Organizations can boost profits and growth by integrating the skills of project managers and business developers, writes PM Planet guest columnist Kurt Foehl of PM Solutions
The success of anything as a whole depends on the quality of its parts, and nowhere is that more true than in the IT industry. The products and services delivered by IT companies are so complex that their development relies on an integrated network of skills and responsibility.
It’s interesting, then, to find that IT organizations of all shapes and sizes are overly compartmentalized. Ironically, this kind of compartmentalization is a haphazard result of success. When organizations experience rapid growth and the associated increase in orders and deadlines, they break down into segments as a means of short-term survival.
Over the long term, this “silo solution” breeds organizational chaos that sabotages future growth efforts. Suddenly, departments that supposedly work in conjunction to grow their organizations’ business have little or no communication. At times they even cause roadblocks for others in the process. When synergy breaks down, costs and inefficiencies grow.
This is especially true when it comes to business development and delivery teams. Though sales and delivery have two distinct functions, they cannot function alone. Business development needs project management to satisfy clients, and project management needs business development in order to have projects to manage.
But it is about more than simply needing or relying on one another. In addition to frustrating members of each team, a disjointed sales/delivery relationship can threaten an organization’s stability. The most notable problems arise when business development teams make promises to clients that are out of line with realistic project capacity. This discord causes damaging results, including:
Low product quality. In the rush to meet unrealistic deadlines, corners are cut and mistakes are made.
Low team morale. As quality slides morale suffers creating a cycle of failure.
Process disruption. Established routines and processes of the delivery team can become disrupted and extra work needs to be done to ensure that other projects aren’t affected.
Customer relationship damage. The client/customer relationship can be jeopardized when promised deadlines are missed, or when the team delivers a less-than-stellar finished product.
Vendor relationship damage. Vendor relationships can become strained, leading to higher costs.
In order to keep clients satisfied, increase productivity, and generate higher profits, sales professionals and project managers need to adopt the competencies of the most skilled people around—each other.
The Reese’s Solution
Perhaps management should turn to the wisdom of candy for a solution. Take Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Two separate, independent ingredients, each with its own unique taste and texture. Taken alone, each is tasty. When you put the two together, though, you have a whole new product that flies off store shelves with success unmatched by chocolate or peanut butter products alone.
By combining two classic favorites, Hershey’s created a beloved treat that has reaped rewards for the company for generations.
There is no need to candy-coat the truth, however. Neither business development professionals nor project managers are without their flaws. Luckily, by recognizing these key areas that need improvement, the growth process can begin. The fundamental mistakes most often attributed to business development professionals include:
Focusing on the promise of a quick sale without enough regard for execution.
Not analyzing the stakeholder properly.
Not communicating with the project manager early enough in planning process.
Being too quick to throw a project over the fence.
Overly focused on the next sales opportunity.
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