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Author: Brad Egeland

Brad Egeland is a Business Solution Designer and IT/PM consultant and author with over 25 years of software development, management, and project management experience leading initiatives in Manufacturing, Government Contracting, Creative Design, Gaming and Hospitality, Retail Operations, Aviation and Airline, Pharmaceutical, Start-ups, Healthcare, Higher Education, Non-profit, High-Tech, Engineering and general IT. He has been named the “#1 Provider of Project Management Content in the World” with over 7,000 published articles, eBooks, white papers and videos. Brad is married, a father of 11, and living in sunny Las Vegas, NV. Visit Brad's site at http://www.bradegeland.com/.

5 Steps to Replacing the Project Manager on a Failing Project

Written by Brad Egeland on . Posted in Articles. 4 Comments on 5 Steps to Replacing the Project Manager on a Failing Project

The project is going down the tubes… what do you do?

There are definitely steps you can take to improve performance on an existing project – things you can do tomorrow that may help right the tipping ship. But if you have tried a few or have determined the problem is the leadership, then changing out the project manager – and possible one or two other key positions on the project team depending on how bad the performance really is – may be your only option.

Only take this approach if it is absolutely necessary but if the project client is asking for the change you really have no other choice. The PM has to go. Remember, changes at top of a project… the leadership of the project… can cause major disruptions and can significantly impact customer satisfaction and confidence. But, if you are at the point of considering or needing to replace the project manager or especially if the customer is requesting this change, then that ship has already sailed and now you’re just trying to salvage the project before it gets canceled and a lot of money gets left on the table, right? Not much to lose but possibly everything to gain if you do it right and do it efficiently.

I’ve taken over these types of projects before and I’ve witnessed them from other colleagues. Thankfully, I’ve never been the one out the door on a project, but it can easily happen to anyone. What I’ve found to be most effective in taking over a project like this or in replacing leadership on a project like this is to follow five key steps to some degree depending on the situation, the client and the type of project involved – so I’ll try to make the steps as broad and generic as possible to help them to best apply to different scenarios…

Evaluate the situation internally. Before going to the project client – especially if they are yet to ask for a replacement project manager – evaluate the situation internally. This means someone in senior leadership – the PMO Director if there is one and probably one or two others in senior leadership – needs to sit down with the project team and discuss the project and the leadership issues that have been going on. At this point, I am assuming that it’s obvious that the project manager needs to go so they aren’t likely part of this conversation… they will probably be part of a separate conversation that may include termination of their employment if the performance is that bad and the customer and project that valuable.

This meeting involves finding out the exact current status of the project, what issues are going on, what the team and other stakeholders think the customer concerns might be – especially with the project leadership – and what action or actions they would like to see taken.

Evaluate the situation with the project client.

Next, go to the client and discuss the plan or option to change leadership on the project. If the client has requested this change already, this step may need to happen before the internal meeting step because a rapid response to a project client concern is always extremely critical to the project. Finding out specifically what the issues are with leadership may be the best first step to finding the right fit to take over the project. You certainly don’t want to make the situation worse by finding the wrong replacement that is just going to frustrate the project client even more.

Make the go, no-go decision.

The go, no-go decision on replacing the project manager is – at this point – likely already a done deal. But an official decision on the project and even the employment status of the failing project manager should happen now and be acted on accordingly. It doesn’t need to be loud – in fact it should probably be kept as quiet as possible to maintain professionalism, but be firm in the action and stick to it.

Find the right fit to take on the failing project.

Next, the proper replacement resource needs to be found, quickly. No sense in delaying the enviable… and by this point the previous project manager has probably been relieved of his project duties and someone else – the business analyst or technical lead – is “managing” the project in the interim. I’m not talking about a long time here… this all needs to take place over the course of maybe 1-2 days because drawing it out any further can cause further client issues to arise and could possibly be causing the project to take on extra costs and miss an important deadline. Time is not on your side – act quickly to keep the project moving forward. Having a business analyst or technical lead or even an interim project manager who won’t be the final replacement is a very undesirable situation to have going on.

