Project Rescue – Meat in the Sandwich

1. Project Rescue – Meat in the Sandwich A presentation to PMI by Don Robertson 21 March 2011

2. Project Rescue - recovery or quiet death? • So you have been asked to rescue a project? • What now? • Where do you start? • What can you expect? • What process to use? • Should you kill or cure? • How would you know? • But first…..

3. Why do projects fail? What do you think?

4. Some typical reasons projects fail • Failure to accurately define requirement & set & manage expectations • Project scope poorly defined • Poor engagement & leadership at any & all levels • Inadequate communication, including progress tracking & reporting • Inadequately training &/or inexperienced PM • Failure to adequately estimate, identify & manage risk • Poor plans, inaccurate timeframe estimates & planning processes • Poor effort estimation • Uncertain dependencies • Insufficient skills, resources or competition for them • Cultural & ethical misalignment • Misalignment between project team, business or other organisation it services • Inadequate or misused methods • Insufficient resources – financial and people

5. So how do you recognise a project is in trouble? What do you think some of the symptoms would be?

6. When to rescue a project? • Multiple milestones have been missed/overrun • Escalating project costs & lack of financial management/reporting • Poor team morale & lack of belief in the goal • Lack of team work, irresolvable conflicts, strained relationships • Many changes & uncontrolled scope creep occurring • No clear direction exists for where the project is headed or when it will get there • Project agenda far exceeds the ability to deliver • Major issues (showstoppers) not identified, diagnosed or escalated • Risk profile exceeds acceptable level • Sponsor lost faith in ability of project or PM to deliver • Vendor or subcontractor also not delivering • Project deliverables/products loaded with errors • Team members working long hours/overtime

7. Is the Project Recoverable? • Recovery may not be possible due to: • Business benefits can no longer be achieved • Organisation political priority too low • The skilled resources may not be available • Sponsor has dropped the project & no replacement apparent • Business need the project is satisfying no longer valid • Market conditions changed or window of opportunity missed • Major technology change renders proposed deliverables obsolete • Litigation is in progress • Fast tracking, crashing and working overtime required are too extreme • Ensure you look for items like these and present in the assessment • Don’t be afraid to put up project closure as an option

8. Some observations • From: Immutable Laws of Project Management: • http://ifaq.wap.org/science/lawprojman.html • Law 3 The effort required to correct a project that is off course increases geometrically with time. • Corollary 1: The longer you wait the harder it gets. • Corollary 2: If you wait until the project is completed, its too late. • Corollary 3: Do it now regardless of the embarrassment. • Law 12 If project content is allowed to change freely, the rate of change will exceed the rate of progress • It takes a much greater level of project management rigour and process quality to get a project out of trouble than was applied when the project got into trouble

9. Project Rescue Eco System

10. Political Dimension: Golden rules • Get your reporting line as high as possible in the organisation • Board, CEO, CXO (i.e. avoid the sponsor or PMO if possible) • You need the authority both perceived and real • Protect yourself • Get all (personal) commitments up front and in writing • Establish a performance baseline of where the project is (not) at as soon as possible • Do not allow yourself to inherit responsibility for the inadequacies of the past • A very difficult objective to achieve • Decide whether you want to take on the role • Notoriously thankless jobs • You have a short time to establish control possibly in a hostile environment • Will have to deal with lots of “negative” issues • Changing employers is a not uncommon outcome • Difference between internal and external PM

11. Project Rescue Process Overview

12. Step 1 –Day 1 Activities • Meet with CEO to define and agree Recovery Charter • Agree communication and reporting plan • Agree and communicate Authority to Act • Agree that people issues will be escalated to the CEO • Meet with Project team and brief them on process • Arrange individual protect team meetings • Request project documentation and files/data • Organise a desk, room to store documents and hold meetings • Be very aware of the sensitivities of people involved • People will be emotional, angry, resentful and stressed • They will be judging you (the white knight – Hero) • Time is of the essence • You don’t have time for in-depth audits or analysis • But you must identify the root causes underlying the project

13. Create the Project Recovery Charter & Plan • Create and agree engagement charter with Project Owner • The recovery process is a project in its own right • treat it as such • Create a project plan/schedule • Start and end • Define the outputs • It fits the classic definition of a project • The output is an assessment and recommendation • Including immediate action plan for critical issues • You will also have a decision to make • Do you want to continue to rescue the project as the PM or exit at that point

