge is interdependency, that situation in which dependencies are two-way.
“Here is an example. Project A aims to drive efficiency by identifying the best breakdown of BAU work across various business teams and functions. The aim is to define the best mix of roles, competency and pay grades to deliver the right service and the most efficient cost,” he says.
“But there is Project B, which aims to introduce BAU changes that will introduce new types of tasks and work into the mix. The interdependency here is that Project A would benefit from knowing the new work being added to define a model for the best mix of resources. Project B would benefit from knowing the roles and task breakdowns so they can know how they are affected.”
Running both projects in parallel and having an interdependency on each other is complex, and as one project makes changes, the other has to adjust.
“The risk,” says Pascoe, “is that they find themselves in a constant state of re-design as each project is impacted by re-work generated by the other.”
The solution? Remove the interdependencies and define a direct dependency.
“In this example, pausing Project B to allow Project A to establish a baseline optimal 1.0 resource model will enable the project to more effectively crunch the numbers of how to best deliver the services as they are today. Project B has a dependency on that model. Project B can then start looking at the new mix of resources with the new tasks added, creating a 2.0 resource model and affecting their change after.”
Effective management of project dependencies
Pascoe says there are some important things to remember when managing project dependencies.
- They are generally uncontrollable for the project that is dependent on another and will affect how the sponsor and steerco react to the impacts created by delays on dependent work.
- They are often on the critical path and a delay or impact on the deliverable or resource has an immediate effect.
- They are also risks that should be identified and mitigated, so in the event there is an impact or delay, the project has a backup plan to reduce that impact as much as possible.
- Ensure dependencies are clear, one-way and monitored.
PMO governance has a role to play
As previously identified, dependency management is a function in which the PMO can give back to the project community. PMOs are often a big collector of information for reporting to leadership and helping facilitate decisions. For the project community information can feel very one way, reporting up to the PMO and not feeling like there is much coming back.
A high functioning PMO can gather and track dependencies, ‘ activate’ that information, and provide a feedback loop to project managers. When the PMO can see the pressure on a key deliverable or resource which has dependencies, and they know what the dependents are, they can leap to action, communicating and strategising with the project teams to find ways to help keep the deliverable on track and help the downstream projects risk mitigate and communicate with stakeholders of the potential impact or delay.
“There is nothing more frustrating to a sponsor to being told that the project is going to miss an objective at the 11th hour,” says Pascoe. “At the same time, there is nothing worse for the PM finding out they have been let down at the 11th hour and now need to front up to the sponsor with that message.”
The valuable role the PMO plays in connecting the right people with the right information is they create time to get ahead of issues and reduce their impact.
For more information about our PMO capabilities, contact us here or call 1300 841 048.
We believe that quality thought leadership is worth sharing – click on any of the links below to share with your colleagues. If you’re interested in republishing our content, here’s what’s okay and not okay.