Advice for Executives and Project Sponsors
ADVISORY ARTICLE
By Yogi Schulz
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Much has been written about reasonable project management’s essential contribution to IT project success. Sadly, the reverse is also true. Absent, incompetent, or insufficient project management invariably contributes to project failure.
As an executive who needs the IT project to succeed and is likely the project sponsor, how can you recognize if a superior, competent project manager is leading your active project or an insufficiently disciplined person who exhibits Gantt chart jockey behaviors is leading? The difference will determine project success or fiasco.
You can be reassured or panicked by observing your project manager in action as they lead work on the 10 Project Management Knowledge Areas common to all projects. The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines these knowledge areas in its Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). This article discusses knowledge areas 1 through 5. Here’s how to differentiate good from bad project management and determine if intervention is required.
Project Integration Management
A project led by a Gantt chart jockey exhibits these features:
- A brief, high-level project statement that alludes to general feel-good themes without elaboration.
- A summary project plan that illustrates the approximate elapsed times for planned project phases.
- The project plan is rarely updated after initial development.
- Little or no risk management.
- The actual project status is a guess.
By contrast, an experienced project manager leads the development of:
- A project charter that describes the project in some detail and includes a clear goal statement.
- A project plan that focuses on the effort required to produce deliverables and is updated regularly.
- A comprehensive risk management process.
- Regular project status reports.
Project Scope Management
A Gantt chart jockey views scope-enlarging opportunities as a way to increase project importance by claiming to deliver more value and by asking for more budget. As scope is added, increasing project size is more likely to lead to project failure than success because the project will collapse under its own size and complexity.
An experienced project manager is acutely aware that even the most brilliantly written project charter is full of scope ambiguity. As it progresses, a well-run project will increase its understanding of scope as a product of system requirements elucidation and detailed design. This work will reveal many additional scope opportunities. Appropriate project scope management is indicated by a well-defined scope management process that seeks to contain scope and defer opportunities to a subsequent project.
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How to cite this article: Schulz, Y. (2025). Project Manager vs Gantt Chart Jockey: Advice for Executives and Project Sponsors, PM World Journal, Vol. XIV, Issue I, January 2025. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/pmwj148-Jan2025-Schulz-Project-Manager-vs-Gantt-Chart-Jockey.pdf
About the Author
Yogi Schulz
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Yogi Schulz has over 40 years of Information Technology experience in various industries. Yogi works extensively in the petroleum industry to select and implement financial, production revenue accounting, land & contracts and geotechnical systems. He manages projects that arise from changes in business requirements, from the need to leverage technology opportunities and from mergers. His specialties include IT strategy, web strategy and systems project management.
Mr. Schulz regularly speaks to industry groups and writes a regular column for IT World Canada and for Engineering.com. He has written for Microsoft.com and the Calgary Herald. His writing focuses on project management and IT developments of interest to management. Mr. Schulz served as a member of the Board of Directors of the PPDM Association for twenty years until 2015. Learn more at https://www.corvelle.com/. He can be contacted at yogischulz@corvelle.com
His new book, co-authored by Jocelyn Schulz Lapointe, is “A Project Sponsor’s Warp-Speed Guide: Improving Project Performance” Also available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Project-Sponsors-Warp-Speed-Guide-Performance/dp/1637424833
To view other works by Yogi Schulz, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at https://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/yogi-schulz/
