The PM Trifecta is a project management methodology developed by Botonomy LLC. It is published under Creative Commons Attribution license, in the hope that others will find it useful.
This document is intended to provide a cursory overview of the PM Trifecta.
Background: Why Create a New Methodology?
It can be cynically argued that the project management methodology marketplace is comprised of three stereotypical categories:
- Binderware: These are the comprehensive, end-to-end methodologies created by large software companies and not-for-profit organizations. Users find the level of detail and/or complexity presented in these methodologies to be suffocating. Therefore, the content sits on the shelf in 3-ring binders, staring helplessly at a project team that improvises their way through the project lifecycle.
- Fluffware: These are the proprietary methodologies touted by many large consulting companies. In practice, these are thinly veiled variations of traditional waterfall project plans, tailored to match whatever the client wishes to hear that day.
- Buzzware: These are the silver bullet approaches to project management, such as Extreme Programming. While many of these methodologies have merit and substance, some of their more unorthodox concepts may not thrive in the client's corporate culture, often resulting in a project team which follows a watered-down version of the methodology, with questionable results.
The PM Trifecta is not a canned playbook for executing project tasks. Instead, it is an approach that focuses on building a common vocabulary among stakeholders in the interest of reaching consensus regarding the things that are key to the success of the project, as well as the things that can be safely set aside.
The PM Trifecta approach acknowledges that corporate culture plays a huge part in setting the tone and cadence of a project, so the approach is focused on helping project stakeholders ask the right questions, rather than pretending that any methodology holds all the answers. In essence, the PM Trifecta applies the Worse is Better philosophy to the realm of Project Management methodology.
Elements of the PM Trifecta
The Trifecta is composed of the following three elements:Documents, Lists, and Reflexes. The following is a brief overview of these elements:
- Documents: The artifacts that are created and maintained during the lifecycle of a project. Examples include the Project Charter, Project Plan, and Communications Plan.
- Lists: The collections of things that are tracked and/or managed by a project team. Examples include Issues, Contact Lists, Tasks, and Requirements.
- Reflexes: The processes followed by a project team in response to key events within the project lifecycle. A reflex is composed of both the stimulus (i.e. the event) and response (i.e. actions taken by the project team members). Reflexes are the most complex aspect of the Trifecta, and will be covered in greater depth in forthcoming articles.
These items are critical to understanding the behavioral and cultural dynamics that materially contribute to the success of a project team. A project team that has embraced the PM Trifecta approach can quickly and easily discuss the key elements of their project in terms of Documents, Lists, and Reflexes, regardless of the underlying complexity of their organization's "officlal" methodology
Useful in Planning and Rescue Scenarios
The PM Trifecta can also be used to assess and remedy a running project that is experiencing delivery challenges. For example:
If you show me the documents that your team actively maintains, I can assess the level of formality expected of your project team.
If you show me the lists of things that are actively tracked within your project, I can describe the priorities of your stakeholders
Lastly, if you give me accurate descriptions of your team's reactions to commonly occurring project events (i.e. Reflexes), I will understand the level of discipline and predictability with which your team operates.
Armed with an understanding of the formality, priorities, and discipline that is demonstrated by the project team and its stakeholders, it is then a matter of mapping these attributes to the people/process/technology deficiencies faced by the project, and then creating an actionable list of corrective and measurable steps to help the project team correct its course.
Hopefully this document motivated you to think of your project in terms of Document/List/Reflexes. In future articles, these elements will be further dissected, and we will discuss how the Trifecta can help project teams better understand and embrace other formal project management approaches.
