TurnaroundaFalteringProject

Ifprojectsarepartofyourbusiness,youknowthatmanyofthemhavethepotentialtofail.Accordingtoone industrysource,approximately30percentofprojectsfail.Andofthosecompleted,about50percentdonot deliverthebusinessvaluenecessarytorecouptheirinitialinvestment.Asthenumberssuggest,itisnothardto failinfactprojectfailurecanbeeasywhenboththecrossfunctionalandrelationalrisksarenotidentifiedand managedappropriately. Manyoftheproblemsassociatedwithprojectfailurecanbeprevented,butintheeventthataprojectbeginsto falteradisciplinedapproachmustbefollowedtorecovertheinitiative,forwardyourbusinessobjectivesand ultimatelyyourcareer(seegraphonpage2). PotentialFailureSigns Thefirststepinturningaroundaprojectistoidentifythattheprojectisatrisk.Afailingprojectcantypicallybe characterizedbythreefactors: Misseddeadlines Misseddeliverables Costoverruns Inordertohaveasuccessfulprojectturnaround,itisimportanttonotonlyidentifythesignsofprojectfailure,but tousethosesignstooffsettherisksthatcanoccurifactionisnottakentogettheprojectbackontrack. Mostfailuresignscanbecategorizedintothreebroadcategories:politics,processandpeople.Asuccessful projectturnaroundforaProjectManagers,Inc.(ProjectMgrs)clientservesasagoodexample.Ourclient,atop10 rankedfinancialinstitution,recognizedinthefirstquarterthattheyhadrunoutofcapacitytoprintyearend customerstatementsduetoacquisitionsandorganicgrowth.Thisposedseveralpotentialriskstoourclient, includingcustomerriskcustomerswouldlosetrustintheirbank,operationalriskcustomercallcenterswould bedelugedwithaccountinquiriesandreputationalriskthepublicsperceptionofthebankwouldfalter. Consequently,theclientinitiatedaprojecttoimplementsignificantlyfasterandmorecosteffectiveprint technology. However,byAugust,theprojectsponsornoticedmisseddeliverablesandyearendwasquicklyapproaching.In short,theirprojectwasatriskoffailing. Whilenotintendedtobecomprehensive,belowisalistofsomeofthemorecommonsignsofafailingproject alongwithsomespecificexamplesfromourclientssituation. Politics Unrealisticexpectationsofstakeholders,sponsorsand/ortheprojectteamStakeholders,sponsors andtheprojectteammemberswerenotcoachedonwhatthechangemeanttothemsoresistance wasparamount. Disagreementoverthelengthoftheprojectscheduleorthecostoftheproject.

The ABEO Group is a division of Project Managers, Inc.

VagueScopeandBusinessrequirementsand/ordesignspecifications,frequentchangesallowedto evolveovertimeNoSteering/Governancegroupwascreatedtoensurethatchanges/issues impedingprogresswereaddressed.

Process

DisagreementonscopeorwhatchangeshadbeenapprovedDocumentationwasnonexistent thereforestatusandmilestoneswereunabletobetrackedandreported. Missedmilestones. Closingoutprojectphaseswithoutallofthedeliverableshavingbeencompleted. Deliverablesdeferredtofutureprojectphases.

ProjectMgrs Turnaround Methodology

IDENTIFY

ASSESS

RESTRUCTURE

RESTART

EXECUTE

OPTIMIZE

People EmptychairsatprojectmeetingsRolesandexpectationsofstakeholderswerenotidentifiedsothey didnotattendmeetings. ExecutivesponsororotherstakeholdersnotengagedStakeholders,rolesandexpectationswere vaguethereforetheywerenotengaged. Projectteamisstruggling,unfocusedand/ormireddownintrivialdetails. Projectteamputtingintoomanylonghours

