Are you trying to collect too much project information?

Do you have visibility of your project performance? Are you struggling with a lack of transparency?

A common problem in projects is not enough information about performance, which dilutes accountability and wastes time and energy. Although less common, asking for too much information can be worse. If it is too time consuming to update project details, you will get unreliable data and make decisions based on a false sense of clarity.

The art is finding the balance between how much you ask for, the ability of the team to provide it and the complexity of the projects.

Common mistakes

When it comes to project information, there are four common mistakes:

1. Not asking for basic information in a consistent format. If you don’t have a single list of projects, it is a good place to start.

2. Asking for too much too soon. Overloading projects with information requests results in bad data. Large or difficult status reporting will lead to people ‘phoning it in’ – copy last month’s report and change a couple of items.

3. Collecting information that isn’t useful or valuable. This one annoys me. Beware a program office that collects information because they think they need to, not because it has a clear purpose. This will build resentment from the project teams.

4. Mismatch with the way of working. No point having projects fill out four pages of financials in a ‘benefit contract’ if the organisation runs on personal relationships.

These mistakes mean you don’t get an accurate picture of what is going on, either because you can’t trust the data or it doesn’t exist.

Start Simple

The key to good project information is to start simple. Start with three questions as a minimum:

• What problem does this solve?

• Who owns it?

• How do we know when it is done?

If you can’t get a straight answer for those, then there is no point in trying to gather more information – it will just be frustrating and unreliable.

Once you get the basics under control, you can build momentum for greater visibility.

Build the Muscle over Time

If the basics are done well, additional information requests can be added:

• Costs and Benefits – timing, measurement and owners

• Milestones – what and when

• Risks – what don’t we know yet

• Resourcing – keep it high level because this can be a rabbit hole of distraction

• Strategic themes – useful for managing context but rarely contribute to project success

Whatever you collect, there has to be a clear purpose and use. Don’t collect information because you think you might need it; be clear on what decisions it will drive.

Timing (weekly, monthly, etc.) should be set on how quickly things change. Daily updates are useful during sprints, but rarely worth building reports around it.

Have you Found the Right Balance?

To ensure you have the right level of project information, assess your current situation:

• Visibility: Do you have a clear picture of your project's progress? If not, start by collecting the basic data and building a way of operating.

• Focus: Give priority in reporting to the key constraint, whether it be cost, timing, deadline or scarce resources.

• Governance: Are team members complaining about excessive reporting requirements? If so, simplify the requests to the minimum for decision-making and assurance.

Evaluate the usefulness of the information you collect. The goal is to find an equilibrium between too little and too much data. By striking this balance, you ensure you maintain visibility of progress and avoid excessive bureaucracy so that you know what’s going on with your projects.