The Blue Pill or the Red Pill
On the computer screen is an alert box which says, “Do you want to start this project?” Gary’s voice comes out an octave lower than usual and says, “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.” He’s quoting from the Matrix. I didn’t know he could be so melodramatic.
Continuing the dialog, I try to remember Neo’s response and say, “I know you are trying to free my mind. But you can only show me the door. I’m the one that has to walk through it.”
With a grin, Gary says, “That’s right. I know I’m being a little melodramatic, but in the world of project management, once I click “Yes” on the alert, your life will change forever. What’s it going to be?”
“Do it,” I say, “There is no going back. We’ve tried everything else I know of. I’ve accepted the status quo long enough. And, enough good things have happened since we met, I’m ready to shake things up.”
With a flourish, Gary clicks the “Yes” button. The only perceptible change is the status indicator for the project which now says “Started.” Not very melodramatic at all. Almost anti-climactic. I stare at the word. Where is the rabbit-hole? I pause waiting for something else to happen.
Nothing does until Jim says, “Now what?”
The First Change
“I’m glad you asked. I’ll be working with your boss on updating the plans for the already launched projects. But, in the meantime, we’ll go through the least effective dose for managing this CCPM project. You will be using two main indicators, 1) the early warning and, 2) buffer status indicators. I’ll show you these things in a minute. But, keep in mind there is a lot of momentum here to use task due dates and encourage people to meet them. Remember, you will no longer communicate or expect tasks to be completed on a specific date.”
Jim says, “I get it, this helps people behave in the student syndrome and Parkinson’s Law ways we don’t want them to. But, what should we do instead?”
Gary says, “Since we took most of the safety time out of each task, the remaining task durations won’t allow to much bad behavior anyway. Instead of saying, “I need this task done by XX date,” say something like, “This task had an estimated duration of 4 days. Please do your best to finish this task in 4 days.” If you want, you can add that you don’t expect the task to start on any specific date. The task will start when it get assigned to them, when they have everything they need to start, and are clear on the acceptance criteria. They can take as much time as needed. Let them do their job.”
Jim says, “So, my daily interaction are key to reinforcing the new behaviors and not judge. I like providing opportunities to coach and counsel on the proper work ethic. Every person has a different level of understanding of the project and the work. This difference allows some to act without detailed instructions. While others need a step-by-step procedure.”
I says, “Often it’s a good idea to get agreement with the person on their level of detail or even developing the details with them. It ensures that instructions are helpful without taking away their sense of responsibility and ownership. In this way, it puts some joy back into their work.”
The Second Change
“The only other daily activity is to provide an estimate of the remaining days left to complete the task they are working on,” Gary says.
“In real time, the software will compare the original plan against the actual progress made. Based on the remaining days updates the software updates the estimated due date. There is a direct connection between frequent updates and the due date estimated by the software.”
I say, “It seems to be it would be a good idea to work with each resource and guide them through the remaining days updates. This is something different, for sure, but is much less of an administrative burden that the way we used to report progress. It’s an improvement our folks can live with.”
The Third Change
“Exactly,” Gary says, “But there are also benefits for you and Jim. Using the two main performance indicators, your level of involvement will be determined by these indicators, too. In general, there are three levels of project engagement you need to be aware of.”
“The first level is to not tamper with the project; if it is performing as expected and the due date is attainable as planned, leave it alone. The second level is to investigate and prepare to take action before your back is against the wall. The due date is in jeopardy, so analyze and consider your intervention options, but don’t do anything yet. And, the third level is that the due date will not be met without a miracle or immediate intervention. Take aggressive action(s), for long enough, to restore the buffer back to one of the preceding levels.”
Managing By Exception
“This reminds me of managing by exception,” I say, “Instead of playing wack-a-mole and chasing after every problem which comes up, only act when you have to. And, for our projects, that means only acting when we get to the third level.”
Nodding his head Gary says, “As long as you follow the task list week by weeks, make the assignments, and update the task’s remaining days.”
“So, as long as the project indicators shows we are in the first level, there isn’t much for either one of use to do. The stress is leaving my body already,” I say.
Jim nods and I see his shoulders relax as he leans back in this chair. He says, “Let me make sure I have this right. We collected a few important pieces of information, got a consensus on the objective of the project, planned out the necessary tasks to reach the objective, assigned resources, estimated durations, and made sure the plan fit within the time allowed.”
He was right so far, that’s what we did. We didn’t have to know everything to plan a project. That’s a good thing, because we will never have the time for that. We can’t expect perfection at this point. We got a few, critical pieces of the puzzle in place and planned from there.
Jim took in a breath and continued, “After that we started the project. All I have to do now is to assign the tasks and make sure the resources update their task’s days remaining.”
Gary interjected, “Update as often as possible. If they did work today, they should update their task’s duration remaining everyday. Again, if they miss a day, no big deal. Even these update delays are considered part of the variability and well within the noise of the project.”
Jim nodded and said, “Plus, watch the project indicators. If the indicators stay in the first level, or green zone, I can sit back. There is nothing else to do, right?”
