Author: Elizabeth Harrin
Elizabeth Harrin has over twenty years’ experience in projects. Elizabeth has led a variety of IT and process improvement projects including ERP and communications developments. She is also experienced in managing business change, having spent eight years working in financial services (including two based in Paris, France). Elizabeth is the author of 7 project management books including Managing Multiple Projects. She is a Fellow of the Association for Project Management and writes the popular blog, Rebel’s Guide to Project Management.
Those *#$(&! Deadlines
Dear Elizabeth: I’m project managing 100 projects (seriously), and struggling. The main thing is deadlines – we have a fixed project deadline, but it’s largely in the control of our customers as we require information/feedback from them during the project. How can I set a deadline so that I can see the original due date of the project, track how much time we’ve been actively waiting for a client to respond (so that inevitably when they ask “what’s taking so long” I can prove it’s the amount of time I’ve been waiting for them), and see how often we’ve had to shift the deadline and when? – Frazzled Dear Frazzled: 100 projects! Good grief. When the responsibility for getting a task done is being passed among different groups, you can use workflows to manage the handoffs. One of the best ways to do this is to offer your clients transparency over your project schedules. You can do this with online project management tools: Just set clients up as users with the permissions that are appropriate. Create tasks and name them explicitly, something like “Client review.” Then also add your client as a resource to the task to make it really visible. If you keep your schedule up to date you’ll be able to see when these tasks start and end, and work out the total waiting time that has been added to your plan as a result. I would also schedule in follow-up time every week. You can either automate this with alerts around incomplete tasks (or your PM software might flag tasks that are at risk). But you can also block an hour in your calendar each week to follow up with clients for any outstanding tasks. Of course, you can do this in your planning tool if it allows for commenting. If you’re not working with clients in a collaborative tool, then you can create templates to use for emails that communicate that the task needs input before moving forward. Plus, you can include a helpful “if you need any more information, just give me a call.” Normally I’d suggest calling each client individually but you can’t do that with 100 projects so the more you can copy and paste to save yourself time the better. And to wrap this up, a few things to consider: How much notice do clients receive that you will be asking them for feedback? If the kinds of projects you do are relatively repetitive, you should be able to predict forward when you’ll need their input and give them warning. Can you create a calendar of important milestones when they’ll be receiving data from you so that they can anticipate and plan? Your clients might be more responsive if they know what’s expected of them in advance. As for seeing how many times you have had to shift the deadline: Look into using baselines on your project schedule. Baseline reports are a huge help in working out when your dates changed, and they’ll help you see how often you had to make a change to reach your final milestones. Every month, project management expert, Elizabeth Harrin, fields readers’ questions about the challenges, risks, and rewards of project work on the LiquidPlanner blog. This selection is used with permission. Related Content Webinars (watch for free now!): Capturing Lessons Learned Information – Making your current and future project smarter! Webinar: How to Merge Two Departments into One Project Server/Online Instance Articles: 7 Incorrect Ways to Use Microsoft Project: Using Predecessors in Summary Tasks 3 Incorrect Ways to Do Scheduling with Microsoft Project 3 Correct Ways to Do Great Scheduling with Microsoft Project
Keeping Secrets from Clients
Dear Elizabeth: I’m in a bit of a pickle. The project I’m currently managing is not going to make the delivery date because a handful of developers got moved to another project. But my boss has told me not to say anything to the client—yet. Well a week has gone by, and the client keeps asking me for updates, and I find myself having to spin one white lie after another, which I hate. How do I proceed in a way that I can be honest, and make the client and my boss happy? — Uncool Cucumber Dear Uncool: Goodness, I don’t envy you. In some situations it’s fine not to say anything to a client straight away, say for example, if you expect to be resolving the issues imminently so that their project is not going to be affected. Let’s not stress clients out for no reason. If you can deal with the problem and keep them out of it, then great. But that isn’t happening in your situation. I think a week is plenty long enough to keep this client in the dark about what is potentially a showstopper for their work. They might have a big launch planned, and if you can’t keep your company’s side of the bargain then ultimately the relationship with this client will be damaged longer term (an unscrupulous boss might even blame you for losing the client). I would tell my boss that I am going to tell the client. He or she needs to support you in making sure that message is a pain-free for the client as possible. In other words, they need