Project Problems: Think Impact!
November 6, 2007
If you work in project management, you work in a world of problems. Your problems have short-term impact on your work, your relationships on your team, and your potential outcomes on your projects. Your problems are also opportunities, if you know how to address them. This week: three key learnings to help you improve your project management problem solving.
What’s the Problem?
When problems arise, you will be communicating not just with your team, but with your sponsor, executive management, and your customers. To have a clear conversation on the problem, you will first have to define the problem well. State the problem in two or three sentences, covering the original plan along with the change which has moved into problem status.
As an example, imagine you are working on a project to relocate your central operations to a new facility in another city. A key supplier of new cubicle equipment has just declared bankruptcy, and given notice that they will not be able to fulfill your order of equipment to the new site on the original project schedule.
Where’s the Pain?
While some project problems can stop your project in its tracks, most will have a direct impact on Cost, Schedule, or Performance, but your project work could continue. Once you have your problem clearly identified, you will define the immediate impact on the project if the problem were to go unaddressed.
In our example, the supplier has indicated that they could deliver the promised equipment, though they will have to delay four months. If the problem goes unchecked, it will have a direct impact on schedule, a four-month delay. There will be an indirect impact in other areas of the project, likely costing more to the organization in delaying the move, and moving the final project completion date far beyond the original schedule.
Workarounds
If the initial impact of your project problem is not acceptable, what are your alternatives? Defining alternatives that mitigate the impact on the overall project will round out your platform for discussion with your executive sponsor.
In our example, Alternative 1 might include finding another vendor to fill the order on schedule. This will cost more, but may be cheaper than the cost of a four-month delay. Alternative 2 might consist of updating scope to include used office equipment instead of new, saving money but impacting performance by sacrificing the look of brand new cubicles in the new space.
Building a process around dealing with project problems will help frame this key discussion with your sponsor, executives, and customers. Visit Cadencemc.com and download our free Problem Solving Worksheet to customize and align with your project management process. And don’t forget! The Cadence Public Project Management seminar is the only place to get your teams aligned on process, and to deliver results now. Bring your team and your toughest project problem to class and prepare for success today!
