Project Management involves not only making sure that all planned activities are completed, but also insuring that communication continues to be open and honest even in the midst of unexpected chaos. The sources of chaos are unforeseeable delays and a sudden shift in the availability of resources. The Project Manager must be able to update a schedule according to projected changes outside of the original project scope. There are several different approaches a project manager can undertake to successfully monitor and control challenges, without allowing the project to fail to achieve all of its milestones.
Communicate With Stakeholders About Major Challenges
The project sponsor is a major stakeholder in a project. The project sponsor is the person who grants the authority and capital resources to initiate a project. If there are major challenges to meeting project goals resulting in additional costs being incurred, this must be communicated immediately to the sponsor. The project sponsor will then grant the authority for the project manager to proceed and will determine the feasible options for dealing with the unexpected chaos.
Create Formal Documentation of Unexpected Challenges
Lessons learned documentation is useful for capturing major deviations from the original project charter. These deviations will help capture the complete magnitude the change will have on completing the project’s deadlines. Believe it or not, one change can create a rippling domino effect that can completely cause the project to take on an unexpected turn in the opposite direction of progress.
Revitalize the Team
Major project setbacks that cause chaos within a team can also alter the team’s enthusiasm and productivity. It is important that all team members are able to voice concerns on what went wrong to identify the sources that lead to the onset of the project’s chaos.
Set up Weekly Status Meetings
Project meetings are important to understand the status of action items and any pressing issues that may have occurred since the last time the team members met. Weekly status meetings are imperative especially after major challenges have led to the chaos altering the cohesiveness of the team.
Celebrate Successes as Much as Possible
A person who feels like a valued employee will put forth the best effort to get the job done on time. Employee morale is just as important as meeting the project’s deadlines and should never be taken lightly by a project manager. Team members should be treated equally especially for efforts that fall above and beyond expectations.
Overall, project chaos will be a challenge for any project manager but taking the time to listen and understand the source of the problems will help facilitate the necessary changes to bring the project back on track.
Project Management Tips and Resources
Rita Mulchy. President, RMC Project Management, Inc
Project Management Body of Knowledge
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