As this blog is about best practices and improving our skills in project management, I found the article « what is best practice? » by Ted Hardy quite relevant.

In fact, the real question may not be to determine if a practice is good, bad or best. A more appropriate question is: « Is the practice appropriate for me, my company, and my project? »

Or one could ask: « How does it fit me? »

Indeed, Ted reminds us that applying a « best practice » has never been a guarantee for success. However, it can help you to unlock a difficult situation. It is also very useful to position yourself, to benchmark against peers and competitors. It also may help you understand why some have succeeded where you are in trouble. Additionally, it is worth keeping in mind that best practices are not set in stone, they too need to evolve. And, it is not because you have applied a best practice once or a few times that you have truly acquired it.

So, what criteria may we use to identify for sure best practices?

Well… may be can we use an approach similar to the one often used to distinguish good from bad objectives, they need to be S.M.A.R.T. Here are my proposals for what S.M.A.R.T. may be for « best practices »:

S-pecific: What exactly is this best practice for? In what context shall it be used? It should be applied in order to reach what precise objective?

M-easurable: How will I know if it works or not? How will I know that I have implemented the Best Practice in a correct manner? How will I be able to benchmark against others who use it?

A-daptable: It needs to fit my project, my business context, my specific constraints…

R-epeatable: How may I be sure that, when applied, it will consistently provide the same efficient results? Also, as written above, I will need to apply it several times before being in position to say that I master it.

T-ested: I need to be in position to give it a good try, to prove it can work in my environment, and on my project before it can be adopted at a wider scale in my company.