How you frame the problem determines how you frame success.
How you frame success determines how you frame the work.
How you frame the work determines how you frame the agreement on how to proceed.
Projects rarely succeed when they are rushed into without planning and proper definition.
Defining the problem is often rushed over, confusing symptoms as problems.
The urge to start getting something done often results in a lack of alignment with what success looks like for the various stakeholders.
All the stuff in between those two points is often left figuring out the details in the moment, after the project is launched.
61% of companies surveyed in our on-going organizational challenges survey, DIAGNOSE, indicate that they have challenges with gathering project information and detailing the project up front. Their most common scenario is the following:
“There is a time-sensitive project coming up that will require a tight control and transparency of the tasks and accomplishments and leaves no room for a “Regroup” after starting the project.”
This scenario is closely followed by another common challenge:
“An important project is on the horizon that needs to go as smoothly as possible and as formal/structured as possible.”
Companies know that the infamous “regrouping” does not benefit them. Companies also have important, strategic projects that require more than a “we hope this project goes off without a hitch”.
While these are not wild ideas, and there is likely a never-ending list of projects from the past that could have gone better from the start, companies find themselves in the same situation over and over.
Enter FRAMING – Project Definition Activity, an collaborative activity that allows the project stakeholders to “frame” the project starting with the problem, then defining what success looks like, then filling in the middle section. It’s kind of like filling up a bookshelf. The problem and success definitions are the bookends. The other topics, Approach, Deliverables, Investment, etc… are the middle books that complete the frame.
If you want to take a different approach to defining projects, consider the Conversation Framework FRAMING – Project Definition Activity.
For a short overview of this framework, please watch the video.