Projects and the ungrounded middle

Because continuous learning is more important than ever in our fast-paced world, I read information technology and project management publications as often as I can. When projects are demanding your time at nearly every moment, it can be hard to do — but you must make the time to break away from the pressure and take in some input from others.

Sometimes it can be educational or informative, but it just might give you a critical insight or idea when you need it the most. Sometimes it can be refreshing or motivational – just the thing to inspire you to tackle that project issue in a new way or perhaps, instead of tackling the problem the same way you did last time, to seek out ideas from your mentor, Phil, or to brainstorm the issue with the project team.

So it was a couple of weeks ago that I was reading Computerworld – well scanning actually – and I came across an interesting article on project management. (I’ve been reading Computerworld for more years than I like to admit, but it’s still a great publication.) The article was written by Paul Glen, a fairly regular contributor to Computerworld, and the title was “Projects and the Ungrounded Middle“.

My immediate thought was what the heck does he mean by “ungrounded middle”? And the introductory paragraphs were very different… instead of the usual business-like approach that we associate with project management, Paul wrote about the undertaking of projects in a poetic and almost romantic language.

But he made a point that I hadn’t thought about before… that projects often have an ungrounded middle when the realization that “the work to be done seems overwhelming, and the obstacles insurmountable.” He adds that “it is the emotional low point of any project.” Paul goes on to say:

“When discussing success factors for projects, I most often hear managers talk about beginnings and endings. They recognize the importance of clear vision at the outset and brutal focus at the end. But these are the rational structures underlying a successful project. Managers also need to pay attention to the emotional ones.”

This was a good article and worth taking the time to read. Paul argues that project managers should not ignore the emotions of the team during that ungrounded middle of the project. It can help just to acknowledge the project challenges and the emotions associated.

Here’s the project success tip you should take away: Teams need motivation and inspiration just like project managers do.