Do you know why you do the things you do?

So many of our projects get stuck because people and teams focus on the What and How and forget about the Why. But there are some ways to help this.

The Why of projects

So many project management meetings I’ve been in cover all the actions lists, risk and progress in detail – but somehow, the context of Why the project needs to succeed has been lost. People buy in when the Why is clear to them. People lose some of their drive when the Why is forgotten.

Problem focus

We’ve all experienced projects that start well then deviate from their original plan, get stuck and fall into the ‘failing project’ pot. Reminding everyone of the real problems the project was set up to fixed can be simple to do but often just not done robustly.

Most of the time, it’s simply buried in all the information being presented about the project. We have simply forgotten the original ‘Why’ reason the project started and are not focused on the problems we set out to fix. Particular important when new members join the Project delivery as it progresses – there is a danger they never have the full picture.

Focusing on the Why

When you think about how you communicate your project scope, project status and what needs to happen next to others, is it in terms of actions or focused on the why?

Focusing on the Why makes us different and allows others to buy in with more commitment.

If you have a spare 5 minutes, watch this TED Talk from Simon Sinek explaining how Apple go from Why to How to What to get us more motivated to buy from them. It’s not directed at running projects but it does explain the concept of motivating people to get involved really well. Click here:

Here’s our example for Projects that Deliver:

Simon explains that the What & Who are quite flat and can be the same for all. Here's ours - could really be any organisation:

• What: provide project management resources

• How: by building a team with the expertise to get the required projects tasks done

- it is the Why that will differentiate you and make your project or proposition stronger.

• Why: by using the best resources, techniques and technology and only identifying what is really needed, we help companies to successfully deliver projects that have go stuck or are failing.

We’re really interested to hear your What, How & Why….

To find out more about SIMON SINEK:

https://simonsinek.com/product/start-with-why/?ref=home

https://simonsinek.com/podcast