Our project managers know we want to finish projects on time. Every time. And, with the scope and quality expected by our customers. But, there are still some projects managers who think this isn’t their primary objective. I’m about to set them straight.
Tom Berenson is a tall, lanky man with short hair and black, plastic frame glasses. He lumbers into my office and takes are seat as if he’s about to sit on a basket of eggs. Tom has three projects to manage and all are at risk of being delivered late. His slack face and undisturbed demeanor pervades the room with a sweet hint of molasses.
“Good morning Tom,” I say, “Good work getting the final installations done on the Pittsburgh project. How’s the rest of the project coming along?”
I know exactly what task is holding up this project, but I’m trying to establish rapport. Tom needs to know he’s on solid ground with me. He has four kids and a wife to support after all.
Tom says, “The permits from the local telecommunications company aren’t back yet. I’ve called them to find out where they are, but all I get is voice mail. The network guys we are promised by the customer haven’s been available either. In the meantime, I have our networking guys busy on the two other projects I’m working on.”
Tom is doing good work. I’ll give him that. The work that’s getting done that is. The customer hasn’t complained about anything we could consider a quality issue. And, I have no issues with his budget, but since he’s behind that’s not a good measure of performance.
But, Tom was part of the planning process and provided input to the project’s tasks and the estimated durations. My problem is that the projects are projected to finish late and the work planned is taking longer than we expected.
At some point, sacrifices will have to be made if Tom wants to finish his projects on time. These sacrifices are going to be in the areas of going over budget or cutting the scope of the work somehow. How these things might happen is anyone’s guess. Or, Tom can continue to do good work and stays within budget and /or delivers the full scope expected, there is a high probability the project will be late.
Around here, I’ve stressed what it is to be a good project manager. It means doing quality project management work––stay within budget, deliver the full scope and to finish projects on time. I don’t see how Tom is going to do these things. Knowing Tom like I do, he is willing to sacrifice due date performance while meeting the budget and delivering the full scope.
I wanted to be a clear as possible with Tom, so I said in a flat, firm tone in my voice, “To be perceived as reliable around here, you must finish projects on time. It’s because on-time performance is one of our key metrics. We value being trusted, dependable, accurate, and honest. And, important parameters like scope and budget are intertwined with time. They must also be satisfied. I don’t think the Pittsburg project is going to help us meet any of these objectives.”
He nodded.
Then he said, “I agree. I’m trying to do a good job, and believe me, meeting the due dates is always on my mind. But, there wasn’t enough time to do a proper plan.”
I said, “A proper plan is one in which the customer agrees with. How did that meeting go?”
Tom said, “We never had a formal kick-off meeting. They dictated a due date to us and I’m trying my best to meet it.”
There it is. When you are not getting the effects you want, look at the chain of events leading up to the effects you are looking for. Tom has skipped an important step in the process and not confronted the customer with the proposed plan.
His best wasn’t good enough, but I continued trying to understand his side of the problem. I said, “So, the customer never reviewed the tasks within the project. They don’t know who was assigned to the work. And, they don’t know how long the software predicted the project would take?”
“That’s right, said Tom, “We couldn’t wait around for them forever, so we got started and so did they. And, when we ask for the resources they promised to provide to this project, they aren’t available when we need them. The work these resources do for their own company always seems to take priority.”
“Getting commitment from project resources when needed is difficult under those conditions,” I said.
Tom said, “I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place here. I’ll miss the due date if I continue on like this. I’ll get the project done, but the budget will suffer. Or, I can find a way to speed things up by working some overtime or bringing in some help from one of our contractors.”
I said, “But, that will drive our costs up, too. And, I don’t see an easy way out either except…” I hesitated and didn’t want to say what I was thinking. Would Tom say it for me? We stared at each other. Each waiting on the other to speak.
Tom said, “The project due date is the date the customer wants. Since we didn’t have a formal kick-off they don’t understand what it’s going to take to complete the project that they want. I’m sure they asked for all the equipment and system for a reason. And, the benefits their system will bring are what they are interested in.”
I nodded.
He said, “What if I go back to the customer with a proposed re-plan of their project that shows the date we can get all the work done without going over budget. It will have a new due date, if they agree to it then it will be a date which will be easier to meet.”
I said, “That’s what I was hoping you would say. That’s our only shot at satisfying all our objectives. You can also include in the meeting the fact that the issues they were supposed to solve during testing took twice as long as they expected. That should give you more bargaining power.”
Tom bent over, pressed his hands to his knees and stood up. He looked at me and said, “I’ll take care of it. The current due date looks a bit arbitrary to me anyway, so there’s a good chance we can get a new date. I don’t want to be the one who drags our due date performance down.”
He spun on his heals far more gracefully than someone with such a tall frame. He didn’t have to duck his head as he left my office, but a few strands of hair brushed the door frame anyway.
Late