Dealing With Troubled Projects in 8 Simple Steps
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Transcript of Dealing With Troubled Projects in 8 Simple Steps
What is a Troubled Project?
Any project can get off track
But a troubled project is…
Consistently off track or
So far off track it’s unlikely to recover
What it feels like
Page 3
The ship is sinking
The world is on fire
And things will never get better
Nobody is happy
Step 1: Don’t panic
Skip the Emotions
Emotions don’t solve problems Facts, reason, and commitment solve them Stay focused
Step 2: Get the Facts
Gather information Be a journalist and ask… Who? What? Where? When? Why? And don’t forget How?
Step 3: Put In to Context
Project problems are a disconnect between
expectations and
reality
Solve problems in context of
explicit expectations
Step 3: Put In to Context
Expectations are explicit if they can be traced to contracts, documentation,
requirements, and scope definition
All other expectations may be implied, based
on beliefs, wants, desires, etc.
Step 4: Fix Problems, Not Symptoms
Troubled projects have symptoms of underlying problems
“The customer is unhappy” Is a symptom
Only fixing the symptoms makes the patient
feel temporarily comfortable
Step 5: Prioritize
Develop the list of problems
the effort to fix Evaluate their impact to the project, and
Imp
act
Effort to fix
high
low
low high
3rd
2nd 1st
Step 5: Prioritize
Fix High Impact and Low Effort problems first
Imp
act
Effort to fix
high
low
low high
• Problem 6
• Problem 5
• Problem 4
4th
• Problem 1
• Problem 2
• Problem 3
Step 6: Bring In the Special Teams (if needed)
When fixing problems, limit the impact on the ongoing project
Use budget from risk contingencies
Step 7: Plan, Execute, and Communicate the solutions
Communicate progress • To customers and stakeholders • Frequent, clear and concise • Fact-based • Transparent • Rebuild trust
Step 8: Analyze Root Cause
If a problem is urgent, perform RCA quickly
(detailed RCA can come later)
Use Why? questioning to get quickly to root cause
Step 8: Simple example Problem: The accountants missed their deadline for filing the month’s accounts for the financial close.
Why did they miss the deadline?
Because they didn’t load the system in time.
Why didn’t they load the system in time?
Because they couldn’t log in.
Why couldn’t they log in?
Because their passwords had been reset.
Why did their passwords get reset?
Because the system has a 90-day automatic password reset policy if passwords are not changed regularly.
Why does the system have a 90-day password renewal policy?
Because of internal information security controls.
Solution: Accountants will reset passwords every 80 days.
And always ensure lessons are learned
“Those who don’t know
history are doomed to
repeat it.” Edmund Burke
• Document findings • Share with other teams • Read lessons from other projects
A focused approach will help
• Identify problem root cause • Build and execute action plan • Rebuild trust with stakeholders
Get through the issues as quickly as possible, to the satisfaction of customers and stakeholders
Eight Steps to Handling Troubled Projects
1. Don’t panic, skip the emotions
2. Get the facts
3. Context, focus on explicit expectations
4. Fix the problem not the symptom
5. Prioritize
6. Bring in the special teams (if needed)
7. Plan and execute the fix, and communicate
8. Perform a Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
Connect with me on LinkedIn https://cn.linkedin.com/in/doug-ziemke-a75a023
Doug Ziemke [email protected]
Other Publications: Separation of Duties (SOD) is a critical part of business controls yet often goes overlooked or is not implemented effectively. Check out my Pocket Guide to SOD - An Overview and Methodology for an easy 6-step method to putting SOD to work.
Photo credits: barnimages.com, shutterstock.com