The 3 Amigos - A Project Management Idea That Works

When I take on a project, I put in place a strategy that I call the '3 Amigos'

. I consider the '3 Amigos' to be me, the Project Manager (1), a person on the Project that I have appointed as the Technical Director (2) and a Project Support Officer (3).

Although I have successfully managed some really huge technical Projects in my life. I do not come from a technical background. I have had lots of different jobs since I started working on the Apollo Program as a messenger. And my college degree is in Business. I'm not saying that I can't understand technical issues but I do not have the experience necessary to really dig into the technical aspects of some Projects. And, by the way, I am not all that interested. Hence, I assign a person in charge of the technical aspects of the project.

When I was assigned to manage my first Project, I obviously took the job on even though I didn't have a technical background and the Project was a highly technical one. I'm a real believer in never turning a job down because you think you are not skilled enough to do it. There is always a book or people out there that can help you get it done. So what did I do? I worked out a plan that showed that I needed some hotshot technical people. They were assigned to me and I made one of them my Technical Director. Her name was Rebecca and she was just great. Her job was to spend all of her time on technical issues and brief me on the various options associated with them. My lack of technical experience didn't keep me from being smart enough to understand the issues. My job was to consider not only the technical issues but also the ramifications around cost, schedule and other resources and to make the decisions. It worked just great and it was on that Project, early in my career, that I realized that by appointing a Technical Director who understood the technical issues associated with the Project, I could manage any Project.

I am not a civil engineer but I know that I can build a bridge or a building. I would hire the best Civil Engineer that I could find and put her in charge of the technical aspects of the project. I believe that a really good Project Manager with a really good Technical Director can take on almost if not every type of Project and deliver it.

The 3rd person in the '3 Amigos' is the Project Support Officer who either manages a Project Support Office (if the Project is big enough) or is the Project Support Office (if the Project is not big enough to have a Project Support Office Team). This person is responsible for supporting me and the rest of the Project Team in the areas of Project Planning and Control, Configuration Management, including Change Control, Risk and Issue Management, Action Item Administration, Documentation Management and other areas.

I believe in the '3 Amigos' concept and I will never run a Project without my other 2 Amigos. And you should consider not doing it without your other 2 Amigos also.

Enjoy the journey

by: Richard Morreale

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