14. Step 1Project Current State Assessment (Audit) • Carry out an assessment of the project status • Create an assessment plan • Identify and obtain all documents and files to conduct the review • Identify the project team members • Identify the stakeholders for review meetings • Hold a project kick off meeting with all parties involved • Hold individual meetings with all parties • Analyse all project data • SWOT • Root cause analysis • Draft assessment report • Factual accuracy review of assessment report with stakeholders • Finalise assessment report and recommendations • Above all do it quickly

15. Step 1- Documents Required • Documents requested for assessment review: • Business Case or Mandate • Project Objective/s • Project Charter or Initiation Documents • Organisational Chart • Work/Product Break Down Structure • Last 3 Project Status Reports • Project Schedule/plan • Financial budget/plan • Financial tracking sheet actual vs plan • Business Requirements • High level roadmap • Benefits map • Scope definition • Process Models • Project Logs • Issues • Risks • Decision • Change • Dependency • Resource plan • Resource tracking sheet actual vs plan • Project Management process/methodology & metrics • Last 3 steering committee meetings • Communication plan • Quality Plan

16. Step 1Document and Present the Assessment • Document your findings on the project • Keep it simple, short and high level • Factual with examples • Be brutally honest • Remember it is not a witch hunt • Be sensitive to human emotions & reactions • PowerPoint bullets are good • What was found, results or implications • Exhaustively reconstructing history is not recommended • Establish a “stake in the ground” • From which the project can move forward • Recommendation • Immediate action plans for critical issues • KILL or CURE?

17. BUT….. More than likely: • Project issues are symptoms of the organisation shortcomings • It will most likely throw up and highlight non project issues: • Organisational structure issues • Managerial skill and experience deficiencies • Missing or poor organisation processes • Lack of delegation • Low project maturity and methodology • Low or missing quality audit • Turf wars between management and subject matter experts • Missing company strategic plans and initiatives & priorities • Senior management may be partially or wholly at fault • No EPO/PMO • You must report on these as issue, risks and opportunities that will affect the project recovery

18. Reaction to early status assessment • You will be asked (often & increasingly): • When are you going to deliver our (already late) system? • How much is it going to cost us to get out of this (mess)? • If it’s a project in serious trouble • (as opposed to a well run project which is running a bit late) • The news is almost inevitably going to be very bad on both fronts • Be prepared for nasty surprises and reactions when the first Status Reports are prepared • May be the first time an objective assessment of progress has been undertaken for a long time • Which will upset the either complacency or unfounded optimism (denial) which often permeates troubled projects • Tell it like it is – don’t hold back

19. Step 2Develop Recovery Plans • Develop Recovery Plan • Immediate action plans for critical issues • Establish a roadmap and recovery plan • Verify and validate/redefine project objectives/benefits • Validate, redefine (achievable) scope • Produce an achievable project plan • Clarify project’s priorities and risks • Focus on people, process and tools, products/deliverables • Redefine timelines, budget and resource requirements • Determine the resource requirements, people, funding, tools and vendors • Clarify everyone’s roles and responsibilities • Establish project processes, monitoring & reporting • Create a communication plan • Obtain approval to proceed

20. Step 3Implement Recovery Plan • Engage Project team • Engage Stakeholders • Engage Vendors • Execute Recovery Plan • Monitor and report project progress • Schedule regular project recovery status reports outside the standard project methodology

21. Be on Alert for: • Reoccurrence of issues between people • It takes time to change behaviours • Issue will flare up a few times • You need to mentor and coach people at all levels • In the end escalate and have removed those who won’t change • They will all quickly forget why you were brought in • You don’t have much time to get control • Present a separate Project Recovery Progress Status to remind people how bad it was and how it is getting better • Continue to set expectations and communicate • The project may never catch up • May need to be nimble • Cut corners with acceptable risks/trade offs • BUT still deliver an acceptable output/outcome

22. Conclusions • Recovery Project Management is really • Applying sound PM principles the second or third time around • Applying good people & political communication skills • Risk Management is really • Applying sound PM principles the FIRST time around • There are methods for managing projects using quantitative techniques which are: • Well known (e.g. PMBOK, Prince2) • Relatively simple and easy to implement • They put the Project Manager in a powerful position of: • Objectively understanding the status of the project and being able to communicate that status at all levels • There is no magic or silver bullet solution • No ready made formula or recipes, each project is unique by definition

23. Conclusions • Recovery Project Management requires • Good communication skills • Open mindedness • Realism - accept what can & can’t be fixed • A solid constitution • The courage of your convictions • It is essential to have some convictions to have the courage of • A willingness to tell the truth as you see it • Political and personal survival skills • An ability to deal with the paradoxes imposed by the above requirements • If you have these skills job security is assured

24. Thank You Any QUESTIONS?