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Use a Project Approach

Decide if the work needs a project

Used when

Your organisation lacks clear project thresholds

Helps you

Decide if the work needs project management

Produces

Project approach decision

Before you commit, ask

  • Could this work benefit from a project approach?
  • How should we describe and manage it?
  • Who needs the briefing before we decide?

How it works

1

Agree the language

2

Run the tick-box check

3

Make the decision

1. Preparation: Ensure everyone gets this briefing

The way we choose to manage work is subjective and will differ. Selecting the best approach for your situation can make a big difference. To determine how we should manage the work, we need to understand a few things:

The language we use to describe work, and how we manage it.

How to tick the box for 'yes, it is obviously a project'.

How to distinguish between the different ways to manage work.

2. Agree on language

"Work" – Activities to do something, how to manage the work changes depending on the situation.

"Complexity Zone" – Ways to classify the scale of work.

"Work Category" – Different ways to manage the work:

"Individual" – taking on the work themselves, allocating a few hours a week. Also referred to as "just do it".

"Managed" – working with a team or method to implement the work. Also referred to as "deliver as a team".

"Project Delivery" – using either a project, programme or portfolio approach.

How To
  1. Review the complexity tool on the right to identify where in the range your work sits.
  2. Use the result to determine what is likely to be the best way to manage your work.
  3. Still unsure? Consider seeking an experienced project manager to help you make sense of your situation and determine what approach to use.
Interpreting your result +

If the complexity is micro or small, and a service improvement team or individual has capacity, manage the change within that team, and/or using any processes that apply (e.g. quality improvement processes).

Where there is no service improvement team, and the score is Micro, consider assigning the work to a person to manage within their day job.

If they do not have capacity, you may need to treat it as a project.

How To
  1. In a group session, ask participants to rate (1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree) how strongly they feel the work should be run as a project.
  2. Pose the question: "Is this initiative important enough to warrant the overhead of managing this situation more carefully using a project management approach?" Or, put simply: "Should we projectise our work?"
  3. Seek consensus or decide whether to gather more information or consult senior management.
  4. Take this insight to your senior leadership team, the people who ultimately can assign people, money and support. Gain their buy-in and support for either management as BAU, or as a Project.
  5. If a Project, the Simplified Projects Model gives you the next step, in Step 1, Ask Why.
  6. Project complexity changes over time. Re-review this complexity assessment to inform key decisions, like whether you should select an option, or invest to go big.
Quick Check
Tick Box Check

The key question: "Is this initiative important enough to warrant the overhead of managing it more carefully using a project management approach?" rather than "Is it a project?"

If you answer yes to either point below, the best way to manage the work is probably with a Project Delivery approach.

If both are no, move on to the preparation map and then the complexity questions in the next tab.

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Get This Right

Call out your initiative for what it is, get the support you need.

Why this matters +

Project management has some of the highest burn-out and stress rates of any profession according to a LinkedIn study of 16,000 people. The main reason cited? Those managing projects don't get the support they need.

Important
Focus on the first decision, not the whole delivery challenge.

This model is a guide, not a perfect answer. At this stage, the aim is to decide whether this work needs the early direction-setting conversations that projects usually require.

  • Set the direction before you commit to full delivery.
  • Bring in the people who can support, shape, or block the work.
  • Get enough agreement to continue, pause, or stop.
Read the fuller explanation

The question at this point is not "manage the whole thing", it is "do we start the job of setting the direction and selecting the option, with the first step being engaging those who can make or break the project to say yes (and if we don't get their support, then we won't continue)".

Confluity Project Model sitemap

Model overview

What are Jobs?

The model is organised into three Jobs:

Job 1: Set the Direction - shape the purpose into options and a preferred way forward.

Job 2: Prove It Works - test assumptions and reduce risk before going big.

Job 3: Make It Happen - deliver at scale and make sure people actually use what you build.

What are Simple Rules?

The model contains simple rules. These are short principles drawn from experience that help you make better decisions. Jobs, tasks, and plays help you put those rules into practice.

What is a Play?

A Play is a method or tool that helps you apply a rule or complete a task. Use the recommended Plays first for simpler projects before exploring others.

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