My son turned 3 in September 2023. About a month leading up to that, my wife and I (primarily my wife as she's a social event planning superstar) started planning out the party which involved renting out an indoor beach volleyball court which would essentially act as a big sandbox. The venue, being a beach volleyball facility that doesn't normally host kids' parties (but was very willing to take our money) naturally didn't have a lot of supplies that we would need so it was on us (again, mostly my superstar wife) to bring everything together to make this party happen.
We needed invitations, food, cake, balloons, decorations, activities, loot bags etc., and one by one my wife and I ticked the boxes as to how we were going to address each item and when we had to act on it. A birthday party is a project after all! The day of the party, the chaos set in after we gave our son his first bike and took pictures at home. We had to get our two kids ready, we had to get ready ourselves, finish loading the car, pick up the catered food, order pizza for the kids, get to the venue, set it up etc. etc. etc. What's the point of sharing this other than it being therapeutic for me? It's to illustrate the challenges of the last mile.
The 'last mile problem' got its start in telecommunications to describe the difficulty of connecting end users’ homes and businesses to the main telecommunication network; setting up the main network has its own set of challenges but the details of attaching each and every customer to that network gets relatively more complicated and expensive. Since then, the last mile problem has been adopted by other industries like transportation and supply chain management, highlighting the challenges of getting the final product into the hands of the customer. The same applies to functions such as financial reporting and project delivery as the amount of collaboration required to deliver the value promised to the end users can be (and often is) quite challenging as the end approaches. At this point when stakeholder visibility increases, any lingering non-positive thoughts come to the surface. While there's often a sense of relief once something is delivered, there's still some nervousness about how it will be received.
As a project manager, I believe that the challenges associated 'last mile' of anything cannot be avoided, but should be planned for. As a project or a process advances, it is important to try to address issues as early as possible so that they don't linger and grow. Also, unknown-unknowns should be taken into account during planning to manage expectations around final delivery. There is also a growing number of technology solutions that help to break-down communication/coordination barriers and expose the data/information required to help minimize the last mile impacts. Believe me, I'm speaking from the standpoint of having 'last mile management' being a lesson learned from many projects that I've managed and been a part of over the years and I'm lucky to be working with individuals that have a lot of experience with navigating the last mile, a team that can also help you through your organization's operational and change initiatives. The 'last mile' is challenging but the key is being prepared for how challenging it is.
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