Project Spending: Investment and Insanity

Project managers can be placed in three categories: 1) those who invest a lot for best quality, 2) those who invest some for medium quality, and 3) those who invest minimal for minimal quality. Then, there is also an outlier category: the project manager that expects something else altogether.

For anyone who has worked in retail, you know that customers have a variety of ideas as to what �expensive� means. Terms like �sale,� �deal,� and �cheap� are all a matter of perspective. When I worked in retail, out of all the people who know what they wanted, there were three general ways to make a purchase:

1) spend whatever amount of money for the best product
2) spend a medium amount of money for a decent product
3) spend as little money possible for a minimum quality product

Though I was always an advocate of getting the best, long-lasting product, as long as people understood what level of quality they were buying, I was fine.

I think these types of people everywhere. When it comes to hobbies, talents, work, and relationships, quality depends (in most cases) on the time and effort put into that activity.

I think project managers can be categorized the same way:

1) those that invest large amounts of costs and resources into producing top quality results
2) those that invest medium amounts of costs and resources for medium quality results
3) those that invest the least amount of costs and resources for minimum quality results

I think it is very important to note that these categories aren�t necessarily �good� or �bad.� Each aspect can be positive and negative depending on the situation. Sometimes, a project�s quality is less important than saving time and money, and, sometimes it�s the other way around. Overall, a manager must have the skill of knowing how to prioritize costs and resources.

Another important thing I learned in my retail experience is that there was one other category of people that stood out among the rest: the person who wouldn�t spend a dime unless it was the best product listed at the same price as the cheapest. The latter was hardest to confront for I couldn�t explain that it was impossible to live up to their expectations.

Author: Robert Steele