MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL
Can You Prove Your Project's Status?
A senior business analyst was called to the office of the deputy director of a large state agency. The deputy director, who was relatively new at his job, oversaw a major management effort: a large, complex project to redesign the organization's internal business processes. As the new guy in the agency, the deputy director lacked a frame of reference regarding project sponsorship. He intended to rectify this situation as he wrestled with the challenging project.
The project manager for the effort had consistently been reporting positive status regarding the project's scope, schedule, and cost. Despite the favorable reports, the project sponsor felt uncomfortable with the information the project manager provided.
The deputy director explained his situation to the business analyst. Familiar with the project, the business analyst had his own doubts about the project's status, but he kept his concerns to himself. He commiserated with the deputy director, noting that without additional detail, he doubted he could provide much help.
The deputy director glanced at his calendar. "The project manager is due here in a few minutes. Perhaps you could listen to her report with me and offer me some advice once you've heard what she has to say. She has a good reputation as a project manager and seems like a good person, but her reports leave me with more questions than answers. I hesitate to challenge the veracity of her reports, even though I doubt them for some reason. They just don't feel right to me."
The business analyst agreed to sit in on what he assumed would be a project status meeting. The project manager presented herself well, with the poise and confidence of a seasoned professional.
"So, how's the project going?" the project sponsor asked.
"We're about halfway through the project," the project manager replied.
When the project sponsor asked for more details, she added, "We have produced a lot of deliverables that appear to be of good quality."
"That's good," the project sponsor replied. "How's the budget for the project holding up?"
"We're using some of the project's contingency budget, but we should be all right."
The business analyst noticed that the project manager had not brought any written reports or data with her to the meeting. While he admired her apparent confidence, he also sensed that something was lacking.
"I appreciate the update," the project sponsor said. "Would you mind stepping outside for a moment and standing by as I verify a few things?"
"Of course," the project manager replied, closing the office door behind her. The project sponsor turned to the business analyst. "See?" he asked. "She makes it sound like everything's okay, but how can I be sure? She has a good reputation, but I have the feeling I'm not getting the full story. It's always generalizations but no hard evidence. If she says she's halfway through the project, does that mean half of the project's deliverables were delivered and are of good quality, or does it just mean the schedule or budget are half consumed? She came so highly recommended that I hesitate to ask her. I'm not a trained project manager by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems like she should be further along in the project before she has to dip into the contingency. Is using some of the contingency budget a bad thing or not? How can I be sure?"
The business analyst took a few seconds to gather his thoughts before replying. "Using the contingency budget often signals something amiss on a project. It can also mean that she identified risks, appropriately budgeted for them, and then used the contingency she'd set aside to manage those risks. If that proves to be the case, she should be applauded for a great effort. In truth, the project may be on great footing, but with what she provided you today, there is no way to tell."
"There's more to a project than perfunctory updates to the project sponsor," the business analyst continued. "Her job is to manage and control the project. In project management terms, that means knowing where you planned to be at any moment in time, being able to determine exactly where you are compared to that plan, and positioning yourself and your team to influence the difference. She may well be right in what she's saying—or she may not have a clue. With the budget you have for this project and the complexity of what your project team is trying to accomplish, you need to feel comfortable that she has a good handle on things."
The project sponsor raised his hands in frustration. "What do I do? How do I get her to demonstrate that she has a handle on the project?"
"Make one simple request," the business analyst suggested. "When she gives you a report, ask her to prove it."
"Prove it?"
The business analyst nodded. "Ask her to prove that the project is about half done, that half of the project's deliverables are complete and in good order, that she's managing the budget wisely, and that the project really is okay. I'll jot down a list of the things you might ask her for when you call her back in."
The project sponsor accepted the short list of questions from the business analyst and invited the project manager back in. "I'm glad you feel that the project is on such good footing, but I'd like you to demonstrate that to me in an objective manner," he said. "I trust your word as a professional, but a lot rides on the outcome of this project and I need hard-and-fast evidence that everything is actually all right."
She looked surprised at his words. "I'm not sure what you mean."
The project sponsor frowned at her reply and continued. "I'm asking you to back up the status report you just gave me with hard evidence."
The project sponsor paused as he glanced at the list of questions the business analyst had provided. "I'd like you to prove that your project is, in fact, halfway through its schedule and that the budget is in good condition. You can do that by providing me a copy of your updated project schedule."
He continued: "I would also like to see the list of the deliverables you planned to provide through the course of the project, aligned with your schedule, as well as a list of those you have successfully delivered. I also need to see a breakout of what you thought it would cost to develop those deliverables and what they actually cost the organization to produce, with a snapshot of how those expenditures align with your project's work plan."
The project manager dropped her eyes. "I don't have any of those items. Things seem to be going well and the project team is busy. None of our stakeholders are complaining about the deliverables produced by the project team, so I assume all is well. The project team members seem busy and focused. I just check with them from time to time to help remove any roadblocks."
The project sponsor's face began to darken, but he maintained his composure. "I appreciate your judgment of the situation, but there is too much money involved in this project and too much at stake for the organization to manage an effort like your project by feel. I need something more objective that will give me confidence in what you and your team are doing to deliver the solution we need."
