Managing Unacceptable Project Variances

Projects never run exactly according to plan, so project variances are inevitable. To keep your projects on track, you need to take action when variances are about to become – or already are — unacceptable. Here are some tips for managing variances.

Respond quickly. Small variances in your schedule or costs can grow large before you know it. Don’t wait for the next project report to respond. As soon as you see variances, talk to your team to find out what’s going on. Maybe the accounting department made a payment earlier than planned to score a vendor’s price incentive. Or a key team member was out sick a few days. When there isn’t a reason for the variance, focus on what’s driving that variance and monitor it closely. If necessary, recommend changes to your sponsor for getting things back on track.

Focus on scope. Thoughtful examination of project scope often uncovers opportunities for saving time and cost. Break scope down into individual requirements and analyze each one’s business value to identify candidates for reducing scope. Often, the value a requirement provides isn’t worth the cost to produce it. These requirements are easy targets to reconsider when you’re looking for ways to reduce project variances.

Scrutinize resourcing. Seeking the best resources for your project typically yields the very best results. However, “very best” might not be necessary–or wise–if those resources create unacceptable cost or schedule variances. The best resources are usually the most expensive, especially with contracted personnel. Availability issues with your top internal resources can lead to schedule slippage. One way to save time and money is to review your resourcing plan and choose people who are more available who can produce deliverables for senior team members to review. For your contracted resources, see if less expensive alternatives can be used—again with senior internal staff reviewing the deliverables they produce.

Increase reporting. Project variances capture the attention of senior stakeholders. They expect you to live up to your title of project MANAGER! Immediately inform your stakeholders of any project variances so they don’t hear about the issue from others. Increase your report frequency to keep interested stakeholders abreast of how you are addressing the variances.

For more about managing project variances, check out my Project Management Foundations course.