Projects Become Operations

If everything is project management, what happens when the project succeeds?

It becomes operations.

At some point, someone decided to implement a new system, launch a new service, create a new policy, establish a new process, or solve a problem.

And while they’re working on that, it’s a project.

It has:

• Meetings

• Timelines

• Milestones

• Status updates

  
  

People are actively thinking about it.

And if you're good at your job (especially the risk mitigation part), the project succeeds.

Suddenly, nobody's talking about the project anymore.

It's just how things work.

The new software? Standard. The new process? Standard. The new service? Standard. The new policy? Standard.

The project is over. But it isn't gone. It's operations now.

Projects don't exist in a vacuum. They're building the future state of operations. And operations are often the accumulated result of hundreds of past projects.

That's why I think organizations get themselves into trouble when they treat project management and operations as completely separate disciplines.

One of the most common failure points isn't the project itself; it's the transition.

The implementation is complete. Everyone is happy. The project team declares victory.

2 weeks later…

• Who owns this now?

• How is it maintained?

• How are new staff trained?

• What happens when something breaks?

• Where is the documentation?

• Who updates it?

• How do we know it's working?

Those are operations questions. But if they weren't considered during the project, the project probably isn't as finished as everyone thinks.

I don't believe project success should be measured by launch. It should be measured by whether the work is still functioning six months (or six years) later, when nobody is paying special attention to it anymore.

Because eventually every project stops being a project.

The real question is whether it becomes good operations or bad operations.