James ShieldsIS Director - Portfolio Solutions| City and County of San Francisco, SFPDSan Francisco, Ca, United States
You asked what the first step would be. I would start with the Project Charter to understand what the business case was for sanctioning the project and examine what assumptions and constraints that were made prior to planning (hopefully that was covered in the Charter).
Before you dig into the details … and there are LOTS of them that can take you in all sorts of directions … it is important to get a broader picture first. Projects tend to go two directions: Solving a problem or entering into new areas that align with the organization's strategy (loosely paraphrasing from Wysocki). Saving Changes...
Lonnie PacelliAuthor & President| ProjectManagementAdvisor.comBellevue, Wa, United States
Talk to people involved with and around the project to understand root cause(s). Look for trends in what you're hearing, then readout what you think is wrong and what needs to be done about it. Also don't be bashful about asking for something (more people, money, schedule relief, etc.) to help get the project back on track. You own your solution and if you undercut yourself you're now part of the problem. Saving Changes...
