What execs want from project reporting, but can't seem to get

Executive management requires sound information to make core business decisions, but a reliance on weak project information leads to a breakdown of trust between execs and the projects environment. Why is it so difficult to deliver trusted project reporting? We will explore the reasons behind this, and examine how this problem can be addressed, below.

When trust in the reporting information is low, the impact includes:

* The projects environment's purpose and reputation being questioned;
* All reporting content being queried;
* Reporting requirements becoming more regular and varied; and
* Patience and support for projects becoming diluted.

The bigger problem, however, is that execs are exclusively focused on core business management and generally don't understand projects. This scenario can be likened to an iceberg - with their requirements seen as the section above the surface, and the capability to meet them lying below the surface.

Looking at the section of 'iceberg' that falls below the surface, there is a lack of awareness around the dependency of project information and how it stacks up, the environment required to produce this information, and the operating functions needed.

Execs are mostly interested in tracking financial metrics. In order to reach project financial reporting, however, there is a strong dependency between various project planning activities and information sources.

To consistently produce trusted financial information, budgets are dependent on a specific scope and quality standard being structured into a schedule. Without this, resource planning cannot be undertaken and the baseline financial information cannot be estimated.

From a capability systems perspective, execs generally don't realise that core business support functions like finance, HR, IT and supply chain do not accommodate project processes for their needs, leading to an unreasonable expectation that 'projects' will be able to manage their detailed cost estimation and progress tracking through an ERP system that was configured for core business activities.

This brings us to the underestimated extent of capability required to produce sustainable results.

When a projects environment is established at an inappropriate maturity level, the result is a lack of productivity for all stakeholders.

Examining the operating capability of the average projects environment, we find that the basic components are not in place or not properly operated. For a project environment to function effectively and produce results, it requires certain key capabilities. Let's focus on some of the neglected components using a sports analogy:

* Standards (rule book) - Produce the relevant standards, frameworks and metrics by which the game will be played. Most important is a reporting framework guiding all 'captains - PMs' and 'team members' to provide feedback against the metrics required, the interval of reporting, the cut-off dates and the roll-up of information to different levels.
* Assurance (referee) - Any game with rules but no referee turns into a brawl. With very basic assurance standards, discipline is maintained and reporting quality ensured.
* Support (coach) - A team without a coach must fend for itself and interpret rules based on each player's own understanding, not from a team perspective. It is better to initially provide capacity to a project manager to produce a quality dashboard than to expect it and be disappointed.

The fastest way for a projects environment to build credibility and trust is to deliver and keep the stakeholders informed truthfully. A foolproof method to engage execs is to create visibility of the project information and establish a platform for accountability. All new projects environments invariably include bad information that needs to be corrected. This is done by taking a position on the data quality and remediating the projects to the desired standard, and reporting improved information every month until it is clean and trusted.

In conclusion, the following five items should be remembered when dealing with the 'iceberg' of trusted project information.

* Educate on the understanding of the data dependency relationships;
* Establish a basic reporting standards framework;
* Create visibility of the assured truth;
* Help the project team to remediate projects; and
* Hold the project team accountable for ongoing information quality.