This one is more of a rant than anything else. I’ve written articles about good project managers, bad project managers, signs you shouldn’t even be a project manager, effective PMOs, and even bad PMO Directors. Now I’d like to rant a little bit about something that bugs me…not being allowed to see large projects through to the end.

 

 

 

 

What I’m NOT referring to is performance issues. If someone is being pulled from a project due to performance issues, then they probably shouldn’t have seen that project through to the end anyway. And I’m not talking about cases where the customer just doesn’t seem to gel with the project manager. I’ve had that happen with team members and we replace them and move on. It almost happened with me once – but I took the issue up with the customer, learned what their concern or perception was, addressed it and we moved on successfully together on the project.

 

 

 

 

Moving to Something More Critical

 

 

 

 

What I’m referring to here is a situation that I’m guessing many of you readers have also encountered. Your organization is stretched thin which also means experience and talent is stretched thin. So, you’ve been assigned a critical project with, say, 3 separate phases and it’s scheduled in your project plan to run for approximately 12 months. Can you tell that I’m possibly reaching into my own experience bag of tricks for this one? Maybe I shouldn’t be so specific!

 

 

 

 

Anyway…let’s assume that after very successfully delivering the first phase as a working solution in month 6 on time and on budget, you are moved on to another newer and possibly more visible or critical project. That’s nice – and the exposure, confidence and even unsung praise for moving to a tougher venue is great. But there are downsides.

 

 

 

 

The biggest issue for me in my career with scenarios like this is a lack of closure with the client and with my team. I’ve worked with a lot of important clients on a lot of successful projects, but many times I myself have been run through this scenario and it’s frustrating because I tend to develop a relationship with my team, the customer’s team and I feel very responsible for the project. And, when given the choice, whether the project is going well or not, I would always prefer to see it through and finish what I started. Likewise, I’m not always excited about taking over someone else’s mess, but there is a sense of satisfaction and boost to the ego to be called in to clean up a mess.

 

 

 

 

The Solution

 

 

 

 

I’m not sure how to fix this problem or how widespread it is. I’d like to hear from readers – is this common practice across industries and in other companies? From my perspective, the solution is threefold:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





     
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  • PMO Directors and exec management need to ensure that they are well-staffed with experienced, skilled resources to run the current projects and projects planned for the near future




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  • PMO Directors need to understand that when they ask someone to run a project as if their life depended on it, they should let them finish the process




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  • Leadership should give skilled resources the choice, if at all possible, to continue with the project and the relationships they’ve built or move on to a new assignment – not just make the decision for them




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Conclusion

 

 

 

 

Ok...I’ve probably ranted enough. And I’m smart enough to realize that most of the time there is no other choice – the new project needs a certain level of expertise or the customer is known to be needy and needs a certain type of project manager. But I like to finish what I start and have the sense of accomplishment that comes by finishing the long race well, not just the first leg of it.