THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT RACE

Now, let’s consider the real world scenario. Every athlete, footballer, wrestler, swimmer, and every other sports player spend a very large amount of time behind doors training and preparing. The kind of food they eat, the kind of training equipment used, and their approach towards the race or game or fight are the details that matter at the end in judging if they get it right or wrong. 

This same principle is applicable for successful Project Management. Carefully studying the challenges, limitations, available resources, area of coverage and proper planning are the vital factors that must be considered before carrying out a project.

Being a Project Manager means that you have to prepare your team for success. No matter how much time and energy is devoted into planning, it is quite reasonable to understand that challenges would still arise which are unavoidable. 

What if this challenge is such that brings the project to an end? What if while planning and analyzing, one failed to take into consideration that some very difficult challenges might arise, challenges that cause serious trouble to the project and due to its impact, the project is forced to exceed its allocated budget, falls behind in the completion date, and there seems to be no available remedy?

Whenever a situation like this is encountered, the Project Manager is faced with what we call an impossible issue.

As often as has been the case, when Project Managers are faced with issues which are deemed impossible to overcome, we see shareholders blaming the manager –  that they should have been more careful while preparing.  Of course this is a very unfortunate situation, one which every Project Manager does not experience. But to face reality, sometimes it’s unavoidable that things don’t go as planned, and it is in the place of the Project Manager and the team not to dwell upon regrets, but rather to get back up and get the project moving again. 

As has often been the case, one of the Project Manager’s most tasking jobs at this point is to get their team members to once again believe in the project, and come together to make it work.

In every project, the members understand the part they play, the project objective, and are actively working in unity to attain their goal and the success of the project. 

For anyone who has experience with managing a project, they would argue that the ideal world scenario does not always play out.

From a comprehensive point of view, the project is completed as planned, and all the arising challenges are resolved as already predicted, with strategies and actions already predetermined.

But the issue here is that, when dealing with large and complex projects which involve various different companies, no matter how good the plan is, there is always an impact that threatens the project along the way.

Learn to always communicate, communicate effectively with your team, and when you feel you are satisfied with your communication, then start communicating again.

Communication can be said to be one of the most vital and necessary aspects of a Project Manager. Research has shown that Project Managers who do exceedingly well are those who have mastered the art of communication across all the levels of their team, from the shareholders to the sponsor’s. Being able to identify a problem, it’s causes, and providing a solution are vital parts of effective communication for a project. 

To be a successful Project Manager, you must have an immense ability to communicate through various languages.

You are able to address the Engineering team by speaking Engineering jargon to them, the Board of Directors by speaking strategies and contracts to them.

Regardless, having an effective communication channel in a project is not the only part that could get a rogue project going again.

It is a very important aspect to be considered, yes, but however, it is crucial that the Project Manager devotes a good amount of time to analyze the problem, how it started and got to be. 

There are laid down strategies and techniques to help you with getting this understanding. But at the end, the most crucial aspect is the steps the Project Manager takes in resolving this challenges.

To carefully overcome impossible situations at the project, the Project Manager should endeavor to effectively communicate his findings, and give his opinion on the possible solution to this problem to everyone on the team in a concise manner. 

This communication should be backed with factual data and unemotional analysis, while also show passion when speaking about the solutions.

do not dwell on hope

One of the challenges of getting a rogue project back and running is the acceptance that there is an issue with the project.

When a Project Manager simply waits and hope that everything turns out just fine is an attitude that leads to the total failure of the project. If you ignore the issue, the outcome will be devastating. 

Resolving conflicts can prove to be a very challenging adventure, even for the most experienced and best Project Managers. But if one chooses to overlook the issue at hand, the result would only be additional issues.

When there is conflict amongst the team in a project, there is bound to be blame games and pointing fingers to accuse one another as the reason behind the failure.  This only further leads to the crash of the project. 

Project Managers should constantly be improving their conflict management skills, while also paying attention to the different point of views of the team members involved in the conflict.

Truth is, even people who are placed together working may be seeing things differently from each other. The size of these different opinions gets bigger in the cases of shareholders from various different projects or activities.

As for being a professional, a good Project Manager understands his/her weakness. A good Project Manager will train and engage individuals that are available to them to fill in for his weakness. When faced with challenges, a good Project Manager seeks advice from persons who are more experienced at handling such situations. And very importantly, a good Project Manager will deploy this advice and recommendations with a strong conviction.

But let’s pause for a second and ponder, what if this issue that arises is originally caused by these experienced experts themselves – those whom the Project Manager is supposed to get advice from? The Project Manager is expected to cross evaluate and decide if it is necessary to bring in additional experts to help resolve these issues.

Let’s bear in mind that it is not an easy task to carry out trying to replace an expert while a project is ongoing. 

But,  if such a decision is essential to get the project in the right direction, then the Project Manager need not hesitate to take action. It is a very big decision and one due diligence should be done and proper evaluation of the risk and dangers considered.

clarity is necessary

It is said that, when there is more than an individual involved in a project, there is bound to be conflicting ideas and opinions on various matters or topics. It is in human nature to act this way.

For the Project Manager to harness these various opinions about a topic, he must ensure that communication is a very important aspect of his work, constantly and consistently reaching out is important to gaining and achieving clarity. 

It should become the  norm that Project Managers take the review of their projects objectives very seriously, and check for vital information regarding the project.

formal processes are essential

It is important that Project Managers not only apply formal processes but also ensure that they are followed diligently.

When projects suffer, it is often due to the fact that the agreed plans and strategies are not being followed as established during the planning stage of the project. 

When getting a rouge project back and running, the Project Manager must endeavor to enforce strict compliance with the laid out process of operations.

Delayed deadlines and low quality service delivery are results for stressed projects. The most vital part of planning is the simplicity of the plan. When plans are complex and rigid, they make execution of the plan almost impossible. 

It is true that not all plan and project processes can be simplified sufficiently, but one could utilize the services of professionals to issue out the process, eliminate burdensome, time consuming practices, which would result in the general efficiency and timely execution of the project, in other words increase productivity.

lets finish the race

As a Project Manager, you should learn never to give up at any point of the project. No matter what you need to do to finish the race, stay on track. 

 You should keep pushing the project until it reaches it’s conclusion.

It is important to communicate with your team and superiors on time about any challenge or issues that the project might be facing very early and at any time. It is dangerous to place your hopes on a positive outcome. 

Always refer back to your already made out plans and have a review with your experts.

Assess the issues from a factual or real life scenario point of view, and deliberate a way to keep the project going in a clear, concise and simple process. 

No matter how good your plan is, if you as a Project Manager and your team fail to regularly revisit and review the plan, it is fruitless.

It is important to always re-analysis your plans and make changes where necessary.

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