Manage Project Issues
“No plan survives contact with the enemy,” is something we hear from one particular client quite often, and it’s a pretty good maxim to consider when it comes to project management.
The quote is a modern day paraphrasing of a planning strategy described by German Field Marshal, Helmuth von Moltke (1800–1891). In other words, whatever you set out to achieve, as soon as you start putting those plans into operation something will happen and you’ll need to switch up your strategies.
Ideally, in a project environment we would have assessed risk using a range of tools like Deltek Acumen Risk Analysis to have a complete view of what might happen during execution. And, of course, ideally, we would have put a range of strategies in place to deal with that uncertainty.
However, in our experience there is nearly always something that happens on a project which was not foreseen. In our time, we’ve seen clients who have come across issues like these:
- A local government contractor cutting through cables in the street by accident while doing other work, which disrupted the power supply to the work site.
- A key team member who discovered dangerous levels of dry rot in his home, so had to take time off work at short notice to move his family to new temporary accommodation and oversee work on his property.
- The financial checks on a supplier coming back with unacceptable results, despite many months of promising talks and planning with the supplier, resulting in having to switch suppliers at short notice to one that was financially solvent.
Perhaps some of these could have been foreseen with the right level of risk planning and engagement, but regardless, as a project leader you are likely to have to deal with something you didn’t see coming.
Here’s our 5-step approach to help manage project issues and to make it easier to handle those moments when they arise.
1. Identify the problem
The first step in fixing an issue is knowing that you have one. Ideally, everyone on the team should feel empowered to raise issues with their supervisor or with the project leadership team directly.
Once an issue has been identified, it needs to be captured and logged, so it can be tracked and actively managed. Use your project governance processes for this.
2. Analyze the issue
Next, establish the impact the issue is likely to have on your project:
Consider the severity of the impact as well as when that impact is likely to be felt. For example, an issue uncovered today might not cause major problems for another few weeks or months. That time delay does give you the opportunity to properly plan your next steps but it is important not to waste that time. Often, issues can get worse if they are left, so fast action can stop a problem becoming more serious.
3. Create an action plan
Your action plan may include several options, as in some situations you may not be the person who is ultimately going to decide what happens next. If that is the case, document the options that have been considered by the team along with your recommendation and why you feel that is the best course of action. The project sponsor or senior representative of the client can then make the final decision based on your information.
Document the steps you will take to recover the project from the impact of this issue and record those in your project management software. That could include updating your project schedule to reflect any new tasks the team needs to complete. It may also involve creating change requests to recognize any major shifts in the delivery approach, requirements, timescales or budget.
4. Deliver the plan
Now your team has an approved action plan to follow, carry out those steps. Each action should have an identified owner and target delivery date. Track progress and keep the schedule updated so everyone knows what actions have been completed.
5. Review and reflect
Finally, when all the action plan steps are completed, review the issue. Hopefully you will see that the problem has been actively resolved. However, there may be residual concerns or other changes required as a result of the work that has been carried out.
Additionally, it is worth reflecting on the problem once the situation feels calmer and under control (you don’t have to wait until the end to do this step). Look back at what happened and identify the root cause. Consider how the team can put steps in place to prevent this type of issue happening again. You could implement technology changes, different processes or take some other action to minimize the chances of this project or a future project being impacted by similar issues.
When you feel that the issue has been adequately resolved, and the project is back on track with all documentation updated and a revised schedule, then the issue can be closed in your project management tools. Update the client to let them know the latest situation and report the issue as closed on your next governance report.
It is highly likely that you will come across problems on your projects, because the nature of the work we do is to change the status quo. That naturally involves working with a wide variety of stakeholders and living with uncertainty. As a result, it’s good to be prepared with a simple process for what to do when you encounter something that was not planned for. That way, you can manage project issues as they arise.
If your team needs a refresher, or you have new joiners who are not experienced in a project management environment, then project management fundamentals training can help bring everyone to the same knowledge level. Make sure everyone knows what to do when they uncover a potential issue and then tackle it as a team. You’ll soon have things back under control.