![\"crossing](\"https:\/\/svapm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/summit.thumbnail.png\")
<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nCreating a project office may be the “in thing” to do.\u00a0 It is also fraught with perils.\u00a0 A goal may be to implement a project office as a vehicle for organizational change.\u00a0 The first step, then, is to discover the processes necessary to lead organizational change and create the conditions that will enable change.\u00a0 This time is akin to the preparation of a project plan.<\/p>\n
Some will say the planning is a waste of time.\u00a0 Some may press for quick results and eschew the entire planning idea.\u00a0 Others may agitate to quicken the process and get to action sooner.\u00a0 But project and program managers know better.\u00a0 They know that planning is essential.\u00a0 For those who insist on skipping this first phase and taking a shortcut, here is a cautionary tale:<\/p>\n
In the spring of 1846 a group of immigrants set out from Illinois to make the 2000 mile journey to California.\u00a0 They planned to use the well-known Oregon Trail.\u00a0 One part of this group, the Donner<\/em> party, was determined to reach California quickly and so decided to take a shortcut<\/em>.\u00a0 They traveled with a larger group until reaching the Little Sandy River.\u00a0 At this point the larger party turned North, taking the longer route up through Oregon and then to California.\u00a0 The Donner party headed South, taking an untried route known as Hasting’s Cutoff.\u00a0 Since no one, including Hastings himself, had ever tried this cutoff, they had little idea of what to expect.\u00a0 Their first barrier was the great Salt Lake Desert where they encountered conditions that they never imagined: searing heat by day and frigid winds at night.\u00a0 A more formidable barrier was encountered in the Sierra.\u00a0 Due to a severe winter storm, the party was forced to camp in makeshift cabins or tents just to the East of the pass which today bears their name.\u00a0 The majority of these unfortunates spent a starving, frozen winter trapped in the mountains.\u00a0 That winter of 1846-47 was to be the worst ever recorded in the Sierra.\u00a0 Many of the party died and those who survived reached California long after the other members of the original Illinois group.<\/p>\n The Donner Party faced: A first conclusion for the project office team is that many have gone before you with a journey of organizational change.\u00a0 Their collective experience forms the equivalent of the Oregon Trail, a process showing a known way to reach the desired goal.\u00a0 Although this path may seem long, ignore it at your own peril.\u00a0 Second, although the Oregon Trail was well-known and well traveled, it was not necessarily easy.\u00a0 There were many difficulties along that trail and no doubt some people died even with taking the known route.\u00a0 So taking the Oregon Trail is no guarantee of success but it seems to greatly increase the chances.\u00a0 Third, taking a shortcut leads into unknown territory, like the Salt Lake Desert.\u00a0 It may look good on the map, but the map is not the territory.<\/p>\n The best advice for project office planners considering a shortcut was given by Virginia Reed, a Donner party survivor, advising, “Remember, never take no cutoffs and hurry along as fast as you can.”<\/p>\n Adapted from Creating the Project Office:\u00a0 a Manager’s Guide to Leading Organizational Change<\/a><\/em> <\/strong>by Englund, Graham, and Dinsmore. Creating a project office may be the “in thing” to do.\u00a0 It is also fraught with perils.\u00a0 A goal may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[51,1373,17,89],"class_list":["post-203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-leadership","tag-change-management","tag-goals","tag-lessons-learned","tag-project-office"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=203"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13669,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions\/13669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Little understanding of how difficult the journey would be
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Inexperience, and traveling without a guide
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The gamble of their lives
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Route that was vague, untested, unexplored, unknown
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Proposal that was unpractical
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A road to disaster<\/p>\n
\n– Randy Englund, www.englundpmc.com
\n<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"