to help you find some extra developers. Could you buy them in? Could you get them back? Could you pay them overtime? Take a few suggestions to your boss. They will all cost money but you can offset that against the cost of bad publicity, reputational damage and the cost of losing the client. Ask your boss to approve a solution that helps you get back on track. If they won’t, I would still tell the client. Be honest and explain your resourcing problem. Ask them for help with resolving the problem, and see what they can do from their side to put pressure on your management team to free up additional resources. They can escalate it within their management structure and that will come back to your boss eventually. It will be uncomfortable. But you’ll have done the right thing for the project, for your client and for your company. Every month, project management expert, Elizabeth Harrin, fields readers’ questions about the challenges, risks, and rewards of project work on the LiquidPlanner blog. This selection is used with permission. Related Content Webinars (watch for free now!): From Task Manager to People Manager – The Next Generation of Project Managers Collaborative Project Management – Process & Power Skills Articles: Three Activities That Help Create an Authentic Workplace Ten Project Management Truths Communication: 5 Ways to Improve Your Project’s Lessons Learned
Getting the Team to Use Ranged Estimates
Dear Elizabeth: I work on a project team for a manufacturing company. For the last year, we’ve been using ranged estimates to build out our schedules. For the most part, our customers love it. We have one customer who is putting up a fight, saying they want a hard deadline. How do we convince them to go with a two-point estimate? –Living in Reality Dear Reality: Ranged estimates are awesome, so I’m totally with you on that one. I’m not surprised that most of your customers love the way you schedule. I would start a campaign of education: Talk to your customers about why two-point estimates are actually a more mature and realistic way of scheduling and why that should give them more confidence. Talk about transparency and managing risk. Talk about why your other customers like it and the benefits that they have seen because they’ve used dynamic planning. Using case studies and real examples are also a winner when it comes to convincing others. In this conversation go back to the beginning, and talk about why your customer chose you: because your company has a mature and professional approach to doing the work, supported by cutting-edge tools and methodologies including ranged estimates, which puts you ahead of competitors (and by association, gives them a boost too). In the event you fail to convince your customer to go with ranged estimates, here’s something to consider. Could you use ranged estimates for your internal planning and then only publish the later of the two points to your client? They’ll get the worst case scenario but it meets their requirement of a single date and gives you the flexibility to use ranged estimates as you intend. And if you come in earlier, you’ll have fair notice to let them know. They might even be pleased about it! Every month, project management expert, Elizabeth Harrin, fields readers’ questions about the challenges, risks, and rewards of project work on the LiquidPlanner blog. This selection is used with permission. Related Content Webinars (watch for free now!): Task Planning using Microsoft Project What’s the value of Schedule Risk Analysis? Articles: Levels of Project Scheduling Proficiency Are You Using the Team Planner View Feature in Microsoft Project? Resource Leveling: Scheduling vs. Leveling
Oops—Miscalculated Scope!
Dear Elizabeth: Last week my team had one of those “didn’t see it coming” moments, where we miscalculated scope and found ourselves in need of more time and resources to deliver the original project. How do we present this to our board, and let them know it won’t happen again? – Tail-Between-Legs PM Dear Tail: Oops! Well, you’re not the first to have had that happen—and you’re right to go to your board with it. First, you need to be confident that your miscalculation won’t happen again. The best way to do this is to review your calculations a second time (at least). In addition, make sure you’ve incorporated extra resources and time needs based on all recent data into your project plan—and that you’ve triple-checked your assumptions. While you’re doing that, let your project sponsor and board know that it’s coming. No one likes surprises on projects. When you’re confident that you have a new plan complete with: detailed risk management plans in case something similar happens again; an explicit contingency buffer, and preferably an estimate expressed as a range you’re ready to write it up. Then, run it by someone who doesn’t know much about your project. When you’re ready, present the plan honestly to your board in a meeting, preferably face-to-face. Answer questions and backup your decisions. Ask them to approve the change to the timeframe and the additional resources. If they do, great. If they don’t, you’ll have to work together to come up with a suitable alternative which might be taking work out of scope, reducing quality or splitting the project into multiple phases. They might have other ideas, including canceling the project totally if the “moment” was so huge that your new plan is commercially unfeasible. Be ready for that! It’s fine to go back and ask for more because things happen on projects and