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Onboard the new leadership with the least amount of disruption.

Finally, bring the new resource on board quickly – preferably sitting in on a meeting or two before fully taking over the project. Before that happens, the important thing is to fully brief the new project manager on where the project stands and what the major issues are with the project. It is also very important to get the new resource as much documentation about the project as possible – the statement of work (SOW), the current project schedule, any issues lists and change order documentation as well as the financial / budget analysis and resource forecast. Much of this can probably be provided through giving the new PM the last few project status reports… unless project status reporting and documentation or budget or resource management is one of the key weaknesses of the outgoing project manager (which sadly is often the case). If that is the case, then the new resource will have to jump aboard and learn as much about the project as possible as they are actively taking over. Not the most desirable situation, but it happens.

Summary / call for input

No one likes these situations. Sure, it can be an ego boost if you’re called in to save an ailing project. But half the time leadership looking more for an available warm body to take on the project rather than seeking out the absolute best fit and right person for the situation. It’s about availability unless the client is one they can’t afford to lose and you’re the top PM in the organization… then they may pull you from whatever project you’re on to take on the Titanic. The risk, of course, is to sink both projects. But the upside is that both projects may conclude successfully. Overall company leadership has to determine if that is a risk they want to take on.

Readers – what is your experience in this situation? Have you been involved – good or bad – with this type of project scenario? What steps did you take and how successful was it? Please share your experiences and discuss.

When the Successful Project is Ending

Written by Brad Egeland on . Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on When the Successful Project is Ending

You are the project manager and you and your team have just completed a successful launch of your company’s new accounting software that tracks everything from department budgets to project financials to vendor invoices and all costs associated with everything and everyone in the organization.

Planning and analyzing revenue, costs and profitability in 2018 will be a snap and you’re feeling pretty good about how the last 8 months went while leading this high tech and complex project and integrating all of the legacy data into it along with all of the data transformation activities that had to go into it as well.

You led a team of very skilled high tech professionals who were just doing their job, but did it well and collaborated and planned and designed the heck out of everything. With everyone running on all cylinders you delivered a very successful and satisfying end solution. Now what? You have just had a successful launch or are in the process of a successful launch. What do you do next?

Verify EVERYTHING is complete and signed off.

There are some long term knowledge base type stuff that you need to do and there should probably be some celebrating. But first let’s make sure all the loose ends are tied up on the project. That starts with the deliverables. Has everything been delivered? Are all deliverables signed of appropriately? Is user acceptance test (UAT) properly closed up and signed off with all issues resolved. Often that UAT is about the same as complete sign off of the final solution or system so that UAT completion and sign off is extremely important. I’m not saying get sign off on everything to cover yourself in case the client comes back because we’re mainly talking about a fairly successful project… but you never know and it’s better to always, always, always cover all of your bases and make sure everything has proper sign off.. good project or bad project.

Verify all invoices are out and hopefully paid.

In the same vein of making sure all deliverables have indeed been delivered and have been officially signed off and approved, you need to ensure that all invoices have been sent to the project client and that all have been paid. If there are any outstanding invoices with the client you need to follow up with them and find out why they haven’t been paid and if there are any outstanding issues that would make them not want to be finalizing the invoice with payment. Since the project we are talking about has been successful, it’s more likely to be an oversight on the customer’s side than any issue wth dissatisfaction with any overall work performed or deliverable provided.

Consider ways to promote the success.

The project was successful, team member morale is high and you want to capitalize while the momentum is in place and everyone is getting ready to head off to a next project assignment. What do you do? One way to promote the success is to send out a company-wide email or mini press release that highlights the success of the project with some details and calls out each team member to give them the recognition they deserve. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to draft something for a C-level to send out to all company employees as well – especially if this project had some visibility attached to it. Certainly you aren’t going to do all this for a $10,000 project, but you certainly could and should for a $1 million implementation.

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Conduct lessons learned for future success.

