Dinah YoungProject Manager / Software Asset Manager| Prince William CountySpringfield, Va, United States
We have talked about how everything is a project. I just completed a project at my home that was a learning experience and really showed me where my strengths and weaknesses are.
An incident occurred over Labor Day weekend. What had happened was a clog in the main pipe in the house caused the upstairs bathrooms to backup into the kitchen sink which overflowed into the basement.
After the clog was cleared, the project began with needs assessment. The first vendor, emergency water removal, was brought in to assess the damage.
There was significant damage, therefore the project was initiated.
- Stakeholders were identified as the insurance company, independent insurance adjuster, emergency water removal company and contractor for the rebuild.
- Vendors were selected using referrals and online ratings.
- A communication plan was implemented that consisted of the project manager, me, gathering and sharing information amongst the stakeholders.
- Additional stakeholders where identified as the asbestos tester, asbestos removal company and mold tester.
Phase 1 of the project went well.
Demolition occurred, no asbestos was found so the asbestos remover was released, mold testing was completed followed by mold remediation.
There was a slight issue in the estimated schedule of the demolition, but the work continued.
Phase 2 involved the rebuild. There were issues with resource management because the adjusters were being pulled from the project. The replacement was found with no significant impact on the schedule.
This is when the project went off track.
The vendor - insurance adjuster, did not understand the scope and did not deliver an appropriate estimate.
The insurance claims reviewer stakeholder resource was changed (moved to large claims).
- The new stakeholder refused to meet any deadlines.
- He delayed any communication with the contractor.
- He did not take responsibility for his tasks.
- He did not work well with others.
I had to update my management style to be more of a micro-manager.
I had to assist the claims reviewer, claims adjuster and contractor in agreeing on the scope.
I knew the claims reviewer was a risk, but I did not have a contingency plan in place.
- This was a failure on my part and caused a massive delay in the project.
- The work-around that I finally found was to contact the supervisor of the insurance claims reviewer.
- After contacting the supervisor, an agreement was reached within 24 hours.
In the meantime, I had decided to break the project into iterations.
- The original insurance claims reviewer had used the adjuster's partial scope estimate to release some money to me.
- I engaged the contractor to use this money to handle my biggest pain point, the kitchen.
- Work was scheduled for the kitchen area and actually started on the same day as the final agreement on budget.
Once the scope and budget were agreed on, we were able to schedule out the remaining work.
Rebuild went well.
Risks to the schedule were identified as time needed for inspectors.
One unplanned risk on the final day was massive rains which slowed the work a bit since they were unable to set up a saw outside.
The rebuild ultimately went over schedule by one day.
We are now in the close out portion of the project and the contractor is submitting their bills to the claims reviewer for payment. I will continue to oversee this process.
What I learned was that I allowed the "problem" stakeholder to drag his feet for too long. I did not have a way to manage him initially and I allowed him to affect the other stakeholders. I need to work on my conflict resolution skills and when to properly escalate an issue. Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Thanks for sharing your experience Dinah. I am sorry this happened to you, I can imagine how bad it can be but also glad it was sorted out. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and life is a long lesson so now you know better :-)
...
1 reply by Dinah Young
Dec 19, 2018 11:41 AM
Dinah Young
...
It was stressful living in a state of disarray for 3 months. That may have affected my project management skills somewhat. It was an added layer of stress to life.
Saving Changes...
Dinah YoungProject Manager / Software Asset Manager| Prince William CountySpringfield, Va, United States
Dec 19, 2018 11:07 AM
Replying to Rami Kaibni
...
Thanks for sharing your experience Dinah. I am sorry this happened to you, I can imagine how bad it can be but also glad it was sorted out. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and life is a long lesson so now you know better :-)
It was stressful living in a state of disarray for 3 months. That may have affected my project management skills somewhat. It was an added layer of stress to life.
...
1 reply by Rami Kaibni
Dec 19, 2018 11:56 AM
Rami Kaibni
...
I do not doubt that but "C'est La Vie" as they say. Sometimes things come out of no where and we have to deal with them like you did. Cheers !
Saving Changes...
Elaine DiMasiProject Manager specializing in High Tech Instrumentation| Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryOakland, Ca, United States
Thanks for sharing. Disarray plus the stress of worries about asbestos and mold is no joke.
One of my first responses to PM classes I took for recent PDUs was to re-examine my plans to fix some holes in my ground floor walls (= shorthand for replace sheetrock, finish winterizing, deal with broken soffits outside) and remodel my bathroom (which is still in the daydreaming stage).
By applying PM principles I was able to very quickly identify the tasks that led directly to winterizing the house and not generically and randomly "improve" my basement. Also because my tasks were lined up in dependencies now, there was no procrastination by pretending to further plan - planning was done! So, the work got done.
And by brainstorming each and every bathroom remodel activity AND their dependencies, I faced the fact that certain rather un-fun things like maybe hiring a plumber to install more cut-off valves had to happen way in advance of anything fun like demo or shopping trips.
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Dec 19, 2018 11:41 AM
Replying to Dinah Young
...
It was stressful living in a state of disarray for 3 months. That may have affected my project management skills somewhat. It was an added layer of stress to life.
I do not doubt that but "C'est La Vie" as they say. Sometimes things come out of no where and we have to deal with them like you did. Cheers ! Saving Changes...
Stress caused by problematic stakeholders is part of a PM's life (unfortunately).
We must accept it as something normal and find a way to cope with it without getting affected (stressed) by it.
Loved the retrospective/lessons learned aspect of it. These experiences, even if at home help us grow as PM.
...
1 reply by Dinah Young
Dec 20, 2018 11:09 AM
Dinah Young
...
I know that stress is part of a PM's life. Most PM's can then go home and get away from the stress. When the stress is at home and at work it is a bit more of a challenge. :)
Saving Changes...
Dinah YoungProject Manager / Software Asset Manager| Prince William CountySpringfield, Va, United States
Dec 19, 2018 4:18 PM
Replying to Joao Sarmento
...
Hi Dinah,
Stress caused by problematic stakeholders is part of a PM's life (unfortunately).
We must accept it as something normal and find a way to cope with it without getting affected (stressed) by it.
Loved the retrospective/lessons learned aspect of it. These experiences, even if at home help us grow as PM.
I know that stress is part of a PM's life. Most PM's can then go home and get away from the stress. When the stress is at home and at work it is a bit more of a challenge. :) Saving Changes...
Community Champion
