Inheriting a Failing Project: 5 Warning Signs...and How to Turn It Around
Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.
The scenario below is a composite drawn from patterns common across mission-critical projects, not a single named engagement—and it's presented that way deliberately. The specific indicators and remediation tactics matter more than the particulars of any one company or industry.
The situation: A new project leader inherits a mid-sized technology implementation, roughly seven months in, and four months from its original go-live date, following the departure of the previous project lead. What follows is what the incoming leader found, how they read the warning signs, and what specifically got the project back on track.
The Situation at Handoff
On paper, the project looked stable. The status report showed green across every workstream, the schedule showed the team on track for go-live, and the outgoing project lead's final update to the steering committee had described the project as "substantially on plan with manageable risk."
The incoming leader's first two weeks were spent not managing the project, but simply verifying whether that picture was accurate. It quickly became clear it wasn't.
The Warning Signs
Five indicators, none of them individually alarming on the surface, combined to reveal a project genuinely heading for failure.
- A status report with no history of yellow or red. Seven months of consistently green status,…
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"There are two types of people in this world, good and bad. The good sleep better, but the bad seem to enjoy the waking hours much more." - Woody Allen |
