Project Management

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Managing distressed or troubled projects.

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Tim Arthur Retired| Self Palm City, Nc, United States
Sometimes, we are asked to "help" rescue a project that is in the middle of a chaotic situation and even on the brink of failure. However, because companies have an important thing they need called "revenue", sometimes we are asked to help turn things around even with a project on a death march.

What are some of the things you've done when inheriting a "distressed project" that helped turn a negative situation into a positive one?

The purpose of this thread is to develop a mini-knowledge base of good tips and techniques that we've found handy, so that it can be of value to others.

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Tom Welch PMP Mesa, Az, United States
File attached 
Tim, here's a template I use to turn failed projects around. You'll need Acrobat to view.
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Tim Arthur Retired| Self Palm City, Nc, United States
Thanks Tom. Looks like a nice form to help with your entry to troubled projects.



Also stumbled on a pretty complete project assessment instrument (questionaire, checklist) in the Pm Network magazine, May 2000 issue, page 34. The article also suggests a sample WBS for recovery planning. This article is titled Six Steps to Project Recovery and is available via fax for a small fee from PMI.

Tim

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Cindy Etoh Director of Project Services| Ropes and Gray Baldwin, Ny, United States
I am currently working on a doctoral dissertation on the "Early Identification of Troubled IT Projects." I will share my findings & conceptual framework upon completion.
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Richard How Programme Management Consultant| How Associates Ltd Harthill, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom
The first and sometimes hardest questions is "should we kill or cure this project". Review the claimed business benefits and make sure they are sound. If people are claiming they can reduce headcount ask them who they are planning on making redundant. Then review what the full cost of the project will be by the time you have replanned it and delivered it. When you have both numbers review the benefits againts the cost of the project being completed and if the benefits dont greatly outweigh the costs then kill the project off.

If the benefits do outweigh the costs then you have a good base to move forward using the revised plan and benefits case and strong project management
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Mark Price Perry Business Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT International Orlando, Fl, United States

Hi Tim, Great post and replies. Regarding tips and techniques for project rescue, listed below are a few helpful and entertaining resources:



And from PMO Comics, below is one of my favorite cartoons:

PMO Comics, by Mark Perry


I hope we continue to hear and learn from others.
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Al S. Brown PMP CSM PMI-PBA President and CEO| Real-Life Projects Inc. Belle Mead, Nj, United States
A first step is to kill the projects that need to die. Some projects are troubled because they should never have been launched or never allowed to continue. It is important to end those rapidly. I like Richard's recommendations for this issue.

I sometimes like to look at a distressed project as a brand new project. We have a team and we may have some partial deliverables, but I try to look at the project with fresh eyes.

I check the quality of the deliverables completed so far. I look at the quality of the plan. Oftentimes we throw out the old plan and create a new one from scratch, starting from today. We plan out a new project -- how to get from what we have now to some useful ending point. Sometimes we come up with new project goals.

Best wishes on your project. I recommend joining the PMI Troubled Projects SIG (www.tpsig.org) if you want to learn more. It is a great community of PMs who are interested in these topics. I am an active volunteer with that group.

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