Assess Onceitisestablishedthataprojectisintroublethenextstepistobegintheturnaroundprocessbyassessingthe failurepoints.ThisisthepointwhereafirmlikeProjectMgrsisbroughtintomanagetheturnaround,oryou continuethisprocessyourself. Thereisobviouslyalotatstakeandthoseissuesneedtobecaredfor,whichmeansthatidentifyingallcross functionalareasoftheprojectisessential.Whenourfirmisbroughtinwelookforboththesurfacefailurepoints, aswellthehiddenfailurepoints. Thesurfacefailurepointsaretheeasiesttoidentify,suchasthelackofaclearprojectcharter.However, identifyinghiddenfailurepointsmeansfindingtherelationalorpoliticalrisksassociatedwithlargecross functionalinitiatives.Toidentifythesehiddenrisks,aquickbutnecessaryindividualdialogueneedstooccur betweentheassessmentteamandtheprojectstakeholders. Politicalproblemsoftentaketheformofactiveorpassiveresistancetotheprojectfromboththebusinessside andtheITside.Whatisthebasisfortheresistance?Theanswertothisquestion,ifnotrecognizedandcoached,
The ABEO Group is a division of Project Managers, Inc.

cansabotageaprojectssuccess.Withoutidentifyingaprojectshiddenrisks,eventhebestmanagedproject turnaroundwillstillmostlikelyfailduetomisalignedstakeholderagendas. Inourclientscase,thetechnicalsupportareasattheclientsiteposedarelationalriskbecausetheywere apprehensiveaboutthenewprinttechnology,astheywouldhavetolearnhowtosupportthenew hardware/software.Identifyingtheirapprehensionwascriticaltotheprojectssuccessfulturnaroundbecause theyplayedakeyroleinthedeploymentofthenewprinttechnologyandprocessesandalsototheongoing supportofit. ProjectMgrswasabletogetthetechnicalsupportteamfullyengagedinallprojectactivitiesandsentoffto trainingpriortobeginninganytestingofclientprintjobswithintwoweeksafterthevendorinstallationofthe hardware/software. Thisparticularprojectturnarounddidnotallowextensivetimeforstudyingorrevivingpriormissteps,whichis oftenthecase.Remember,ifaprojectisfailingthatusuallymeansthatprecioustimehasalreadybeenlostsoa quickbutthoroughassessmentisbest. Restructure Theprimaryobjectiveoftherestructuringphaseistomitigatethefailurepointssurfaceandhiddenthatare revealedintheassessmentphase.Oncethesefailurepointsareidentifiedandtheassessmentiscomplete,a meetingshouldbescheduledwiththeprimaryprojectsponsortoreviewtherestructuringstrategytomove forwardandensurethatkeyobjectivesaremet. Alltoofrequentlyprojectfailureisblamedontechnicalissues.Butinfactthisisusuallyasymptomratherthan therootcauseoftheproblem.Timeisbetterspentonrestructuringtheprojectbasedonthefailuresofthe project.Restructuringeffortsshouldbefocusedaroundshortterm,measurablegoalsthataddresstheprojects failures. Asuccessfulrestructuringstrategywillensurethattheprojectturnaroundbeginsinawaythatcollectivelygains momentumtohitkeyobjectives.Becauseprojectsareusuallymidstreamwhenthefailureisidentified,the restructuringstrategymayrequiresomeprioritizationofdeliverables,resources,etc.tomeetoriginaltargetsin nowcompressedtimeframes. Therestructuringstrategyshouldincludeonlythoseaspectsofastandardprojectmethodologyrequiredto ensuresuccess.Unproductiveprojectstepsshouldbeeliminated.Thestrategyshouldalsoincludeaquickstatus dashboardforprojectsponsorupdatesmovingforward. Toeliminateunproductiveprocessandstepsintheturnaround,identifytheoriginalprojectcharter(ifitexists), anyscopeandrequirementsdocumentsandutilizethecomponents,ifanythatareworking.Forinstance,isthe communicationprocessworking?Aretestingeffortsproducinggoodresults?Areendusersappropriately engagedintheproject?Isthecoordinationbetweenthetechnicalteamandthebusinessteamworkingproperly? Thefirststepinrestructuringourclientsprojectwastocompleteaprojectcharter/scopedocumenttoensure thateveryoneinvolvedunderstoodtheprojectobjectivesandwhatwasinaswellasoutofscope.Thiswas leveragedtogainconsensuswiththenewlyformedSteeringCommitteeandwascompletedinfivebusinessdays.

The ABEO Group is a division of Project Managers, Inc.

