Flick of the Wrist, Getting Out of a Project Jam Quickly

I was on my way to work one morning and I had an uneasy feeling. I was coming up to the side of an 18 wheeler on the right and had a car on the left. There was a line of cars merging onto the highway and I could see their heads turning wanting to get out from behind the 18 wheeler as quickly as possible. I knew that my motorcycle was not visible to the people in the cars and I knew I had a decision to make. I could slow down to let all the bigger vehicles go ahead. The problem is that there was a load of traffic behind me as well and they don’t take kindly to motorcyclists slowing down. I could try to change lanes but there wasn’t anywhere to go. I chose to give the bike some gas, flick my wrist, and get ahead of all the traffic. Turned out that was the safest thing to do, my uneasy feeling went away and I was safely on my way to work.

If you’ve ever managed a project during a project traffic jam you may be able to relate to that uneasy feeling of not being able to get the job done. The traffic jam is usually caused by a constraint like not enough funding or resources. Each project has a similar need and each project must meet their objectives in a certain time period. And like morning rush hour, no matter how much contingency you give yourself, there is always something that can go wrong that is not preventable. This particular morning I had visibility of the traffic, I had an understanding of the traffic dependencies and I was able to make a decision to move quickly through the traffic.

Project Visibility

Being able to see the projects in an organization is critical to be able to understand potential impacts to a project. Since projects never operate in a vacuum visibility is a must. Visibility is caused through communication. Whether the organization uses standard project reporting using spreadsheets or a tool designed for portfolio management being aware of the active and the pipeline projects is needed. It doesn’t matter whether the organization is Functional, Projectized or Matrix. There are always limited resources and constant changes to the market, business priorities and strategies which cause projects to start and end. Because of this, the portfolio operates much like our highway system and projects operate much like the vehicles on the highway system. Some are large and take a great deal of effort to maneuver like an 18 wheeler and some are easier to maneuver like a motorcycle. The fact is that visibility must exist. Visibility is not built by an office but by each project manager making sure their project is visible to the organization.

Project Dependencies

Visibility is the first ingredient and dependency is second. Much like building a project schedule and determining task dependencies, projects have dependencies. Project dependencies can be based on a few criteria but the main criteria when discussing a portfolio are resources and funding. Since projects within a program are related it the capability or objectives of one project may need to be implemented before a dependent project can be started. In the case of the portfolio, the projects aren’t related so the dependency is usually people and dollars based. Understanding the dependencies is like understanding that none of the cars can merge safely until the 18 wheeler passes or that they can’t move into my lane unless I’m not in their way. Project dependencies help provide the basis for decisions.

Decision

In the traffic example I decided to “flick my wrist” and get away from impending doom. Being on a motorcycle, I could go from 65 to 75 to 65 in a matter of seconds. The decision seemed fairly straight forward. I would make a different decision if I were driving an 18 wheeler, a delivery truck, a pick-up truck, a luxury sedan and on down the line. When I hear someone say “It Depends” I usually feel like rolling my eyes but the truth is the decision made depends on the size and complexity of the project. The decision to gather the project team together, explain the convergence of the projects, discuss crashing the schedule and moving forward with the plan is the equivalent of “flick of the wrist”.

Additional Thoughts

It is very possible to achieve this type of quick response in a projectized, agile project management environment and much more difficult in a functional traditional project management environment. I’m not suggesting that we all adopt agile since the project environment will have all size and complexity of projects. I am suggesting that the decisions associated with project management must take into consideration many parameters.

“Flick of the Wrist” is only possible if there is visibility of the project portfolio, an understanding of project dependencies based on resources and dollars, and an environment in which quick response is possible.

Ride On, Manage On