While recently reading one of my favorite publications, I came across an interesting article dealing with target fixation. While the article was speaking about motorcycle riding, I found that I could relate that same information to a lot of issues and ordeals that come up each day with the projects we each work on.
Target fixation takes a simple process and turns it into a longer, more complex process. When project managers and staff become focused on a single item or issue, it can cause items to get lost or errors to occur. It’s important for us to maintain an objective and wide encompassing view of the project. If we can’t correct our habits of target fixation, either the project or staff will not survive.
There are two types of fixation within the projects. Short term fixation, which focuses on a single item or issue. Long term fixation focuses on the end result of the project, regardless of how the project gets there.
Neither type of fixation, whether it’s on a distant objective or on a close at hand item, can possibly end well for the project or the staff. In either instance, the project will follow where the leadership is looking and focused, regardless of the consequences.
When looking at the overall issue of fixation, the only real resolution is going to be a combination of education and experience. As consultants, we need to educate our customers on how to keep their focus on the project as a whole and not on individual goals or issues. A few ways to help ease target fixation during a project include:
- Holding interactive issues meetings
- Don’t let a single team meet on issue; bring resources from each team on the whole project together to discuss potential solutions.
- Provide focused emails to the project team each week
- Let a group focus on it’s progress, success, and issues in a rotating fashion.
- Control the situation, don’t let the project team panic over an issue
- Keep everyone up to date on issues that arise and the resolution process.
- Keep the project focused on the end goal, as well as key milestones throughout the project
- Keep a spread view, which will help eliminate fixation on single points, and monitor the overall project.
- Be prepared
- At least one issue will happen during the project, so create a plan to deal with the issue that includes clear communications with the project team.
It’s important to remember that every project will have issues. It’s how issues are managed that determine the outcome of the project. Using standard project management processes will help you work through issue resolution. Some of these processes include:
- Keeping an issue log with accountable resources.
- Communicating the issue.
- Having an escalation plan in place.
- Using status reports to document the issue.
Target fixation exists within all projects where we work. It pays to have a process in place to deal with target fixation. Having the knowledge and experience to see when fixation starts to happen is the most import part. The need to prevent any panic or poor decisions being made needs to be the primary goal of the project management team.
Santa Rosa can help provide your project team with experienced staff who can help work on issues, from discovery through resolution. We can do this by keeping your overall project goals at the forefront so that individual decisions do not impact other areas and the end goals of each project.
Jeff Dejournett
Senior Integration Consultant
Santa Rosa Consulting, Inc.