Veteran PM Tony Jones reveals why people and process should come before technology in project management—and how skipping this step can lead to wasted time and resources.
Your leadership team is pushing for a new project management tool that promises to solve all your workflow issues. The price tag? $300,000. But before you sign that purchase order, veteran project manager and PM consultant Tony Jones has a different perspective to share.
"You could go spend a million dollars on a fancy project management tool and if you don't have a good process, it's going to suck," Jones explains. "But you could spend a few bucks on Office 365 suite and get Microsoft Excel and if you've got a really good process and you're willing to do that process every day, it will be way better."
With over 20 years of experience leading complex technical projects, Jones has seen organizations repeatedly fall into the same trap: reaching for technology solutions before addressing fundamental people and process challenges.
Why do we rush to implement new tools before establishing solid processes? "A lot of organizations tend to prioritize technology over people and process," Jones notes. "They're not doing it because they're dumb or because they're vindictive. They're doing it because it's the human condition."
"We see this pattern all the time," Jones explains. "We buy some shiny new tool thinking it will solve all our problems. Sure, we deploy it on time and on budget, but then what happens? First, everyone's talking about how painful the deployment was. A few weeks later, they're complaining that the tool is hard to use and isn't providing value. It's like buying a treadmill when you're out of shape – you use it like crazy the first week, maybe twice the next week, then once, and before you know it, it's gathering dust and headed to the landfill."
The lesson? "We really need to define our people and our processes before we deploy the shiny things."
Jones advocates for a different approach: "I think of it as people, process, and technology. I'm always thinking: people first, process next, and then lastly technology... which a lot of people put first."
This methodology isn't just theory on Jones’ part – he’s seen it proven time and time again. Jones shares a recent example of a company that wanted to implement a new project management system to solve their project management problems. But Jones realized that their real issue was that they didn’t have a well-defined process that they consistently followed. Instead of rushing to purchase, he encouraged them to spend a year documenting their existing processes. Only then could they effectively evaluate which tool would actually support these business processes and serve their needs.
"Process is hard, process is hard work, and process change is hard work," Jones acknowledges. "What do we do? We're like, 'ah, we're going to buy that new shiny thing and it's going to make our life better.'"
It's a tempting shortcut, but one that often leads to:
Before investing in new technology, Jones recommends asking these essential questions:
The future of project management will undoubtedly bring more technological advances. But Jones's fundamental principle remains true: Start with people, define your processes, and only then choose the technology that supports both.
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