Project Managment: Items for facing issues

1) Make sure the requirements are clear and stick to your.  The most essential requirements should always be front and center for your team producing the deliverable(s).  Any variations on those requirements need to be approved and implemented according to your established project change control process.

2) Centralize and make accessible key documents  Project management software has come a long way in the last several years.  Electronically-based collaborative tools allow team members to access key, updated information in the absence of anyone, including the project manager.  Having a single hard copy project reference that can be lost, quickly outdated, and less accessible to the project team, especially in a crisis situation, should be a relic of the past.  Even if some documents are only available in hard copy, scanning them in a shared electronic repository, along with all other key relevant project information, is important for as-needed, on-demand access and reference.  Remember to constrict editing rights, though, to those who are authorized to update those documents.  

3) Create goodwill among your stakeholders; you may need to cash in favors later during a crisis.  If you build up a reserve of credibility and earn a stellar reputation in your role, you are more likely to receive extraordinary, out-of-the-norm help when needed in a project crisis situation.  Leveraging that reserve along with a bit of tact and diplomacy will go a long way in clearing obstacles under the most challenging of circumstances.

4) Exude a sense of confidence, calm, and control in delegating authority. Remember that the project manager is the captain of the ship, and your team and sponsor will take its cues from you–from your ability to plan for and manage risk, your ability to communicate contingencies, and your confidence in entrusting the tasks that are delegated to your team.  A calm and positive demeanor can help keep emotions in check and open the door to constructive solutions in dealing with unforeseen and difficult issues that may arise.

5) Establish clear lines of emergency communication and decision-making authority.  Sometimes when new people are brought in for backup on a project but have less background and knowledge, the project manager has to control the flow of orientation, communication, and lines of authority to avoid missteps.  Although I obviously cannot endorse the idea of contradicting the wishes of executive management, there is a lesson learned in that when key roles on a project are absent, a comprehensive escalation plan is developed to make sure that there is no ambiguity in terms of who makes decisions in any stakeholder’s absence and how the flow of project communication takes place within the team and to management levels above.

6) Encourage creative thinking and innovation. When the more unexpected and unusual challenges come up, whether your project is in crisis or not, it is important to motivate your team to look for and implement creative solutions.   Creating an environment that uses group creativity techniques such as brainstorming and mind mapping to resolve problems and to handle crisis situations will serve you extremely well as project manager.

7) Develop and manage contingency situations by documenting risks and issues. Although no project is devoid of risks and problems, there are standard documents, such as the Risk Register and Issue Log, that can be helpful in identifying and proactively handling the tasks that can go wrong once the project is underway.  These documents become that much more critical when the project is under duress.  You, your key team members, or other key stakeholders will have family emergencies, commuting/business travel problems, and other factors that can potentially derail the most comprehensive of project plans.  Assessing risks and their impact is one of the most important steps in your project planning process.  And documenting issues when they occur will prove invaluable when assessing lessons learned, which can then be applied to future projects and processes.  Although your risks and issues may not be worthy of a film such as Locke(hopefully not!), the extra time and care in documenting these factors will pay off in the long run in terms of maximizing your chances of project success.