situations change. Most managers will have lived through similar moments and they know that. What’s not OK is going back to ask for more time week after week, month after month. That’s a fast way to lose credibility. Every month, project management expert, Elizabeth Harrin, fields readers’ questions about the challenges, risks, and rewards of project work on the LiquidPlanner blog. This selection is used with permission. Related Content Webinars (watch for free now!): Capturing Lessons Learned Information – Making your current and future project smarter! Webinar: How to Merge Two Departments into One Project Server/Online Instance Articles: 7 Incorrect Ways to Use Microsoft Project: Using Predecessors in Summary Tasks 3 Incorrect Ways to Do Scheduling with Microsoft Project 3 Correct Ways to Do Great Scheduling with Microsoft Project
Protecting My Team from Being Randomized
Dear Elizabeth: My team members are constantly being pulled away to help other teams with their projects. I can’t say anything because the requests often come from upper level management. How can I protect my team from being randomized? – The Randomizee Dear Randomizee: This is such a frustrating problem. You thought you could deliver by next month, and then suddenly your key resource is gone. Cue a huge reschedule and an unhappy sponsor (not to mention the upheaval in the team). This comes down to not having clear priorities between projects. If your project is the most important company initiative then your resources are secure, because executives and stakeholders will be aware that it has to happen. There are two things at play here: having those priorities in place, and people respecting them. First, get the priorities clear. You need someone to look at the portfolio of work and prioritize the projects—someone from your Project Management Office or a team manager. This person needs to give each project a clear ranking, so that everyone understands where each initiative fits in the grand scheme of things. Second, respect the rankings. That means that if someone tries to pull your resources on to another project, and that project is less important than yours, you have something concrete backing you when you say no – even if the person is more senior to you. If the requester doesn’t listen to you, the overseeing project manager will back you up and you have the escalation route. This also means that you have to respect the rankings. If someone needs your key people for a project that is more important than yours, then you must acquiesce. After all, you all work for the same company and it’s the company’s success that’s important. When a more strategically-driven initiative needs extra hands, everyone should rally to make that happen. I know this isn’t an easy answer, but it’s the cleanest way to stop the act of randomizing people and breaking upteams at the whim of executives. Every month, project management expert, Elizabeth Harrin, fields readers’ questions about the challenges, risks, and rewards of project work on the LiquidPlanner blog. This selection is used with permission. Related Content Webinars (watch for free now!): From Task Manager to People Manager – The Next Generation of Project Managers Collaborative Project Management – Process & Power Skills Articles: Three Activities That Help Create an Authentic Workplace Ten Project Management Truths Communication: 5 Ways to Improve Your Project’s Lessons Learned
When Work Comes To A Screeching Halt
Dear Elizabeth: I’m managing a project that has come to a screeching halt as the stakeholders argue over some new features we may or may not add. There’s other work for the team to do, but not a lot. In the meantime, how do I keep my team motivated and also ready to jump back in when we get the green light? –Sweating it out in Seattle Dear Sweating: Ah, the joys of working with stakeholders who are in conflict! It’s common knowledge that project teams work best when they know why they’re doing their work and understand how it links to a bigger picture. Work is more rewarding that way. If the stakeholders don’t even know what they want then it’s hard to see how your contribution is making a difference to any strategic goal. Be honest with your team. They’ll find out the real reasons for the delay anyway, so there’s no sense in hiding it from them. Ask their advice about priority tasks for the meantime. Try to get involved in the conflict resolution, perhaps through designing mockups or facilitating workshops. Let them work on other initiatives if they have time, but keep a regular project management structure where you are still meeting them regularly and updating them. Flag the resource issue to your stakeholders and point out that you can’t keep the resources indefinitely. A delay in clarifying requirements could mean an even greater delay to the project when the decision is made, as at that point your team members could be off working on other things and you might not be able to get them back. These slower workload times are great opportunities for training and professional development. Start asking: What courses could your team members do? Could they work shadow or self-study if money is tight? Try to frame this slow period as a fantastic opportunity to polish the deliverables they have already produced and line up for a running start on the next set once the decision is made. Research those new tools they’ve been talking about and get a head start on your 2017 strategic planning. This is your team’s chance to get involved in tasks that they’ve not been able to work on before! Every month, project management expert, Elizabeth Harrin, fields readers’ questions about the challenges, risks, and rewards of project work on the LiquidPlanner blog. This selection is used with permission. Related Content Webinars (watch for free now!): From Task Manager to People Manager – The Next Generation of Project Managers Supercharge your Productivity with New Agile, Kanban and Scrum Features and Capabilities in Microsoft Project Articles: Common Issues in Project Management #3: Micromanaging the Team Ten Project Management Truths Newly Released Agile Capabilities in MS Project