The project sponsor paused. "You have three days to prove to me that the project is in the shape you believe it is in. On Monday, I expect you to return to my office and prove to me that you have a handle on your project."
Gesturing toward the business analyst, he added, "If you need any help, I am sure he will be pleased to offer you advice."
The project manager raised her eyes to meet the glare of her project sponsor, nodded, and said "Yes, sir" as she turned and left the office.
The business analyst headed back to his office, but before much time had passed, he got a call from the project manager. He listened to her for several minutes as she complained about the project sponsor's unreasonable demands and how little time she had to pull things together for the Monday report. He then interrupted her monologue: "You are an experienced project manager. I have no idea why you got yourself into the position that you are in, but you need to sort this situation out. You know how projects are run. You know what it takes to ensure that a project is on course. I suggest that you gather the information, regardless of what it costs you time-wise, and be ready to meet the project sponsor on Monday to prove you are the professional project manager we all think you are."
She asked him for the list of items he had identified for the project sponsor. He read them off:
?The project deliverables, with the dates they were provided or will be provided
?Evidence that the deliverables produced by the project were inspected and accepted by a qualified stakeholder
?A timeline identifying when the work was done to produce the deliverables already provided and when the work will be done for those to be provided in the future
?The names of the individuals who will do each piece of work, along with their salary rates and the cost of any materials or equipment they might use, applied to the project's timeline and aligned with each deliverable
?A month-by-month report of how much had been expended on the project for work performed to date, compared against the projected costs for producing the deliverables.
"That's a lot of work," she noted.
"Your project sponsor has asked you to prove that your assessment of the project is accurate. I don't see any way for you to do that other than by producing those basic project artifacts," the business analyst replied. "It's what any reasonable project manager would do throughout the life of a project."
Three days later, the project manager and the project sponsor met again in the sponsor's office. The business analyst joined the meeting at the sponsor's invitation. He wondered how well the project manager had done with the herculean effort of rebuilding a project schedule and budget from scratch, midway through a project, and comparing them to actual performance. He wondered whether she had even attempted to do so.
The project manager handed the project sponsor and the business analyst each a two-page report highlighting what the project team had accomplished, major tasks coming up in the next three months, high-level milestones, budget projections, actual expenditures to date, and an estimate of the schedule and budget requirements for the remainder of the effort.
She then handed each of them a second brief report. That document listed project deliverables, showing which had been completed, when and by whom each had been accepted, and the projected and actual cost for each item.
Finally, she handed the sponsor and business analyst a thin folder. Inside it was a copy of the detailed project schedule. The schedule appeared "fully loaded" in that it contained detailed task listings for each item to be produced, noted when each was projected for delivery, and identified the project team members responsible for its production. The schedule incorporated each team member's salary rate and itemized lists of planned and actual expenditures for labor and materials that had been completed or were anticipated.
The business analyst scanned each of the documents. From what he saw in those reports and plans, it appeared that exactly half of the deliverables had been provided, with only a slight variance in cost from projections. He took note that a small part of the project's contingency budget had been consumed some months earlier to address a risk.
After allowing the project sponsor and the business analyst time to consider this information, the project manager handed them each a single sheet of paper that summarized the project's status to date:
?An inventory of the project's deliverables showed that 52 out of 100 deliverables had been produced, inspected, and accepted.
?A financial report indicated $1.3 million in actual expenditures against the projected budget of $2.5 million. This projection varied from the budget allocated for the project by less than 10 percent, which was more than covered by the small portion of the contingency budget that the project team had used.
?Eleven months had elapsed on the schedule out of a 24-month schedule. The 52 deliverables provided by the project aligned in nearly exact order with the schedule.
The project sponsor reviewed the file in silence for a few minutes before glancing up to meet the project manager's tired eyes. "You've put in some long days to generate all this information," he said.
She took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, sir, I have. But I quickly realized that your concern was warranted. The good news is that we are, indeed, halfway through the project, we have spent a small portion of the project's contingency, and we appear to be in good shape."
"I'm glad to hear that," the sponsor replied. "That gives me a lot more confidence in where you and your team are on this complex, risky endeavor. Thank you for your time."
"No, sir," she said. "Thank you for letting me prove myself. If it hadn't been for my project team, things would not have turned out so well. They helped me pull all this together and kept things going while I had my eye off the ball and on my own personal matters. I know better than that, and I won't let you down from here on out. I'll take it as a personal challenge to be able to respond quickly and objectively whenever I give you a project status report and you ask me to 'prove it.'"
The project sponsor and the project manager stood and shook hands before she left the office.
The sponsor turned to the business analyst and said, "You have been a great help. I finally feel like I have a handle on this project, and that my project manager has got things under control. I bet you don't see this sort of situation every day."
The business analyst smiled and chuckled softly. "If only that were true."
Lessons Learned
For the project manager: When reporting your project's status, keep it objective.
For the project sponsor: When your project manager offers a project status report, make sure he or she can "prove" it.