Intherestructuringphase,itusuallyisntnecessarytodiscardeveryoneconnectedwiththeprojectandstartover fromscratch;infactProjectMgrsdiscouragesit.Ourgoalistogetyourprojectturnedaroundorimplemented withacleartransitiontoyourteam. Understandably,mostprojectmanagerswouldlovetobeabletostafftheirprojectteamwiththeabsolutebest resourcesavailable.Unfortunately,thebestresourcesareusuallyinhighdemandwithinanycompany,andrarely available.Thereforeitisuptotheprojectmanagertogetthebestfromeveryteammember. ItisduringtherestructuringphasethatProjectMgrsdevelopsaknowledgetransitionstrategyintothe statementofworksothatourclientsbecomeselfsufficientandnotdependantonourfirmorconsultantsafter theturnaroundiscomplete. Restart Theprimaryobjectiveoftherestartphaseistodevelopaprojectworkplantoimplementtherestructuring strategy.Keyrestartcomponentsmayincludeaddressingtherelationalorpoliticalrisksthatwereidentified duringtheassessmentphase.Theprojectrestartmayalsorequireprojectsponsor/executiveparticipationto alignpreviouslymisalignedcrossfunctionalagendasofthestakeholders. Aspartofthesuccessofourclientsprojectturnaroundwewereabletoexecuteaquick,formalizedprocessto restarttheproject.Webeganbyengagingtheappropriatestakeholdersthatwouldowntheresultingproduct, serviceandcontract.Ourclientoriginallychosetheirnewvendorviaaveryinformalprocess.Inorderto streamlinetheprocess,weissuedaletterofintenttoengagethevendorpriortofinalcontractsigning.This fosteredthedeliveryofthenewprintequipment,associatedsoftwareandspecialrollsofpapertotheclientsite withinthreeweeksofourteamleadingtheproject. Yourprojectsrestartshouldbeginatalogicalstartingpointthatfollowsaprovenprojectmanagement methodology.Proceedinsmall,incrementalstepsthatshouldbedefinedintherestructuredworkplanorscopein ordertoreduceriskandshowsuccessfaster.Throughouttheproject,makethescheduleandstatusveryvisiblein ordertoensureacommonandaccurateunderstanding. Execute ProjectMgrsrecommendsthattheimplementationoftherestructuredworkplanbeexecutedbythesameproject manager(consultantorinternal)thatparticipatesintheassessment,restructuringandrestartphases.This individualshouldhavethepoliticalcloutandpastprovensuccesstomeetyourpreviousobjectiveswithyournew projectstrategy. Optimize Aftertheprojectisimplementedandsuccessisachieved,youshouldhaveapostmortemprocessthatwilladdress theprojectsfailurepointssurfaceandhiddenbyupdatingormodifyingyourcompanysprogram/project processesoreducationtoensuresimilarfailuresdonotoccurinthefuture. Forexample,aspartofourfirmsservices,weofferacompleteprogramofficeanalysistoassessthematurityof yourorganizationalinternalprojectmanagementprocesses.Weidentifythegaps,potentialrisksandfinancial impactsandmakerecommendationstoimproveyourprogramprocesses.Theserecommendationswillenhance yourorganizationsabilitytoexecuteprojectswellandachievetheirintendedfinancialbenefits.
The ABEO Group is a division of Project Managers, Inc.

Summary Noonewantstobeheldaccountablefororassociatedwithafailingorfailedproject.However,asthestatistics show,failuresdohappenandeveryoneshouldunderstandthestepsthatneedtobetakenwhenaprojectstarts tofail.Byfollowingthesixstepprojectturnaroundmethodologywehavediscussed,youcanavoidthepotential risksthataccompanyaprojectfailure. OurclientsyearendprintingprojectwasfailingwhenProjectMgrswasbroughtonboardinAugust.Theactual yearendprintwascompletedoneweekaheadoftheprioryearsschedule,whichhadapositiveimpactonboth theclientscustomersandtheprintoperationsteam. Theexecutiveresponsibleforthisaspectofoperationswasrecognizedasaleaderbyallothergeographically distributedprintoperationssitesandeventually,theytoo,convertedtothenewprinttechnologywithhis leadership. Asourexampleshows,thereisnoreasonthatafailingprojectcannotbeturnedaroundintoasuccessfulinitiative aslongasadisciplinedapproachistaken. *ContributorKarenMcIsaac,ManagingDirector

The ABEO Group is a division of Project Managers, Inc.