Overcoming Common Project Issues – Part 2
Posted by Brad Egeland
No matter how well you plan and no matter how organized you are, there are still some common problems that can rear their ugly heads and try to derail your projects. Sometimes, no amount of lessons learned sessions will get you past these issues, so we need to examine them further and discuss ways to eliminate them or at least minimize their affects.
In Part 1 of this two-part series, we discussed the first five of ten problems commonly experienced on projects. In Part 2 we’ll dive further into these issues as we examine problems six through ten.
#6 – Communication with top management while the project is underway is not effective
How do you handle the problem of poor communication with top management? Even when you make the effort to keep the lines of communication open, management may simply fail to keep you up-to-date on priorities.
Your solution: You cannot force top management to improve their communication skills, but you can do your best to present status reports, ask for continuing definition, and convey information to the top—even if your only avenue is the interoffice memo. If you can’t even get an executive to take time for a brief meeting, chances are your communication link will suffer. You may find that management does not respond to your requests or suggestions, fails to confirm project goals, and offers little support; but when the project is completed, you are told that “this is not what we wanted.”
In most cases, management wants to support you, and will try to maintain morale. So even though the problems seem formidable, if you make an effort to communicate, they can usually be resolved – even if you have to train top management in the development of communication skills!
#7 – The schedule is difficult to control
Coordinating the many ongoing efforts of your team members and successfully completing many different phases within the same limited time period may be a struggle. If so, examine the method you are using to develop and control your schedule. You may have to invest more time in developing a detailed network diagram and showing team members how to use it as a control document. Most instances of scheduling control problems are created by a lack of preparation in creating the schedule itself.
Your solution: Revise your methods.
#8 – Deadlines are not being met, and projects are completed late
You may have an excellent process for schedule control, and team members are working well together. But in spite of that, you simply don’t meet phase deadlines, and projects aren’t completed on time.
Your solution: Allow more time, or increase the size of your team. Your schedule is not realistic, and phases cannot be executed at the pace built into it. You may have been forced to accelerate your schedule because management imposed an early deadline. When you first organize your schedule, the realistic completion time will be dictated by the scope of the job. If the final deadline is unrealistic, convey this fact to management, explain why there is a problem, and ask for a later deadline or a larger project team.
Four Principles to Guide Project Managers – Part 2
Posted by Brad Egeland
In Part 2 of this topic we’ll look at the final two of four principles that I’ve selected to discuss for guiding project managers on their engagements. Again, it’s not an end-all list – there are tens if not hundreds of other principles that could be addressed. I would gladly welcome your feedback and input through comments on this article.
Anticipate the Problems that Will Inevitably Arise
Problems will arise on your projects. In the history of all projects, I doubt there has ever been a problem-free one – there are always at least minor issues that come to light requiring some change or action to keep the engagement on course.
The tighter your budget and time frames, or the more intricate the involvement of the project team, the greater the probability that problems will arise. While the uniqueness of your project may foreshadow the emergence of unforeseen problems, inevitably many of the problems that you will experience are somewhat predictable. These include, but are not limited to:
- Missing interim milestones
- Having resources taken away in mid-project
- Having one or more project team members who are not up to the tasks assigned
- Having the project objectives altered at some point
- Having phases of the schedule moved around resulting in changes to project resource requirements
- Falling behind schedule
- Running over budget
- Learning about a hidden project agenda halfway into the project
- Losing steam, motivation, or momentum
Be as Flexible as Possible
Dig deeply to find the facts in situations. If your project involves something that requires direct interaction with your company’s clients, and you erroneously believe that you know exactly what the clients want, you may be headed for major problems. Change is inevitable on the project – whether it’s a major change in direction or a small change in schedule or a minor requirement.
Four Principles to Guide Project Managers – Part 1
Posted by Brad Egeland
This Part 1 of a two-part article outlines the first two of four principles to guide you on your project management endeavors. It is not all encompassing, by any stretch of the imagination. And I would gladly welcome your feedback and input through comments on this article.
