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How to Get Out of "Project Overwhelm"
by Adele Sommers
It's two weeks before the deadline. But your
project is at least six weeks behind! Everyone is sweating
bullets. As project leader, you're wringing your hands.
A volcano of surprises has erupted since the project
launched three months ago. And  in
contrast to everyone's prognostications, no one foresaw
the lava flow of trouble ahead.
Your dilemma: Information that was supposed
to be available in Week 2 won't be known for another
month. Parts of the system that were designed to work
one way are really working another. An expert you needed
to provide critical details went on extended leave right
after the project launch. And that's just scratching
the surface!
So today, that simple-looking undertaking that
your crystal ball said should only take four weeks of
work beckons from a distant horizon. The funding may
soon be cut off. And management will surely panic if
it's not finished for the scheduled unveiling.
You sense disaster looming, yet everyone feels helpless.
So, what can you do?
This article explains how to get out of "project
overwhelm" and restore sanity to your endeavor.
It may be time to regroup and swiftly chart a new course.
But Wait! Couldn't You Try a Last-Minute,
Heroic Maneuver?
Well, you could, but should you?  Yes,
it's only human nature to want to pull out all the stops,
work 24/7, and pray it will all come together. Is it
still possible to finish on time if you speed up your
efforts, put more people on the project, and/or require
the team to work 14 hours a day? And if you do, can
you ever get completely caught up?
Let's get real. You and your team will probably
need to admit that there's no way to achieve the original
goals in the expected time frame. There are just too
many loose ends. Key people and information sources
are missing, and that creates gaping holes. Further,
parts of the system aren't working correctly. How long
will it take to fix that?
A misconception about projects is that you can
remedy every late delay by adding people or increasing
effort. In certain cases, you can. In others, adding
people at the eleventh hour — or working at a frenzied
pace — brings chaos, frustration, and errors.
A project delivered with major gaps will seem seriously
flawed if everyone compares it to the original plan.
Here's a powerful strategy that can make all the
difference...
 It's
Time To Reframe Success!
Reframe success? What exactly does that mean?
Well, initially, you and your team defined a set of
requirements for completing the project. There were
four types of criteria involved (some of which
may have been simply implied):
* Time (the speed or schedule for doing the
work)
* Cost (in terms of the funding, the resources,
or a combination)
* Quality (how well the effort needed to be done)
* Features (how many components or deliverables
there were, and how complex)
On this project, however, it seems you've run into
a common situation in which the features (and
perhaps quality) have collided with time.
Too much to get done on too short a schedule. It's really
no one's fault; everyone was doing the best he or she
could. There were just too many dynamic variables in
play. When every aspect of a project is a moving target,
it often feels like skateboarding on molten rock.
So the "disconnect" in your situation is
that you won't be able to complete everything you started
out to do per the original schedule. The answer is not
to hide behind your desk; it's to re-plan the tail
end of the project so you can smoothly carry over
the unfinished tasks to a later phase.
It's a lot like ending a meeting on time when you still
have unfinished business left on the agenda. Yes, everyone
can agree to continue talking until all topics have
been discussed. Or, you could choose to stop the meeting
gracefully by deciding what to carry over to
the next agenda. In fact, the earlier you can anticipate
any potential need to do this on your project, the more
your team and organization will benefit.
Here is a simple but effective strategy for
applying this sanity-saving approach. Review all outstanding
tasks and requirements, then sort them into these categories:
1) "Must-have" within the remaining
schedule, because you need them very soon
2) "Nice-to-have" within the remaining
schedule, but they could be carried over
3) Can't do yet, even if you wanted to, as there
isn't enough information available
Review this reprioritized list with your team and management,
making any changes needed. If you execute your plan
accordingly, you'll sleep soundly again at night!
Copyright 2005 Adele Sommers
Want to include this article in your newsletter
or Web site? You can, as long as you include this
blurb with it: Adele Sommers, Ph.D. is the creator of
the award-winning "Straight Talk on Boosting Business
Performance" system. To learn more about this step-by-step
program, and to access her many no-cost articles and
resources, visit LearnShareProsper.com.
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