You actually had a successful project? I’m not saying that is necessarily a rare occurrence, but studies and surveys have shown that more projects fail than succeed. So knowing for certain that you have a successful project – not just probably a pretty good project that may be considered a success – is no small matter. So let’s understand what went so right and how your delivery team collaborated well to make it such a success. It’s likely that you or another colleague within the organization will be managing a very similar project in the not too distant future so having steps and practices and templates and documented decisions that went the right way would be good thing to help that next similar project succeed in the same way. Likewise, many of the successful actions can likely be incorporated into all company projects going forward.

How do we ensure that this knowledge is documented and transferred? We conduct a lessons learned session with all stakeholders to go through the pros and cons – and hopefully the cons on such a project are few – of the engagement to understand from all angles why it was successful. And, of course, even successful projects can do better… so there will likely be a few negatives to discuss and strategize on how to mitigate or avoid those issues in the future on other projects.

Summary / call for input

The bottom line is this… the project went well but you’re really not done yet. You need to ensure that all loose ends were tied up, figure out why it went so well so you can repeat it next time around, and commend those who participated because if you’re working in a matrix organization you’ll probably be working with them again. Project managers don’t get lots of accolades and you may not get any still even for the highly successful project, but don’t let that stop you from acknowledging all of your great project team members.

Readers – how do you feel about this list? You’ve had successful projects along the way – you must have if you’re still in the profession and you are reading this. What did you do to make sure all the loose ends were tied up and how did you give recognition to the team? Gifts? Movie tickets? Dinner out to a nice restaurant? Recognition? Announcements? You want to motivate them for next time even if they were just doing their job. But I’m not big on gifts personally…tell me why I’m wrong if you feel that way.

3D Project Management- The Near Future of Real Project Management

Written by Brad Egeland on . Posted in Articles. 4 Comments on 3D Project Management- The Near Future of Real Project Management

3D project management. What the heck is it and why should you care?

Yes, it’s my own concept but even I can be a visionary. So what does 3D project management mean? How do I see it and is it anything new? I’m not sure what will be new to you, but I think it’s really a culmination of several things that are sometimes happening wrapped into a perfect package of everything that should or could be happening. When you’re hoping, professing and being a visionary, the sky is the limit, right?

Seriously though… my concept of 3D project management is both do-able and best practice focused as well as being the building blocks to CUSTOMER satisfaction… which is what this should all be about. Not pleasing revenue driven supervisors and C-levels but rather the project customers we are serving. Two projects totaling more than $2.5 million dollars were utter failures because I listened to my PMO director rather than doing what I wanted to do that I thought would be doing right by my project customer. I won’t go into detail, but it has resulted in my long time motto: “You’re only as successful as your last customer thinks you are…”

Here are the key ingredients to what I will call 3D Project Management – the 3D being customer-centric, efficiently oriented, and best practice driven. In that vein let’s consider these concepts that should make your projects more efficient, successful and customer satisfaction focused.

Start with transparency.

Why keep anything from the customer? Yes, not all customers want to see everything. Many really don’t want to see ongoing project expenses, they just want you to manage the budget and tell them as early as possible if it looks like money might run out. I can do that. But I’d much rather manage it on a section of the status report so everyone can see it at any time. One report size fits all, right? I only want to produce one status report so whether you like it or not, you’re going to see it. I’ve also had project customers who only wanted an issues list and have that drive the weekly status call. Ok, I can see that, but you’re going to still get a detailed status report with key project schedule info including what’s just been accomplished, what’s happening now and what’s about to start up. Sorry, but I don’t want any excuses or claims of ignorance. Not on my watch. You get it… but you don’t have to look at it or like it.

Why lessons learned is good for you.

Just do it. That’s my motto on lessons learned. My own survey from a few years ago indicated that nearly 60% of project managers really never conduct any meaningful lessons learned sessions. Don’t wait till the end… that’s the main problem. Everyone is done… either cowering from a bad project and ready to move on without the tongue lashing they are expecting or they are basking in the glory of a great project and are in high demand to move to the next engagement they are assigned to. Either way, it just isn’t happening often enough. The alternative? Several mid-project lessons learned sessions – conducted as key deliverables are delivered. Performing lessons learned this way – in several sessions placed strategically throughout the project allows us to take advantage of the findings now on the current project with the current customer rather than maybe take advantage of those discussions on a future project. It just makes good sense.

