Don’t use lame excuses as a reason to avoid improving your business practices.

Small businesses — even one-person companies — need to learn and integrate the best practices of project management because in small companies project failure is more likely and other project risks are higher. A project that is behind or over budget in a large company is often cushioned by access to more resources in the form of more money and more or better people. Small businesses don’t have this safety net. A project that goes off the rails for a small company can mean the difference between keeping the doors open and returning to a “real job” in Dilbertland. But many of these agile, innovative groups of entrepreneurs are the most resistent to picking up and trying out many of the best project management tools.

Why?

Excuse No 1: Project management methodologies are too bureaucratic.

Bureacracies are a characteristic of organizational culture and always exist because someone benefits from slowing things down or bungling things up. It is highly likely that this same someone created the metholodology that is being used. In other words, project management methodologies only create bureacracy if the leadership or members of the project team have the intention of mucking up the project. (Or at least lack the motivation to fix it.) But if the company (your company!) has the intention of creating higher quality and cost effective projects, then project management methodologies will help not hurt you.

Excuse No 2: We’re so small we don’t need a metholodology.

Do you tie your shoe a different way every day? Would you ask your employees to do the same? Without having a methodology, this is what small companies are asking themselves and their employees to do — re-invent the wheel for every project. This way of doing things can be very tempting, especially if you’re creative, innovative or just a freaking cool person. However, this also makes you really annoying to work with, more expensive to hire and less likely to deliver the quality product your customers have asked for. There is absolutely room for creativity and innovation on every project, and by definition, this is what a project is. However, if you plan to do everything a different way every time, you will undoubtably do something worse or much worse than you did it last time. Having a methodology allows you to keep the good stuff from the last project and re-invent the bad stuff. Try it. You’ll like it.

Excuse No 3: (My favorite) Our customers are special, and they have unique needs. We can’t serve them using traditional project management practices.

Well, well, well. Now the truth comes out. You are so good that you are above exhibiting basic human behaviors and possibly the laws of the universe. Now close your eyes and picture one of your customers or a member of your team. Is this individual a person? (I know, sometimes it’s hard to tell.) Traditional project management practices are designed to help real people and real projects succeed. They are designed to help you ferret out places where things could go terrible wrong (making you look really stupid). They are designed to help you make important, universe-alterating decisions (chocolate sprinkles or no chocolate sprinkles). And they can even make you more popular. Using good project management processes makes you a more knowledgeable, consistent and organized leader. People on your team will like this, and your customers will love it. It might even make you younger and better looking, too.

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What If Project offers leadership and project management coaching and consulting for small and medium-sized technology companies. For more information visit What If Project or contact us for a free consultation.