Page 98 - Straight Talk On Project Management IV

Finally, the Project Management as a Service market is great for taking the sting of scope change,
the extra, on-demand resources that PMaaS can offer give you unlimited response options.

2) The Sting: Miscalculated Time Estimates

How tight are project deadlines these days? Everything in tech is moving so fast! Clients want
delivery and return on investment as quickly as possible. This can sometimes lead to hurried and,
therefore, unrealistic forecasts. You don't have a crystal ball; you can't predict everything that's
going to happen. Like planning a road journey without factoring in traffic delays, accidents, red lights
and roadworks - great if you have a clear run but the smallest delay means you'll arrive late.

The Treatment:

"Cut yourself some slack", I often hear this from teams at the point where poorly estimated time
forecasts are causing pain, they mean it in the sense of "don't beat yourself up about it". Actually,
cutting yourself some slack is a great preventative measure. Back in the day, cutting yourself some
slack meant giving yourself more rope than you think you'd need on a sailing boat. For plain sailing in
your IT Project, build in a time buffer on each task so that if one element is delayed it doesn't impact
your final delivery date.

If unrealistic time pressures are being imposed by unavoidable end client or organisational demands,
then consider bolstering your resources with PMaaS back up.

3) The Sting: Lack of Transparency

I remember reading a postmortem on a failed IT Project some years back that described the project's
transparency as "opaque". It actually made me laugh and I've never forgotten it. It's really important
for Project Managers and stakeholders to be able to get a view of how the project is progressing,
where each task is at, who is doing what, etc. Every project team will tell you that this is what they
have but this never really gets tested until someone actually needs to take a look. It's like thinking
that car your engine is running well, then it fails, and you need pop the bonnet to take a look, only to
be met with plumes of smoke.
The Treatment:

A task management tool allows quick access to the progress of your project, and the best project
management software products give real-time updates which let everyone keep a check on where
the project is at - without having to gather everyone around the water cooler for a catch up. You
know all this though, and I know all this too - so why does it sometimes fail?

It's what I call the "Sunday Night Homework Trap". Remember, at school, you'd be set some French
homework that had to be handed in two weeks later? When did you do it? That night? Or was it the
night before it had to be handed in? Honestly, when I was a kid, "Last Of The Summer Wine" used to
come on the telly on a Sunday and I'd think "Arrrgggh! French homework."

So the key is to actually fill in the information required for full transparency at the earliest possible
moment - out of date progress reports can cause as much "project panic" as actual, real problems,
so develop an open culture and make filling in the data fields in your software package a daily habit.

If this is a struggle, consider turning to your PMaaS partner for end to end Project Management
Office which will come with transparency built-in!

4) The Sting: Lack of Accountability