What If Your Project is Cancelled?

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Any project may be cancelled due to changing corporate priorities or cost constraints. It can even happen to projects that are running perfectly.  If your project is cancelled, here’s what you can do to make the best of the situation.

  • Communicate with your team. Emotions will be high and people will have questions.  Talk with your team, even though you might not have all the answers. Share whatever you do know about the cancellation. This news can be demoralizing, especially if your project was going well. Be prepared for a wide range of emotions. Team members might think they did something wrong. Reassure them that they did not.

Note: Be sure to ask management if they plan to reallocate resources to other projects and share what you learn with your project team members.

  • Share the business rationale with stakeholders. Stakeholders might not be aware of the reasons for cancellation. Brief them on the details and any conditions that could prompt the project to resume. Collect the stakeholders’ views and questions. Discuss them with the project sponsor. Follow up with stakeholders when you receive answers.
  • Install viable deliverables. Despite the cancellation, some deliverables still might generate business value. Produce proper documentation for the deliverables or request the resources needed to complete it. If you can’t get the resources, check with your stakeholders. They might be able to produce the documentation themselves. Be sure there is a process to capture the business value that’s produced.
  • Archive partially completed deliverables. If your project is reinstated, you will want to retrieve any already completed work. Partial deliverables also might be useful for a future project. Capture the work performed and document where the materials can be found for future use.
  • Follow formal project closure procedures. Use your project closeout processes, as if a normal closure had occurred. Terminate vendor contracts and process final payments. Close any time recording codes associated with your project. Get sponsor sign-off on closure documentation.

Have you had a project cancelled? What other steps did you perform to close the project? Did you run into issues trying to close out the cancelled project? Share your experience in the comments section.

For more about closing a project, check out my Project Management Foundations course.

Coming up:

I have an Office Hours in the works for September with Doug Rose and Chris Croft, two of my (many) idols in the LinkedIn Learning instructor community. Look for more info soon!

I’m almost done updating Project Management Foundations. In a few months, you can look for the updated edition, which includes some info on PMBoK7 and other changes.

Handling the Pressure to Deliver Early

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Photo by Jeshoots on Unsplash

Getting pressured by management to deliver a project early is common, so you should be ready for it. It’s important to note that pushing an early delivery doesn’t mean you’re in crisis mode. It’s a risk vs business value balancing act. Here are tips to balance risk and bring in the project delivery date. 

Cut requirements and initial product reviews. When working with a homogenous stakeholder group, cutting reviews can save you time, with controllable risk. Before proposing this, ensure your stakeholders all have the same business goals. Also, ensure they are attending status meetings, so they understand project decisions. Alternately, you can perform requirements and product reviews while development continues. This introduces the risk of needing to back up to make corrections. But it is less risky than skipping reviews.

Logically cut testing. Logically approaching test plans can be effective when looking to deliver early. Test only those functions where faults will have a notable business impact. That way, you can fix errors found after delivery with minimal impact on stakeholders. This is different from cutting testing altogether. Broad testing cuts deliver mixed results, at best. Often, the impact of recovering from substantial errors overcomes any time savings.

Reduce scope. Cutting scope can be the easiest way to deliver early but often has hidden risks. Stakeholders’ disappointment with the reduced scope can diminish confidence in the project outcomes. Also, confidence in the project team, and in project management can suffer. Before cutting scope, poll stakeholders. Understand their views on delivering early, versus reducing scope.

Fast tracking or crashing tasks. Save time by changing your schedule and working on tasks in parallel (fast tracking). Or, you can add people to complete tasks earlier (crashing). Fast tracking adds product risk, as working tasks in parallel can create rework. For example, let us say I decided to write book chapters in parallel. The risk is what end up with in Chapter 5 might mean I have to change something already written in Chapter 6. Crashing adds a different risk. Crashing adds cost, as you spend more to perform the task. This is because crashing requires more coordination between people to avoid errors. The lesson? Apply fast tracking or crashing with consideration to the added risk.

Deploy agile methods. Agile often results in early delivery of business value. But it isn’t for every project. If you aren’t using agile techniques, before making the switch ensure you have a leader versed in agile. That leader can confirm what projects are right for agile. They can also guide the team, and management, through agile to improve success.

Do you have any tips and tricks to handle the pressure of delivering a project early? Share with us in the comments section.

For more about how to handle the pressures of delivering a project early, check out my project management foundations course.

Coming up:

I have an Office Hours in the works for September with Doug Rose and Chris Croft, two of my (many) idols in the LinkedIn Learning instructor community. Look for more info soon!