Juggling Multiple Projects
Dear Elizabeth: I manage a team that that is always juggling multiple project tasks. How can I keep my team focused on their top priorities, and help them know what the latest priorities are? – All Over the Place Dear Place: Welcome to my world! Juggling is the norm, I’m afraid, but it’s great that you’ve accepted it, and you’re looking for ways to keep the focus. The first question, and forgive me for asking, is: Do you know what the priorities are? If you do, it’s a far easier job than trying to work them out. Let’s assume for now that you are clear on what the team needs to do to complete their projects successfully. (If not, find out what they are and then apply the following tips.) Here are three tips to help the team stay focused. 1. Keep in touch There’s a balance between micromanaging and staying on top of the work, but try to find it! Keep close to the team so that you can steer them in the right direction. Daily stand ups (even if you aren’t an agile team) are a good way to check in and make sure everyone understands what the priority is for the day. 2. Explain the priorities Don’t just tell people what the priorities are. Explain why. This gives people some context so that if they can’t work on the top priority for whatever reason (say, they are waiting on a colleague for information) they can make better decisions about what to do instead. 3. Stop the distractions As a project manager or team leader, you are the one to shield the team from annoying distractions. Keep them out of office politics, protect them from the day-to-day headaches and give them the space and the tools they need to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Hope that helps! Every month, project management expert, Elizabeth Harrin, fields readers’ questions about the challenges, risks, and rewards of project work on the LiquidPlanner blog. This selection is used with permission. Related Content Webinars (watch for free now!): From Task Manager to People Manager – The Next Generation of Project Managers Supercharge your Productivity with New Agile, Kanban and Scrum Features and Capabilities in Microsoft Project Articles: Common Issues in Project Management #3: Micromanaging the Team Ten Project Management Truths Newly Released Agile Capabilities in MS Project
How to Get More Resources
Dear Elizabeth: I’m currently running a large project that’s a mess. We’ve lost team members, the customer has asked for more features, and now we’re scheduled to go well over our deadline. I’ve had endless conversations with my manager about the need to add more people to the project—I’ve even shown her my resource workload report. For some reason she won’t budge. How do I convince her that adding headcount is in the best interest of finishing this project—and our business? –Frantic Dear Frantic: Oh, I’ve been there. I feel your pain! A good way to do it is to stop talking about people and start talking about money. It feels like a no brainer to add a $30k project coordinator resource to a project that will deliver $1m of benefit every year because if you can deliver faster, you get the benefits faster. Large projects tend to have significant benefits, either tangible or intangible, so you might have a better argument around increasing resources than people working on smaller projects. If your project has no financial benefit, it still might have a significant risk. For example, how would it sound if you could add a $30k developer to the team that would help prevent you from incurring a multi-million dollar regulatory fine? Even projects that are being done for legislative or compliance purposes have a financial spin that you can put on them. Failing that, you might have to put the project on a Red status. Red typically draws management attention, and you’re doing the responsible thing of flagging the point that you do not have the ability to deliver on time. You could enlist your customer in putting pressure on your manager if that’s appropriate. By the way, just because a customer asks for more features, you don’t have to deliver them in the same timeframe. Customers – internal and external – will often try to get more work done in the same time, thinking that your resource is elastic. They’ll know that isn’t truly the case and could be sympathetic to you needing more time if you can’t get the extra hands to help. Every month, project management expert, Elizabeth Harrin, fields readers’ questions about the challenges, risks, and rewards of project work on the LiquidPlanner blog. This selection is used with permission. Related Content Webinars (watch for free now!): Advanced Tips for Resolving Resource Over/Underallocation Resource Leveling: The Complete Series, Part 1 Articles: Microsoft Project Resource Leveling Series & “Cheat Sheet” Common Issues in PM: Over-booked and Mismanaged Resources Understanding Resource Engagements in Microsoft Project 2016