The Empathy Gap

INTRODUCTIONWhat if they don't want to do it?

The project plan laid out before us was a masterpiece of structure and organisation, a visual symphony of planning. One of the most intricate Gantt charts I had ever encountered graced the screen in front of us, complete with colour-coded work streams, milestones clearly delineated, and a comprehensive resource allocation table displaying an array of skillsets and roles categorised in neatly arranged columns and rows. Sitting alongside the project manager who owned this masterpiece, I saw a smile radiate pure pride and satisfaction.

My eyes were drawn to the resource allocation table. I had seen tables like this before. It was filled with figures representing the full-time equivalent (FTE) personnel assigned to each project activity. FTE is a term used in many organisations to symbolise the people allocated. These would be the individuals who would be pivotal to the project's success and here was a list of names followed by the numbers between 0.2 and 1. If someone was allocated fully in a week, they had a 1 in the FTE column as they would be fully dedicated. A 0.2 indicated they were only allocated for one day that week. I looked down the names and numbers and something stirred in my mind.

With my degree in mathematics, I certainly appreciate spreadsheets and numbers. But something about this table seemed lacking to me. I had been assigned to plenty of projects in my career, and they almost always had a good plan and Gantt charts ...