How many Delivery Managers does it take to finish a project?
There’s no single answer to this question, and if you thought I was presenting it as a joke – a lot of Delivery Managers will stand up and confirm that there is very, rarely a punchline.
A punching bag, maybe. But not a punchline.
There are, however, several answers/analogies you could apply to the question, so let’s give that a go:
The naming convention answer
Zero. Delivery Managers don’t finish projects, they deliver outcomes.
Project Managers in their tight fitting, matt black shoes are responsible for projects. Delivery Managers in their brown shoes/dress trainers are there to ensure user needs, pain points, services and processes are mapped, accounted for, and demonstrated with value as part of the intended outcome.
The Trigger’s Broom/Ship of Theseus answer (depending on your cultural references)
One. But it won’t be the same one you started with. Deliveries go through so many peaks and troughs that it makes the Kübler-Ross Change Curve look like a flat line.
A DM is either the cock of the walk, or tomorrow’s chip paper. There’s very rarely a moment when they are not skirting with either extremity. If you are in a safe, middle of the road state – then you’re working on a Business As Usual gig, or a project that refuses to die. A real project is a minefield, upon jagged rocks, by an ever encroaching high tide.
The reality of success is that it takes just one user story to finish the work. Which means you just need one DM to be left standing when that happens. That being the same person who started the gig is not always guaranteed. Neither is it wise.
The I’m Spartacus answer
Not every engagement needs a single person in the delivery role. By this I mean that others can do the paperwork, present the status, take the team’s medicine etc.
There will be outcomes where you “just” need Architects, Designers and Engineers – but the budget doesn’t allow for a person to sit with them and craft the plans, RAIDs and governance. So, everyone must do it. Although it will still, usually, sit with one person.
Crucified for the supposed lack of success.
The cast of thousands answer
In an ideal world, based on funding and adequate resourcing, you’ll never have a single person leading a project from start to finish.
In the same way you might need an Enterprise Architect (Ed: Will you? Why?) before replacing them with a Solutions or Technical variant. You will need different skills and attributes in the delivery space, as the gig goes on.
You need a ring master at the start. Someone to generate the excitement, to whip the audience in to a frenzy, to know which acts are required at which time, to make the show work.
Then you might need a bean counter. Who is across every penny, hour, story point accounted for.
You’ll also need a competent juggler. Keeping everything from crashing down around the team.
Throw in our old favourite, the shit umbrella to protect the team – and then a soothsayer to be able to predict the change of plans before they happen, and you have the perfect team.
Trouble is, you’ve only budgeted for one person. Therefore, you need multiple people at different stages of the delivery. Which rarely happens, unless you go full cycle to the Ship of Theseus answer and you let one person go, for another. Many handles; so many broom heads.
Substituting as part of a positive move is so much better than dragging a body out from the ring, but for whatever reason, no one seems to believe this is a viable approach. Until it is forced upon them.
The real answer is that it takes one to kick it off, one to get everyone up to speed and a final Delivery Manager to get us over the line. If you find that in one person, treasure them – pay them more than they are worth – don’t let them out of your site.
If you don’t believe you can find it in one person, don’t force the situation. Pick two, three or four and make sure the hand off, pays off.
/END