Gary smiles and says, “Making progress on the critical chain tasks is still the priority. The critical chain remains the pacing chain of dependencies throughout the life of the project. You have time to look ahead and clear the path for your team. Look for ways to reduce they set-up times, review the progress on the prior tasks, and encourage people to work by the new rules.”
I ask, “If a resource has finished the critical chain tasks or other tasks, could they start early on a task without a predecessor?”
Gary says, “Sure, any task in without a predecessor can be assigned to a resource as long as the resource does not have any higher priority tasks. I’ve seen other clients coach their project resources make updates and determine for themselves which tasks to work on next.”
Self-Directed Work Teams Support
I say, “We can also help our folks understand the levels of project engagement and know when to work at a normal pace when in the first level, or green zone. If the project performance drifts into the second level of engagement, they can ask for help to determine alternatives to their work.”
And Jim continues with, “If the third level is indicated, they can pitch in and put in the extra efforts to get the project back on track.”
Jim exhales and takes another deep breath in. I see his wheels turning. I’m also starting to think about all the things we could do with the capacity being exposed at the project manager level. But, that’s for another day.
Gary breaks the silence and says, “Your weekly status reports will also become obsolete.” Letting it sink in, he says nothing else.
We both stare at Gary in disbelief, but I say, “What do you mean obsolete? Everyone provides status report. Everyone asks for status report. We’ve always provided status reports.”
Questions Customers Want Answers To
Gary says, “You can continue to do that if you want, but one of the benefits of the software includes a way to end the need for conventional status reports. But, whatever way you want to provide it, the least information customers want to know are the answered to three questions. They are:
How much progress has been made? Since the project’s timeline is based on the stable critical chain task this is an easy measurement to make. The software shows how much progress has been made for every project started in your portfolio.
Have there been any deviations to the original plan? The intervention guidelines we talked about earlier communicate how much of the project work has varied. For example, the project is tracking as planned (green). Or be cautious, plan recovery actions now (yellow). Or, immediate attention is required to bring project back on track (red). The software shows how much variability for every started project has encountered in your portfolio.
Is there enough time to complete the project? Again the intervention guidelines can provide this information about the pace of the project, e.g., the project is moving along as planned (green), or action is required to move things along (red), or the project due date is in jeopardy; immediate action required (black). The software shows where we can expect the due to land for every started project in your portfolio.
Gary pulls up a document on his computer and says, “Here’s an example of a status report another customer is using to share their status. They’ve allowed us to share it with you.”
________________________________________________________________
Project Status Report
________________________________________________________________
To: Gloucester, MA PD
cc.: Charles Pennington
Subject: Blue Light Replacement Project Status
From: Randy Billingsley
________________________________________________________________
Progress: 17% complete / 7 days remaining
Burn Rate: Yellow
Pace: Green
Completed Tasks:
None
Task(s) Underway:
Research blue light options (Randy Billingsley)––planned recovery actions include finding an alternate supplier.
Next Steps:
Order and receive blue lights (Purchasing Department and Randy Billingsley)
END OF REPORT
________________________________________________________________
Jim says, “That looks simple enough. And, this is information which comes right out of the software. As long as I or the members of the project teams add some notes to the tasks they are working on, we can export the project data and create a quick report.”
Self-Directed Executives Support
I say, “I like it, but why don’t we give everyone read only access and let them login anytime they want and see the status for themselves?”
Gary says, “We could do that, too. Many people already check things like their bank accounts or insurance policies online. The hurdle to check the status of an important project is not much different.”
Jim says, “I could also include updates and share notes on recovery plans, if necessary. Our senior management can review them and be informed well in advance of any pending disaster.” I chuckle.
Don’t Forget to Be Social
“One more idea,” Gary says, “Is to agree on periodic, at least once a month, progress meetings with the customer, stakeholders, business owners, etc. and the internal delivery team. We are social animals after all and getting together every now and then would be good.”
I say, “As Morpheus said, “There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.” There is a difference between planning a project and exciting on one. As long as everyone involved in the project knows where to go for the answers they are looking for, we should be in good shape.”
Next Steps
“Which reminds me,” I say, “Are we ready to starting entering my top priority projects into the software?”
“That’s what I’m here to help you with,” Gary says, “The sooner we get projects entered, we will start to see the contention for resources between projects. With more and more projects running in the software will help. You will get a better idea about how many projects you can have underway without overloading your resources.”
I say, “I’m going to assume we have too many running right now based on the way we have operating for the past few years.”
Gary says, “Right, and we’ll have to prepare you to address the obvious concerns of your CEO and other executives. If you thought not starting on this project right away was a problem. Wait until you see how many other project may need to sit in your pipeline until you have the resource capacity to work on them.”
“Oh, great,” I say with a sigh, “I can’t wait to have that conversation.”
I turn to Jim and ask if he needs anything else. A nope is all I get as he walks out my office door. I’m glad he is on my team. He’s picked up on the changes we need to make to the way we manage projects. I know it won’t be that easy with everyone.