A PM asks. "Why should I spend a lot of time working with the team on estimates when the sponsor always cuts the estimates anyway?"
There are several ways to handle that situation. That kind of sponsor decision-making always goes along with high project failure rates. Project teams may slap together some piece of crap by the deadline the executive set. But then they spend 6 months cleaning up the crap. I promise you the executive is sick of failure too. The exec may even be more worried about the failures then you are.
In that very typical situation, it can be effective to tell the executive something like, "We're getting nowhere setting these impossible due dates that have no basis in fact. The team has no commitment to them and knows they are impossible. So on every project, the whole team knows we are going to fail before we start. Let's try managing a project with realistic dates that we can hit."
Anybody have other ideas on handling this situation?
10 comments:
That sounds good but I'd be concerned about being so blunt with my boss. I don't want to limit my career (and raise) by telling them they don't know how to initiate a project.
do I have to become a blogger to leave a comment?
No, you don't have to be a blogger to leave a comment. You can be anonymous or leave your name.
I agree with anonymous. There's no way that I could get away with being that blunt. Is there a good way to explain this without being to in-your-face?
I'd reason with the sponsor and tell them that I'm sure they're just as tired as I am by seeing our projects fail or not meet the deadline. I'd suggest that we do estimating with the team member and NOT arbitrarily cut their estimate. That will help us get their buy-in on the task which will lead to a more empowered, less frustrated team member. No one wants to work on a task they know they'll never be able to finish on time.
Who wants to fail before they've begun a task OR a project?
You can not be certain of today, uncertainly is fact.
set performance criterai for the maninging construction project of the company i.e 85% * the activity scheduled. develop project specific management procedures.
I believe this is a people problem that can best be resolved by education. I've found one cause of this is the sponsor believing team members and even Project Managers pad their time estimates in order to finish on time. (Perhaps they are planning for the unexpected - which always happens.) So, to be sure they have all thier 'bases' covered, some team members and PM's actually do have a bad habit of padding their time estimates. After seeing this, perhaps from only a few PM's some sponsors believe this is a practice by all PM's and begin arbitrailily cutting the team's time estimates - believeing they must be padded. When the project finishes on time for the team that padded their estimate, the sponsor feels justified in cutting the time. And when the project finishes late, it's assumed to be the fault of the team - including the PM. I believe one resolution to this is educating the sponsor using industry averages for projects. Time and effort to complete most "parts" of most projects are available by searching the Internet, and can be used to justify your time estimates. I'll admit it will take some effort to educate a sponsor to where they believe and finally trust your team is not one of the 'padders', but the effort will be worth it, and you'll have great references for past performances from them as well.
The successful PM has finesse and need not be blunt with a daydreaming sponsor. Rather, he helps interpret the sponsor's dream into a valuable business plan. This alone might be used as the 'Measure of Success'. From here, the PM can develop estimates for the sponsor before work begins.
The successful PM is prepared to point out to the sponsor the risks and trade-offs involved as cuts in cost, time, and quality are proposed to the estimates. From here, a Project Charter can be drawn up and approved by the sponsor.
Don't worry about your raise or future career. As a successful PM you will have gained the trust of your sponsor, your company, and yourself. With the 'Broadbrush' plan to project management, you can bring your sponsor's projects, on time, on target, and on budget to the light of day for all to see.
The sponsor, many times, is just testing your understanding of the scope and the project. I suggest highlighting the scope that you recommend cutting to meet the new time demand. Summarize the impact to quality and costs. If you have estimates from the developer and approved by his/her resource manager, you have credibility, and a stronger argument. (By argument I mean "discourse intended to persuade"). There are many variables and options, however that's my first approach. Second approach, call a meeting with the resource manager(s) and the sponsor present, to reiterate /clarify.
Involve all stakeholders as early as possible, leveraging historical data from past projects, consult with each funcational team leads.
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