The Relationship Between Project Management and Supply Chain Management

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Guest post by Daniel Stanton, Mr. Supply Chain

Main point up front: Project management and supply chain management are both relatively new professions, and they are highly complementary. Supply chain managers have always spent a lot of their time working on projects to reduce costs and increase efficiency. These days, many project managers are learning the hard way about “supply chain issues” and the risks that they can pose to a project. And there is a growing demand for supply chain project managers – professionals who have the skills and experience to lead projects and transform a supply chain. Aligning project management with supply chain management can help companies increase resilience, improve sustainability, and enable digital transformation. 

This newsletter was inspired by a recent conversation with Bonnie Biafore. If you know us, then it won’t be a surprise that Bonnie and I found ourselves talking about the relationship between project management and supply chain management. We agreed that project managers need to learn about supply chain management, and that supply chain managers need to learn about project management. You can listen to our chat here: 

Project managers can’t truly address the risks to their scope, schedule, and budget if they don’t understand the supply chain in which they are working. On the surface, this involves learning about the procurement processes and systems. But supply chain management is really about integrating all of the processes that a company uses for creating value, which goes deeper than just procurement to include operations management, logistics, and more. 

In many cases, project managers have to work with procurement people a lot more closely. (Bonnie Biafore) 

Supply chain managers can’t implement or adapt to changes effectively if they don’t understand the tools, rules, and language of project management. Project management is about delivering value by developing or changing products, systems, and processes. Depending on the situation, today’s project managers can draw on a range of tools such as Waterfall, Agile, and Lean Six Sigma. 

It’s particularly interesting to see the growing demand for supply chain project managers – professionals who have knowledge and experience with supply chain management, and who understand how to lead projects which focus on improving supply chains. (At last count, there were more than 20,000 job postings for Supply Chain Project Managers in the U.S. on LinkedIn.) Given the rapid pace of change that’s being driven by technology, geopolitics, and the pandemic, I think the future is particularly bright for supply chain project managers!

Project Management Tips for Supply Chain Managers 

Projects are how businesses make changes. Project management is about defining and balancing constraints such as scope, schedule, and budgets. There are lots of different techniques for managing projects that can be tailored to the needs of your business. In construction projects, you will typically use the predictive Waterfall technique. For manufacturing and distribution, it will often be a Lean Six Sigma approach. For software development projects, Agile techniques have become common. Regardless of the techniques that are used the project leaders always have six key responsibilities to their project teams, that I describe as the DIRECT framework: 

  • Define the objective. Be clear about the change that needs to happen.
  • Investigate the options. Research alternatives and benchmark with others.
  • Resolve to a course of action. Build a plan and get buy-in from your stakeholders.
  • Execute the plan. Monitor the progress and address challenges as they emerge.
  • Change over to the new systems and processes. Manage your acceptance and launch.
  • Transition the people. Make sure that your stakeholders are prepared.

Supply Chain Management Tips for Project Managers 

A supply chain is a complex network made up of people, processes, and technologies that is engineered and managed to deliver value to a customer. Supply chain management requires you to view each business as part of a complex system that creates value for customers. In part, that involves integrating the internal functions in a company – especially procurement, operations, and logistics. But it also involves collaborating with customers and suppliers. In simplest terms, the goal of supply chain management is to get the right stuff, in the right quantity, to the right place, at the right time, for the lowest total cost. 

Supply chains are dynamic. How do we make improvements in a supply chain? By making changes. How do we respond to disruptions in a supply chain? By changing what we’re doing, or how we’re doing it. In other words, supply chain management professionals are responsible for launching and managing projects all of the time. 

The Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) Model illustrates the six groups of processes that are key to managing the supply chain in any company. 

  • Plan. Develop your supply chain strategy and forecasts.
  • Source. Build and manage relationships with suppliers.
  • Make. Assemble products and create service capabilities.
  • Deliver. Take and fill orders from customers.
  • Return. Build and manage a reverse supply chain.

Enable. Manage all of the additional processes, including project management.

How does this affect supply chain professionals? Supply chains are how businesses create and deliver value. Projects are how we make changes in a business. Project management skills can help supply chain managers be more flexible and adaptable, and supply chain management skills can help project managers mitigate risks and be more resilient. Combining both skill sets can set you up to be a supply chain project manager, leading projects involving process improvement, sustainability, digital transformation, and more. 

What do you think? Have you needed to lead and manage projects in your supply chain? Would learning about supply chains help project managers anticipate and respond to risks? 

To watch the Office Hours session where Bonnie and I talk more about the relationship between project management and supply chain management go to https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:6958149360392056833/. 

Early Indicators of Project Trouble

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Photo by Airfocus on Unsplash

A slipping schedule, lack of engagement, and cost overruns are common and easy to spot indicators of project trouble. Here are five other early indicators of trouble that aren’t often recognized.

Team member hours are less than planned. Hours dedicated to project tasks can fall short due to differing business priorities or lack of confidence in the project direction. These shortfalls often start early and get worse as the project continues. Check the actual hours worked by team members. If those hours fall below plan, find out what’s going on to see whether there is a problem.

