Project Management methodologies, classes, and books are adequate at explaining the mechanics of running projects and the tools used to do so. Understanding these mechanics is essential, but it is experience that distinguishes successful Project Managers. More specifically, it is the sum of all of the negative experiences that Project Managers have in their careers that teaches them what not to do. As Vernon Law explains, "Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards."
In my many years of Project Management experience, I have come across several areas that consistently cause projects to experience difficulties. I call these the "uglies" of projects since these are the things that make projects turn ugly. These are also usually the things that, once recognized, are hard to fix easily. This article will discuss the ten project "uglies" and propose some resolutions. There are definitely other "uglies" out there, but these ten are the ones that seem to be the most common and have the biggest impact based on my experience.
The Ten Uglies
Below are the ten "uglies" with a description of each and some symptoms that indicate that these "uglies" may be happening.
1. Lack of Maintained Project Documentation
Oftentimes when projects are in a crunch, the first thing that gets eliminated is project documentation. Sometimes project documentation isn't created even when projects do have the time. When documentation is created properly, as projects continue to progress it is a rarity to see the project documentation maintained.
Symptoms:
- Requirement documents that don't match what was produced
- Technical documents that can't be used to maintain the technology because they are outdated
- No documentation on what decisions were made and why they were made
- No audit trail of changes made
This is a problem since project documentation provides the stewardship of the project. By this I mean that future projects and the people maintaining the project once it has been completed need the documentation to understand what was created, why it was created, and how it was created. Otherwise, they wind up falling into the same traps that happened before - in this case "he who ignores history in documentation is doomed to repeat it."
2. The Pile Phenomenon
"What is that under the rug?" is a question often asked towards the end of a project. The mainstream work always gets the primary focus on a project but it is those tangential things that get forgotten or pushed off until ‘later', at which point there are several piles (swept under the rug) that need to be handled. I call this the "pile phenomenon" because team members think of it as a phenomenon that all this "extra" work has suddenly appeared at the end.
Symptoms:
- Any work that gets identified as "we will do this later" but is not on a plan somewhere
- Growing logs (issues, defects, etc.)
- Documentation assumed to be done at the end
There is no "later" accounted for in most project plans and therefore these items either get dropped or there is a mad rush at the end to finish the work.
3. No "Quality at The Source"
Project team members don't always take on the mantra of "quality at the source." There is sometimes a mentality that 'someone else will find the mistakes' rather than a mentality of ownership of quality. A Project Manager doesn't always have the ability to review all work, so they must rely on their team members. Therefore, the team member must have the onus to ensure that whatever they put their name on represents their best work.
Symptoms:
- Handing off work with errors before reviewing it
- Developing code without testing it
- People not caring about the presentation of their work
There are several studies that show that quality issues not found at the source have an exponential cost when found later in the project.
4. Wrong People on the Job
Project roles require the right match of skills and responsibilities. Sometimes a person's skillset does not fit well with the role that they have been given. I also find that work ethic is just as important as skills.
Symptoms:
- Team members being shown the same things repeatedly
- Consistent missing of dates
- Consistent poor quality
As Project Managers, all we have are our resources. Not having the right fit for team members will result in working harder than necessary and impacts everyone else on the team who has to pick up the slack. There's also a motivational issue here: when someone is in the wrong role, they may not feel challenged or feel that they are working to their potential. This has the impact of that person not giving their best effort, not embodying a solid work ethic when they normally would, feeling under-utilized, etc.
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