Inherit a Troubled Project? Launch Mission Control!

  Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)  

As a project manager, helping to plan a project then manage it through implementation can seem like a luxury. During the initial phases, the PM will set up methodologies and tools for planning, controlling and closing the project right from the start. In addition, he/she has the benefit of participating in or influencing key project decisions such as final vendor selection and scope definition.

Once the PM inherits a troubled project during the execution phase and the dynamics begin to shift, they begin managing the results of the other person's opinions and decisions with limited time to ramp up on the project's history.

This story will highlight some techniques/tools to use in order to begin controlling a troubled project.

Analyze

Analysis of all pertinent project documentation is an initial step that is useful to invoke in order to come up-to-speed quickly. Analyze some of the following documents and ask yourself the following questions:

Project Schedule

• What method was used to establish deliverable dates?
• What is the critical path and which dates can be moved?
• What are the success criteria for the project? Does the schedule align to the success criteria?

Risk Management Plan

• Is a plan documented? If not, the paper will outline how to complete a "mini" risk management plan without having …

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.