Am I a part of the problem?

Often in life we can be very quick to judge a situation, sometimes doing so whilst considering ourselves to be entirely independent of said situation and its negative effects. This is regularly the case in project teams, especially when something is not going to plan. Perhaps our energies are focussed on the actual problem (a sub-optimised process, insufficient resources, etc) or unfortunately focussed on the people leading the project.

A former colleague had a very apt quote. If you have worked on a project for over a year and you are aware of problems on that project – well, you are a part of these problems. Hence, you can not think of the problem independently from yourself. What can I do to address the problems I identify? I need to be the change I want to see in others, otherwise I am, most certainly, part of the problem. Often the simplest expressions hold true, be the change you want to see.

In each of the following examples of common issues, the problem is stated and a positive change is recommended:

1. The project has no discipline using the correct terminology:

· This is a common problem that leads to many communication issues, which can lead to a number of negative knock-on effects.

· What can I do? Politely correct people when they misuse terms and start a glossary, ensuring the artifacts you produce use the correct terms.

2. The project leaders are not able to plan effectively:

· Planning complex projects is difficult and many projects at best, are just about okay at planning. The negative impacts of poor planning leads to wasteful activities, delays in the project, cost overruns, people becoming frustrated and not feeling fulfilled with their contributions to the project.

· Where can I start? Am I able to plan my tasks effectively? Are risks occurring that we are not even aware of? Do I ensure I identify and manage risks? Do I try to stop the poor planning process repeating itself by politely saying, “But that process did not work last time? Why should it work this time?”

3. The team members don’t know what to do!

· Especially in large teams, it is difficult to ensure clear roles and responsibilities are effectively defined and understood. This can be the cause of significant lost time and indecision, slowing progress and causing much frustration.

· What method can I use? Start with a simple table. Define what is clearly your responsibility in one column, then define what you are not confident about in the next column. Sequentially meet with your colleagues to receive their feedback and develop the table until it’s completed within your team.

4. It is not clear who is leading the project:

· In large projects there can be many senior people with high stakes in the project’s success. It can be the case that they unintentionally override each other without being aware of the confusions and potentially conflicting issues this can cause.

· What can I do? If a person is contradicting another, politely ask if they have pre-aligned this with the other person.

5. The schedule can never be achieved:

· There are no projects without demanding schedules. Many negative effects, especially increased levels of stress, can be caused by trying to adhere to a demanding schedule.

· What can I do? Ensure you know the key priorities you need to work on; promptly report any issues that may cause schedule slips and avoid attending low-value meetings at all costs!!

6. The priorities keep changing:

· Managing priorities is always a challenge throughout a project. The more complex the project and the more people involved, the more this challenge increase in scale.

· What can I do? Propose to the team leadership to keep the top 5 to 7 project priorities visible to the team at any one time. This could be implemented through many different means.

7. Management keep interfering in the design and development activities:

· In many cases the senior management do not want to interfere in matters that are beyond their expertise. But they might feel they need to because of performance issues such schedule delays, scope creep, team issues etc. In other cases, senior management wrongly get involved in the projects for no good reason and cause havoc as a consequence.

· What can I do? Ask respectfully for any member of senior management involved in the project, to define their role, notably their accountability in the project.

Remember when one continually tolerates a problem, the problem is allowed to continue to exist with our consent. Hence, if the answer to any of the above examples is, “That’s not my job”. Well, don’t complain about the problem, because unfortunately you are very much a part of it.

– Mike Johnson