Sometimes, Project Management Sucks
From the pmStudent Blog
by Josh Nankivel
Ranting and raving about project management and systems engineering.
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Date
Do you know what I mean?
Like when you are developing a product using technologies that are relatively new and totally new to your team and stakeholders.
While it is fun to be learning new things, it's damn hard to estimate effectively and stick to a schedule.
Especially when the culture around you isn't used to new technologies or R&D-style projects.
I mean, really. Like when programming languages that went out of style 20 years ago are still the core of most new development.
Sometimes it seems like every day brings yet another unforeseen problem you weren't expecting at all.
And you work with smart people. You're smart. Why is this happening?
Breathe
The first step is to breathe. You may have to pivot, educate stakeholders, negotiate extensions.
There are worse things in the world.
You are the project manager after all, and you can get your team through this.
Plus when you keep your head up and continue to be a role model for your team during tough times, something amazing can happen.
Team Growth
This situation can be turned to your advantage.
There have been times I've been struggling like described above, and I was pleasantly surprised when my team took the pressure of our situation and used it as a tool to come together and execute.
It can accelerate the storming phase of team formation when a strong leader on the team demonstrates optimism in the fact of adversity.
When people see that 'can do' attitude, it becomes contagious.
So, I say to myself and anyone else in this situation right now.
Stop crying, little baby.
Be a leader and show 'em what you're made of.
Posted on: August 27, 2012 08:19 PM |
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Comments (12)
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Mark Price Perry
Business Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT International
Orlando, Fl, United States
ROTF-LOL, and yes, I so know what you mean..! So like your advice, "Be a leader and show 'em what you're made of." Great post, Josh..!
People do appreciate a can do attitude - and it does rub off. I've always said that being a PM is a thankless job. If it goes well, people wonder why they needed a PM in the first place, and if it goes badly, then it's all your fault...
Josh Nankivel
Engineering Project Manager| Apple
Sioux Falls, Sd, United States
Josh Nankivel
Engineering Project Manager| Apple
Sioux Falls, Sd, United States
Exactly Elizabeth!
On one release my team delivered 2 months ahead of schedule and way under budget after we implemented Kanban (the baseline was created using the traditional waterfall approach).
One another release we ran into issues because of relatively new technology the team didn't have experience with, and we underestimated the effort because of it. (I see myself as responsible since I should have known this and compensated for the more risky environment in this release)
My sponsor and stakeholders remember when we were 2 weeks late very clearly - but I'd have to go back to the project artifacts to remind them about the time we delivered 2 months early.
So it goes...
Wai Mun Koo
PMO Director| Intergraph PP&M
Singapore, Singapore
As the old saying - "When the going gets tough, the tough get going..."
Go for it Josh!
People will crave for the candies (think of the good things), but remember the pain from the sore tooth most (have lasting memories of the bad experiences).
Hmm, I don't know. I would draw a line between reasonable optimism and foolhardiness. It can only be contagious to a point; after that your people will stop looking at you as an inspiring source of energy, and more as an oblivious fool. Sure, when the going gets tough, the tough get going - but against impossible odds, the smart left ages ago.
I may be bitter from a (very recent) experience, but I still think the lesson is worth remembering: don't insult your team's intelligence by acting like all is well when everyone can tell the ship is sinking.
Wai Mun Koo
PMO Director| Intergraph PP&M
Singapore, Singapore
Julien, I understand your points. In fact, I have a colleague that is currently going through the same thing as you have experienced. Not easy to deal with though. As a captain of the ship, as the ship is sinking, you have two options -
1) Bite the reality and press on with the hope that you will see the daylight, though the chance is slim. You will have to keep a positive mind and motivate the team even if they know that the ship is sinking. You might be tired, but you know that you have to hang in there since the team looks upon you for your leadership.
2) Accept the reality. You may even join the team and tell them the ship is indeed sinking. However, this usually will crush the final hope of the team and leave them in darkness waiting for fate to take its course. Fear is more difficult to handle than scepticism.
What would you do? The ship is sinking, but it has not sunk. Option 1 will not guarantee any positive outcome. Perhaps the ship will sink eventually. But, option 2 is not anything better either. It is not like we have better reward if we go for option 2. Sometimes, how we wish there will be a third option where there is a rescue team coming by and we can just give up trying (cut to foolhardiness) and hop onto the lifeboat. Let the ship sinks, at least, the team is saved.
True enough Wai, a little hope beats no hope at all. However, as wrote Albert Camus, "There is no punishment more unbearable than work both useless and hopeless". Your second option, accepting the reality, sounds like standing around and taking the punishment to me. Were I the captain, I would go with option three:
3) Accept the reality, preferably some time *before* the water reaches shoulder-level. Don't panic - like Josh said, there are worse things in the world than running a 18-month old, 12M€ ship into an iceberg. Maybe not for this particular boat's company, but hey, every failure is a learning opportunity, right? Don't wait to be rescued either, make your own lifeboats and get the team out to safety. Finally, you're the captain, so you can either sink with the ship (looks very dramatic, but not very productive), or you can gather your wits and start designing a better boat.
Anyway, this whole Titanic metaphor is starting to get old, so let me use another one to sum up my point: when someone gets gangrene, a good doctor doesn't wait and see, he cuts off the limb to save the patient.
Sometimes, Project Management sucks.
Sometimes, Project Managers suck more.
Often, Project Sponsors create a bloody vaccuum.
Josh Nankivel
Engineering Project Manager| Apple
Sioux Falls, Sd, United States
It's a valid point Julien, having an upbeat attitude doesn't mean you should ignore reality.
Sometimes there really is a creative way to make things happen. Other times we just have to suck it up and tell our customers and sponsor we're going to be late and the reasons why.
I certainly didn't mean we should pretend that a 40-hour task can magically get done in 20 hours.
Josh Nankivel
Engineering Project Manager| Apple
Sioux Falls, Sd, United States
Don Kim
PROJECT-TO-PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT EXPERT| Seeking opportunities
Sacramento, CA, United States
I agree with Josh, I love Julien''s response! It''s like that famous quote from ABC World Wide Sports, where doing projects for project managers is experiencing the "thrill of victory, or the agony of defeat!" There''s not many professions where you get that thrill of victory when a project is done right, yet conversely, you can also experience quite the agony of defeat when they go bad. This is when it can suck bad to be a PM. Fortunately, we have sites like this where we can all commiserate. :)
Wai Mun Koo
PMO Director| Intergraph PP&M
Singapore, Singapore
I like the gangrene metaphor. You see, we are getting closer to the key point. Who and how to decide if a project is beyond the point of any possibility of salvage? Not an easy question. There are many reasons people still cling on to something even all the facts point to him that it is beyond hope. When are you going to give up on one thing and hop on to another? Pride? Sentiment?
Going back to the gangrene. Try asking the patient if he would prefer to be amputated or risk his life with the gangrene, you might get a different answer. Or perhaps, if the doctor himself is the patient, then the decision would probably not be so easy to make.
The question is still on when is enough means enough. Now, do we have any guideline that we can use to pronounce the death of a project? I hope it can be something as easy as checking the heartbeat.
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