Remote project management and virtual teams are the future.

I’ve been working remotely and managing project teams remotely for the past 12 years and periodically before that. If you say it can’t work well over time, you’re wrong. And I’m a firm believer that if you allow talented workers the option to work where they are or move, you’ll be able to acquire the best talent period – sometimes for less because you’re not requiring them to move – rather than just get those workers to come to you. Most of the very best will never come to you when they could go anywhere. Right now life is so busy for us that in order for me to get real work done I need to work from home without wasting many hours per week driving. We even have our groceries delivered. This is 2018 and most of us are looking at ways to get more done without wasting time and lives away. Convenience is a good thing… but then again I was never a believer in the water cooler talk being productive. Work smarter not longer or harder.

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Virtual teams – with everyone geographically dispersed is also very possible and productive. I’ve managed several successful projects where most of the team never met each other in person. I’ve worked with many clients – consulting and on projects – that I’ve never even talked to in person… let alone personally met. Just email correspondence. Of course, not large $ million projects…but projects and engagements that are much smaller can certainly be handled with fairly minimal communication as long as you use what you are using wisely, efficiently and effectively. Employees and consultants – you can do it if you focus. Employers, trust your employees to use their time wisely and manage efficiently until they prove otherwise.

New tech will drive efficiency.

New technology will definitely be in play. Artificial intelligence (AI)? Yes. Smart reporting of both project status and issues can be handled by AI over time as well as other issues. I think we will begin to see this near the end of 2018 and into 2019. Meetings? I think holographic meetings will take the place of any airline travel to be in the same location as other project team members or stakeholders or even the customer. In 2018 it’s crazy – on most projects – to require people to be co-located. Holographic meetings are already available, but the technology needs more advanced than just a box with a head in it… we should be able to do an entire desk and person or person at a table putting everyone virtually in the same room without really being in the same room. That will be happening by late 2018 or early 2019. That’s 3D project management at it’s best.

The perfect meeting can still exist.

And finally, we will have meeting methodologies that produce the perfect meeting. That includes proper planning and prep, not just calling a meeting for an hour from now to make a decision (unless that is absolutely necessary). Plan, send out materials, start on time, finish on time, be respectful and focused and contribute, and followup afterwards to ensure everyone is on the same page. Most failed projects are due to poor communication and mis-understandings. If everyone is always on the same page – and the project manager (with the possible help of AI) is continually focused on ensuring that – then failed projects can be a thing of the past.

Summary / call for feedback

Most of this – aside from full transparency that I know not everyone believes is a good thing and the strange and cutting edge technology – are really just best practices. Even logical best practices. And I’m certain my ideas and key concepts of 3D project management will evolve more over time. What are your thoughts on this list? What would you add to it as new, best in class and potentially necessary concepts that need to become reality in project management?

AI is Saving Lives – Surely it Can Save a Project

Written by Brad Egeland on . Posted in Articles. 4 Comments on AI is Saving Lives – Surely it Can Save a Project

I recently read about a Copenhagen-based startup that has developed artificial intelligence (AI) that can listen in on emergency 911 calls and help dispatchers detect victims of cardiac arrest.

When you are in cardiac arrest, every lost minute decreases your chance of survival by 10%, so any chance of saving those critical minutes in response to a possible cardiac arrest victim is extremely important. The AI in this case analyzes words and non-verbal sounds that indicate someone is in cardiac arrest. It is able to do that after it has trained itself to spot warning signs by analyzing a massive collection of emergency call recordings over a period of time. In one study, it was found that this startup’s AI was able to detect cardiac arrest with a 95% accuracy, compared to 73% for Copenhagen’s human dispatchers.

