Project Management, is like the word honesty from Billy Joel’s
hit song titled “Honesty”. Project
Management is such a lonely phrase!
Let’s get down to the brass tacks – Project Management at
its most basic function is responsible for managing the three sides of the
triangle: time, budget, and scope. Project
Management requires the Project Manager to utilize their knowledge, skills,
tools and technique to oversee a team of individuals and deliver against the
Project Requirements, within the allocate time and budget with the approved
resources.
If a Project Manager is to be successful, they must view
themselves as the only source of truth.
At times, they must set aside the need or want to be liked by the team
so that they can provide a true assessment of ongoing activity to the Project
Sponsor.
Let’s face it, at times, the teams like to sweep issues and
risks under the table so that they can present a warm and fuzzy view of the
project to the Project Sponsor and the Project Management Office. The Project Manager sometimes enables this
behavior because they want to see their status in a ‘happy state’. This also reduces tension within the team,
because the Project Manager is not confronting the issue.
Well, that’s just plain wrong! I’m
sorry, but as a Project Manager, you role is to highlight to the Project
Management Office and the Project Sponsor when tasks are not being completed on
time and the risk to the overall project.
Now, I get it! Not
every task will be completed on time, but there are milestones that activity
should be tracking to that allows the Project Manager and others to get a sense
of whether a project is on track or not.
A given task may be late, but not risk the overall milestone. However, if the milestone is at risk, either from
a time or budget perspective, than the issue/risk needs to be highlighted,
mitigation plans need to be identified, and communication needs to occur. It is possible that thru the mitigation plans
identified by the team that the Project Sponsor will allow the team to address
the issue or risk. However, if it is a
key milestone and the Project Sponsor is not comfortable with the mitigation
plans, they then have the opportunity to engage and assist the team in getting
the issue corrected.
As a Project Manager,
you are the source of ‘Truth’ for the project.
Resources like to always look at their own package of work
and paint a rosy picture. They will find
reasons – not their own – as to why something is late, or why it’s costing more
than was budgeted. As a team, they will
work together to gloss over the truth and allow the Project Manager to report a
rosy picture from week to week. I’ve
heard things like:
- Yes, we are running over the timeline to get requirements complete, but we’ll make up for it somewhere down the line.
- Yes, the designs aren’t ready to go, but everyone knows the estimates put together for the actual construction are way high, so we’re good.
- I know development is taking longer, but we don’t actually need all the testing time that is shown in the plan.
- The contract firm that is doing that piece is late, but that’s ok, we can still get all of our pieces in on time.
None of the above statements (or any other excuse) is
acceptable. As the Project Manager, your
job is not to go along with the team. Your job is to identify the issue, create
a mitigation plan and communicate it up the chain to the Project Management
Office and the Project Sponsor. Once the issue has been highlighted, maybe
additional resources can be applied to bring the timeline back in and meet the
next milestone. Maybe the Project Sponsor accepts the recommendation from the
team that the milestone can be missed, but the overall plan can still be
delivered within the identified timeframe. But at least, the Project Sponsor
and Project Management Office are aware of the issue and can work with the
team, vs being surprised at the very end that a project is being delivered late
or over budget.
As ‘truth brokers’ you are keeping the team members honest
with each other and are keeping the lines of communication open up to the
Project Management Office and the Project Sponsor. This truth is critical as it allows the
Project Sponsor to accept the truth without questioning the motivations and
ultimately forces clearer communication between team members.
Telling the truth
should not be viewed as a negative, but should be viewed as the core
responsibility of the Project Manager.
If you'd like more information on my background: LinkedIn Profile