Be Conscious of What You are Doing
Luck should never be the plan for success as a project manager. Project success should not be accidental – at least not as an ongoing plan. It may work on short-term efforts or when you’re working alone. But it’s not a good plan for long-term undertakings or when you’re leading a project team.
A project, by definition, is something that has a unique aspect to it. Even if you are performing your tenth software implementation of something that is nearly identical to the previous nine, there are still going to be variables that make it different. The environment and IT infrastructure will mean performance variations that will need to be understood and handled, etc. Projects are difficult enough, leaving things to luck makes success that much more difficult to achieve. Plan well, create an effective plan, and utilize repeatable processes and reusable templates.
Invest Heavily in Front End Work
Do it right from the beginning. If you’re like me, you get a new piece of software or a new gadget of any type and the first thing you do is start to use it. Directions? Who needs ‘em?
When we kickoff projects, we need to have a different mindset. We need to get it right from the start. Invest in the upfront work. Don’t jump from handoff right into the project. Plan well up front.
Caution: Jumping in too quickly in project management is going to get you into big trouble in a hurry.
Never Tell the Customer the Sky is Falling
Posted by Brad Egeland
Every project is important – no matter how big or small it is. We want to succeed on every project and we want our customers to realize that success and build confidence in us.
Building customer confidence
In fact, it is my belief that everything we do on a project we should do with a mindful eye to building customer confidence in both our ability as a project manager and our team’s ability to deliver a quality solution to the customer. Given that concept, it is then understandable that how we conduct ourselves and how are team conducts themselves on the project and in front of the customer is of utmost importance.
I am a firm believer that we should not withhold bad news from the customer. It is certainly reasonable and acceptable to withhold it long enough to strategize with your team or your executive management on how to present the news or to quickly work up some potential response scenarios. But that should be done swiftly and the customer needs to hear the news quickly from the project team before they find out through another means or on their own. And in every instance that I can ever dream up, that news needs to come first from the project manager.
The sky is falling
What can’t happen is a project team member that essentially exhibits behavior that tells the customer “the sky is falling” when a problem or issue is faced on the project. The quickest way to lose customer confidence in the project manager, the potential for project success, and the team member who is professing that the sky is falling is to act like an insurmountable issue has reared it’s ugly head.
June 2010 PM Survey Results – Managing the Project
Posted by Brad Egeland
My apologies for breaking this survey into two parts – I don’t think I’ll do that again. The responses to parts 1 and 2 were uneven, but it didn’t seem to affect the overall findings. There were still enough responses to each to make the numbers meaningful. For the purpose of this analysis, I’m going to combine everything as if it were one complete survey.
Characteristics of a good PM
The first question dealt with the survey responders’ concept of the #1 characteristic of a good project manager. Not surprising to me at least, 52% responded that the project manager needs to be a Good Communicator. In fact, Good Communicator far outdistanced everything else. Experienced Leader garnered 22% of the responses. Wise Decision-Maker came in third at 12%. 11% of the responders selected Organized Professional and 3% wrote in Integrity as being the top characteristic for a good project manager.
Primary causes of project failure
According to our PM Tips readers, the biggest cause of project failures from their experience has been Poor Communication – as selected by 40% of the survey responders. 26% selected Poor Requirements/Planning as the top contributor to project failures. 15% selected Poor Project Leadership. 11% indicated that Lack of Senior Management Support was the top contributor to project failures. 6% attributed project failures to Untracked Issues/Risks. And finally, 2% wrote in that Poor Project Governance and/or Role Defintion was the top contributor.
Conducting lessons learned sessions
We all know that lessons learned sessions can be valuable for all participants going forward – whether the project was a success or not. But do we actually conduct these sessions? Yes and no.
The numbers were high at both ends of the spectrum. 57% of survey responders either Never (19%) conduct them or conduct them less than 10% of the time (38%). Conversely, 34% said that they conduct post-project lessons learned sessions more than 50% of the time.