If AI can save lives like this – apparently 22% more accurately than humans can – can it save or improve project delivery? Probably. Is it cost effective or cost prohibitive? I’m not sure… likely cost prohibitive at the moment but I’m betting that will change in the not too distant future. How would you use it to improve project delivery in your organization? Well, this is where probably gets sort of out there and it’s more like playing a project management “wishing” game than dwelling in the real world at the moment.

So, let’s play. Let’s look at five ways I’ve been considering – assuming project and PMO budget isn’t necessarily an issue…

Status calls. If AI can listen to 911 dispatch calls and recognize signs of cardiac arrest in potential call in victims, then surely it can be similarly trained to listen in on project status calls and detect confident and concerned tones in both the customer team and the project delivery team. Lots of comments happen during those critical weekly calls – certainly an AI tool could learn to detect concerned responses and probably even detect honest answers and when a respondent was holding back. Change it into a video conference and AI can detect facial expressions and non-verbal communications. That’s when it can really provide some key benefits – though it would feel a little big-brotherish. Like the Planet P Project song… “they’ve got the cutest little cameras hanging everywhere… after awhile you just forget they’re there…”

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Team meetings. AI could listen to team meetings and collect all of the status update information and – assuming everything is configured correctly – update things like the project schedule, issues list, risk ledger, change orders and other key project information with latest and greatest progress and status info. From that, it could probably do a great job of creating a standard agenda and status report to use for the regular weekly status call mentioned above. I’m sure this sounds as if it were going to be replacing the human project manager, but that should never be the case, no matter how advanced AI becomes.

Change orders. AI should be able to eavesdrop on status calls with the client and other key calls and emails and sort out discussions that seem to have requests that are out of scope. Having the AI “learn” everything about the project – including the detailed requirements as documented during early planning – to understand the current scope at any point in time would allow it to recognize discussions that were leaning towards work that would actually be out of scope for the project. It could then automatically create suggested draft change orders for the project manager and team to review and modify before presenting to the project client. With the input of proper costing and historical estimating and actuals for similar work, it could probably do a very good job of coming up with an initial estimate as well. Learning over time would only serve to tighten that estimate.

Issue tracking. Anything we can have AI track on the project likely ensures more accuracy, more potential for help with solutions as the AI learns the issue tracking and reporting processes as well as understanding the goals and mission of the project, the milestones, and the technology in use. Think about it, the possibilities are endless. Would all of this change project management as we know it? Definitely. Would project managers become expendable? I don’t think so and I certainly hope not. It will be a scary “Rollerball” type society if we allow too much AI takeover.

Risk assessment. Just as AI could assist in issue tracking, it could be invaluable for identifying, tracking, assessing and managing the whole risk process throughout the project. AI learns and grows and as it takes in more data on one project and all projects in a company’s portfolio, the data and history that AI could develop and retain on all projects could be invaluable to a company’s success.

Summary / call for input

AI. Project management. Are we at a point where we are ready to combine the two? I doubt it. I think the overall cost is too prohibitive at this point – at least to a point where we can price it in as a genuine project expense and justify it to a client. If our organization is utilizing artificial intelligence currently and we want to incorporate it into the PM process then that’s one option. But to seek AI at this stage and justify the cost of the technology and the personnel to develop, modify and incorporate through training and ongoing maintenance and oversight… likely that would be $500,000 – $1 million per year for awhile, if not more.

It’s probably going to be hard or impossible to justify unless we are looking at something very high end, very cutting edge and very evolving – possibly like NASA’s space program or any one of a number of medical fields, organizations and pharmaceutical suppliers. They may all have the money or the means to get it funded. Your average professional services delivery organization will not have that kind of money and time and resources in 2018.

Readers – what’s your take? It’s unlikely that many, if any, of us have actually touched AI technology so far in our technical careers or project management initiatives. If you have, I’d like to hear from you – please share any experiences you’ve had with AI and your thoughts on it’s uses now and in the not too distant future helping organizations really win on projects… not just “do a little better.” Are there applications for it in PM? Share your thoughts and opinions.