Stakeholders aren’t arguing (when they should be!) Stakeholders often have different opinions about project requirements, priorities, or the solution approach. If stakeholder response to projects requests is lackluster, hidden dissension may be present. Ask your stakeholders direct questions about their concerns. This helps you avoid problems before it’s too late to change priorities or direction.

Inadequate sponsorship is in place. An effective sponsor must:

  • Have access to funds
  • Control areas where the project will create process change
  • Secure team members for the project
  • Be able to establish project-related business priorities 
  • Have time to be the sponsor

Sponsorship inadequacies can create project delays and arguments. If this happens, encourage management to form a sponsorship committee. This can help cover the authority needed to guide the project.

Requirements address “what to do” and not the business problem. Requirements often convey how something is to occur. An example is “Reconfigure the mail room business processes.” What’s the intended outcome? Is it a desire for fewer people, or is mail processing taking too long? Is automation to support mail processing working as hoped? Requirements that don’t specify the actual business issue are a problem. Projects that satisfy these inappropriate requirements might not fix the underlying business problem. Ensure that every requirement focuses on the real issue. Perform business analysis to figure out the best options to address the problem.

Requirements and deliverables are validated with the customer and NOT the end user. Let’s start with definitions. The customer is the person who supplies requirements and reviews your deliverables. They sometimes provide funding. The end user is the person or group who will use the deliverable regularly. What if the end user and the customer differ? For example, the customer and end user are different when a project is creating a product for the marketplace. In this case, validate requirements more thoroughly. More testing might also be appropriate. Extra validation and testing can be time-consuming and costly, but it is vital to success. 

If you have experienced other situations that cause problems early on, share with us in the comments section.

For more about identifying indicators of trouble early on in the project management process, check out my Project Management Foundations course.

Coming Up:

Overcoming Obstacles for Global and Remote Project Teams

Working remotely is a reality today: it’s increasingly important to pay attention to the quality of our interactions with our distant colleagues. Language, culture, and distance influence the way we work together with stakeholders on our projects. We can either leave these factors to chance, or we can learn to leverage them to improve our project outcomes.
https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:6950852588556722176/

August 9, 2022 11am MT
I’m almost done updating Project Management Foundations. In a few months, you can look for the updated edition, which includes some info on PMBoK7 and other changes.

Is Your Project Ready to be Re-launched?

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Management might put a project on hold because other priorities take precedence or it needs recovery. When it’s time to relaunch, you don’t pick up where you left off. Here’s the sequence of steps to take to relaunch a project:

  • Document what changed. Team members must understand that things will be different. Otherwise, they might not dedicate themselves to the project for fear of failure. To restore confidence, share changes, such as changed priorities, new project management approaches, and scope changes with all stakeholders.
  • Meet to review or revise project goals. Revisit project outcomes in case business circumstances have changed. Talk to business stakeholders and technical team members about reprioritizing outcomes or proposing new ones. Make sure that the project is still feasible. Communicate any changes to project goals to all stakeholders.
  • Hold a re-kickoff meeting. A relaunch is like a new project starting. At the meeting have the sponsor reaffirm the organization’s dedication to deliver the project and share the schedule and budget. Communicate any reprioritized project goals. Introduce new team members that are joining the relaunched project.
  • Expand project monitoring and reporting. Focus status reporting on the root cause of the project stoppage. Senior leaders will want assurance that priority or process issues won’t reoccur. Use status metrics that can provide that assurance. Discuss any other concerns senior leaders have with the relaunched project and tailor your status reporting to address those issues.
  • Be positive. People will watch your attitude and behavior as project manager as the relaunched project progresses. Maintain a positive attitude, and you’ll inspire confidence in the relaunched project.

If you have other tips for relaunching a project, share with us in the comments section.

For more about launching projects, check out my Project Management Foundations course.

Coming up:

I’m thrilled to share that my course Project Management Foundations is LinkedIn Learning’s #5 Most Popular Course of the year globally! These skills are important today and into the future because change drives new projects and the pace of change continually increases. The course is free through August 2022.

 

The Hot New Skill for Project Managers: Supply Chain Management

Daniel Stanton and Bonnie Biafore were talking about why project managers need to understand supply chain management as well as why supply chain managers need project management skills. In this Office Hours, we’re going to dive deeper into career opportunities for project managers expanding their expertise into supply chain management. That’s right, supply chain management is the hot new skill for project managers

August 5, 2022 12pm MT

Overcoming Obstacles for Global and Remote Project Teams

Working remotely is a reality today: it’s increasingly important to pay attention to the quality of our interactions with our distant colleagues. Language, culture, and distance influence the way we work together with stakeholders on our projects. We can either leave these factors to chance, or we can learn to leverage them to improve our project outcomes.
https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:6950852588556722176/

August 9, 2022 11am MT