You Can’t Always Get What You Want…
| Aaron and Ben have been friends and colleagues for many years. Ben owns a small software firm, and asked Aaron to step in to rescue a major project for an important government agency. With an inflexible deadline only six months away, the project is behind schedule and in danger of failing and Ben is very concerned that disappointing this client could mean going out of business.
At the end of his review, Aaron explained his findings one-on-one with Ben. He said that the good news was that there was time to finish the development of the original scope and a good chance, but no guarantee, that full testing and defect correction could be completed by the original deadline. On the other hand, the bad news was that, while the team could commit to completing development of the expanded scope by the deadline, it simply was not possible to complete testing by then. Therefore, Aaron advocated that they focus on completing the original scope, and that he and Ben meet with the client to explain that the delivery might be delayed by two to four weeks depending on testing. He went on to suggest that they explain to the client that the extensions to the scope could then be separately provided in a subsequent release. The team felt, and Aaron agreed, that the time needed to analyze and estimate that second release should instead be spent on delivering the original requirements. He strongly argued for a fully transparent meeting with the client to explain the situation and get them to buy into the proposed new plan. To Aaron’s surprise Desperately needing fresh air, he started his morning jog. The beautiful hues of the early dawn, the wonderful scent of fresh grass, and the cool breeze on his skin calmed him somewhat. However, it wasn’t enough to take his mind away from his workplace worries. Karun was managing a key project to implement a PeopleSoft HR System for Astra Constructions, a rapidly growing infrastructure company that was hiring aggressively to meet rapid business expansion. The new system would replace hundreds of Excel sheets which were unwieldy, time-consuming, and error-prone. Karun knew that this project would be very challenging as such projects required significant culture shifts and antagonistic stakeholder attitudes. As Karun completed the first part of his morning run, his mind went back to how it had taken just three weeks for his fears to come true. Fearing the worst, several HR team members were refusing to cooperate. After all, who would want to lose a good job in tough pandemic times? The project was now delayed by several weeks. Coming to the end of his morning run, Karun knew he had to do something quickly to salvage the situation. In his early days as project manager, Karun had ignored people who opposed his projects, thinking that they would ask difficult questions and spread negativity. He often wouldn’t invite them to meetings. This approach backfired badly. Opponents turned more suspicious and inimical. They had virtually derailed the project. Karun would not let history repeat itself. Back at the office, he called Michelle. Over the next week, he held several frank discussions with her. Karun started by listening patiently to all of Michelle’s concerns. Many of them were completely misplaced and were duly clarified. Thinking empathetically, Karun explained how the project would strengthen Michelle’s position. Explaining frankly that just three positions would be eliminated, he mentioned that Astra management had promised to absorb these employees into other roles. Michelle was convinced. She arranged an HR all-hands meeting. Karun’s opening slide read, “Everyone wants to progress, but no one wants to change.” He invited questions and answered them all, including the toughest about lay-offs. He was empathetic and honest in all his replies. Convinced, Astra’s HR team members now participated enthusiastically in the project. Despite some minor hiccups, the project progressed at speed, and in the end, was an unqualified success. Key takeaways: As experienced project managers, we know the truism of the term, “Change is the only constant.” Yet, we know the fact that change is hard for most. Change is most challenging amidst uncertainty in several aspects of what is changing. “Arandavanukku irundadhevllaam pei,” is a saying in my mother tongue, Tamil. Loosely translated, it means, “To a man who is already scared, everything that moves in the dark seems to be a ghost.” When faced with change filled with uncertainty, I’ve seen many project team members think the worst. This is a dangerous situation where team members almost freeze, causing plummeting productivity and dooming the project to failure. It is human nature for many to think the worst. Fear often seems to cause unethical behavior. It is our duty as leaders to proactively and constantly look out for unethical behavior. We need to be proactive, think, and communicate empathetically. Such actions can help retrieve failing projects and leading them to success! What would you have done if you were in Karun’s position? What has been your experience in similar situations? Please share your thoughts, knowledge and, experiences to benefit our thriving community of project managers here! "Conventional people are roused to fury by departure from convention, largely because they regard such departure as a criticism of themselves." - Bertrand Russell |
Aaron was worried about risking their friendship, but eventually Ben convinced him. He started immediately with a two-week intensive project review. He quickly won the confidence of the project team. They were glad to have an audience for their project concerns because the previous PM had not wanted to give Ben or the client any bad news. As a result, he had agreed to scope expansion requests without assessing their impact on cost or schedule. Although the team told him that these additions meant it was impossible to meet the client’s deadline, he insisted that they try. It was a classic “watermelon project” – green on the outside, but red on the inside.
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As the 5.30 am alarm buzzed, Karun realized that he had a terrible headache, caused by a very difficult project situation.
Michelle, Astra
Karun
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