What's the colour of your project?
- 1. What’s the colour of your project… r ally?
- 2. These are the colours project, program and portfolio people use to communicate status. As the sponsor, you’re responsible and yet, in real terms, you often have limited visibility into the actual state of the project or program. Project and program managers might prefer it this way, but it’s perilous for you. If you’re the sponsor – responsible and accountable for a project’s outcome – you need more than just pretty colours and estimated percentages. You need real and tangible information. What follows are the questions, conversations and documents I we use to determine the actual state of our client’s projects, programs and portfolios – with much success. Hoping it helps, First: ignore the colours.
- 3. Questions to ask the project manager What you should be looking for To whom do you report? A defined sponsor. If not you, think about how much accountability you want to accept. If you don’t choose your PM and/or they don’t report to you, BE AFRAID. What will have happened when the project is successful? (Interchange ‘project’ with ‘program’ or ‘portfolio’ depending on your responsibility) Words that explain very clearly what success is – what will have happened, what people will be saying and seeing. You’ll then know whether they have an understanding of what they’re aiming for. Who gets to declare the project a success? If it isn’t you it needs to be someone with enough clout and influence to call a project successful and who can carry the message with gravitas. This person matters, as does whatever they’re saying - they need to be listened to, managed and engaged. When does the project finish? An honest finish date. Please don’t accept the cut over, go live or launch date. Those are only markers on the path to the end of the project. If they don’t know, make it clear for them. How do you know where the project is actually up to? Absolutes and actual information/data that gives confidence. Interpretative percentages aren’t impressive – so don’t accept them. (If you need help with this call me. How old is information in the report? Current, correct information – ensure you get the latest. Reports often give updates with ‘older than a day’ info. Would you bet your house on the accuracy of this report? An honest and revealing response. This question is a favourite of ours but you shouldn’t lead with it. Does the project team think the same about current status? Zero disconnect. If the PM thinks that the project is going well but others disagree, there’s disconnect to be corrected. Disconnects can slow a project down at the least and derail it at worse. Whatever the answer, test this on others. Does the project team describe success in similar ways? A common denominator of success. It’s the PM’s responsibility to ensure that everyone has the same picture and story. Does the project team believe the story of when/what will happen? Confidence, commitment, engagement and honest conversations. Is there much slippage that’s assumed recoverable? The answer will be telling, especially if the slippage is in the early stages. If there is slippage to be recovered – have a close, very close look (or ask us to), slippage is rarely evaporative and almost always cumulative. Has the baseline moved? If the response is ‘yes’ has it been agreed and the impact accepted (even reluctantly) by everyone surrounding the project? This is about making sure the decisions that are yours actually sit with you and the sand isn’t moving under you without you knowing or having a chance to make decisions that might avoid the change. Are planned project resources available and working? Approved resources are working on project and, if not, the impact is published and management has signed off on it. It is perilous to try to deliver a project with a lack of agreed project resources, while telling management that all is okay. Questions to ask when determining actual status
- 4. Conversation What you should be looking for Success Everyone understands what success looks, feels, sounds like. Can articulate it with similar meaning, dates, priorities (some call these benefits but that’s for another conversation). Scope Clearly defined boundaries within which the project is operating so everyone knows what’s in and out. Change control Policies, processes and procedures through which scope is changed – and through which changes are introduced. Integration How the project integrates with structures, systems, cultures, practices inside and outside the organisation (implementation and change management come in here). Stakeholder management Respect for PM by all stakeholders (not necessarily universal but needs to be there). Stakeholders telling the same story as PM and each other. Look at PM’s influence, ability, authority – plus internal/external stakeholder maps. Communications Clear communications flow up, down and sideways – from, and to, PM. Supplier management Clear supplier management with suppliers on same page. Integration between suppliers being managed not hoped. Confidence Tangible evidence the project is where it’s reporting to be. Evidence the PM knows where the project is up to. Money and resources Spending ahead or behind schedule? But more importantly, actual progress against budget. Documents Documentation for control and regulatory imperatives in place. Reporting Established reporting structures – to whom, by when, accompanied by relevant metrics. Sponsor Sponsor is on board (or not). If latter, you must identify real sponsor. Politics An understanding of who wants the projects and why – and who doesn’t? Crucial to understand if PM is ‘in’. End game Project being worked on is one the sponsor actually wants. Areas to explore when determining actual status
- 5. Documents to consider when determining actual status Document What you should be looking for Timeline Key dates and integration of all paths. Critical path and critical points Essential end-to-end activities that are prerequisites for things that follow. Must be drawn and everyone must know it. Integration plan How and when it’s all going to be brought together. Test plan How and when you’ll know if it will all work. Need to be sure of this because fake data is not a good test. Resource plan Who is doing what and when. Important they know why and who is depending on them. Budget and expenditure There is a budget. It’s being tracked. People care. PMP, tools and methods What it says is actually what is being done. Need to find out if it’s living or dead. Decision tracker Decisions are being tracked, adhered to, recorded and controlled. Project meeting notes Project meeting notes are there and add value. Also, they are being used for forward movement. Risk management Risks and how they are identified. Need to know how they’re being mitigated and that there’s an escalation path. Org charts for business and project Org charts that are congruent or have conflicts built in (inadvertently or otherwise). Responsibility allocation You have to know who is doing what, who is responsible for what, who has authority for what.
- 6. RNC Global Projects is one of the leading consultancies in the field of project, program and portfolio delivery. With a 16-year track record of success and having delivered more than 1,000 projects and programs around the world, we have developed a reputation as the only organisation to go to when a major project or initiative needs to succeed. We specialise in making the impossible, possible. Whether it’s the management of a highly complex program or you want to capitalise on our ability to rescue a failing project and bring it back to success, we can help. A reminder of who we are
- 7. Talk to us – Diane Dromgold Managing Director RNC Global Projects Head Office Level 57 19-29 Martin Place Sydney NSW 2000 Other Offices Singapore; Hong Kong; USA; Canberra www.rncglobal.com ddromgold@rncglobal.com 0419 622 649 +61 2 9238 1990