Be Prepared for the Returning Project

Written by Brad Egeland on . Posted in Articles. 4 Comments on Be Prepared for the Returning Project

So you don’t win every project proposal – or your organization doesn’t win every project they go after.

In fact, unless you’re at the top end in your industry, you may only win 2-10% of the projects you go after. We’ve all had those projects that we really wanted badly and spent a significant amount effort proposing and negotiating and maybe even a little begging… but still they got away from us. Maybe the potential client kept the project in house or went with another vendor. You priced it out accurately, you documented the work, you showed your experience, you wooed the client, you probably even came back with a lower price if you really wanted the project. But in the end they didn’t choose you for some reason. You can ask them why – and you should because they may help you next time with this client or with your next proposal.

At the end of the day, the other deal that they were mulling over from another vendor or the implied savings by taking the work inside their own shop was just too good to pass up so they said “no” to you and went with the alternative. It happens. I’m an independent consultant, I consider myself to be very experienced and fairly successful, and I get told “no” a lot. It happens. We can’t let it get us down or damage our egos. Because every time we hear “yes” – and hopefully that’s fairly often – someone else is being told “no”, too. Someone has to lose. The problem is, deep down you know the quality of your work and the fairness that you priced that work at.

So, what next? The only thing you can do is move on to the next potential client and so on and so on. But if you are as experienced and as good as you think and hopefully know you are… and your organization as the right amount of talent, experience, and solid project delivery reputation… then be prepared at all times to have that client who rejected you come back to you as soon as their “alternative” plan doesn’t take off as expected.

If and when they do come back to you…

Be ready, but different.

You need to be ready, of course, but your old plan or proposal doesn’t work any more – at least not if the work has already started. In fact, you may stand to make even more revenue and an even better profit margin when you go to reprice the remainder of the project. Remember, you may be taking over a mess and there will be hidden elements to this mess. There is no need to price it to win it. Now you need to price it to make some money and truly do the project right. You probably have the client at your mercy, but don’t take advantage of it – you want to win them for the long haul and have them appreciate it… not regret it.

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Give them something extra.

The client came back to you and they learned a lesson in the process. Don’t rub it in. In fact, go overboard in showing them how pleased you are to have received their business after you didn’t get it the first time around. Give them something for free…perhaps a deliverable, or an onsite project team member, or training on the final solution. Something that won’t go overboard and cause you to not make a good profit, but rather something that does at least show some decent value, thought and appreciation.

Try something new.

Do you or your organization have an area of interest and innovation but not – or maybe any – experience with it? Include it in the new proposal or possibly offer it as a new concept or addition to the project. I don’t have much experience with virtual desktop interfaces or white papers, but I knew the client had interests and needs there so when they came back to me I offered to provide that service as well. It not only made the client happy, it gave me experience with two things I wanted to try and made money for me then and in the future as well. Win-win. Try something new and be innovative. You’ll likely perform better on it than you fear – because you are a professional and your organization works hard to succeed, not to fail. Your project client will find that interesting and wonder why they didn’t stick with you in the first place.

Look to the future.

Finally, think about the future. Always be thinking about the future. It’s not always about today, or getting the client on board now, or getting the client that you lost back on board and wanting your work. It’s about keeping them for the next project down the road and so on and so on. So price it fair, show gratitude that they came back to seek out your services and never say “I told you so.” Be professional and always have that eye on the future projects they may be bringing to you.

Summary / call for input

The bottom line is you did your best to win the first time around. The key to getting back what was originally lost is to be patient and know you priced yourself and your services properly. The lack of confidence will show if you can’t just let it go when you lose. Wish them well and tell them the door is always open if their plans change. That gives them confidence and helps them to understand that there are no hard feelings and you still want their business whether the need arrives on this project or the next.

What about the readers out there? What have been your experiences with customers saying “no” and then turning around and changing their mind in a week, or a month or after a big failure with the other chosen organization? How did you handle it? Please share and discuss.