The management declares the project will be recovered. “Recovery” is on everybody’s lips but, just as actions speak louder than words, talking never cured anything. A plan for recovery is essential, a recovery team is needed, and implementation must take place for effective recovery.
Procrastination and putting-off until tomorrow also never cured anything. Striking while the iron is hot and grasping the nettle provide the impetus to starting on the road to recovery; but just starting does not mean you’ve started correctly.
The plan, the empowered team and the objectives need to be defined and understood. All of the participants (including management) need to be aligned so that internal doubts and misgivings are addressed (and resolved) and there is a common aim under a single banner.
Starting the Journey
“Well begun is half done” said an ancient Greek philosopher and the first step is a good sign but must be carefully thought out.
Not starting on the right foot could well be a false start and will not herald a great beginning. The doubters will doubt more, high hopes will be lowered, the disgruntled will grunt their frustration, and followers will be disillusioned.
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” and each step should bring us closer to completion and ‘success’. With recovery, as with the project that fell into trouble, we must begin with the end in mind; and if the end is defined then ‘all roads will lead to Rome‘.
The start is also about timing; don’t start just before the holiday season as this will be rushing to wait and there will inertia rather than momentum. Planning the start is just as important as the execution and the close.
Road to Hell
“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions”. We don’t plan for failure but even if we have a great plan, a great team, and great intentions things can still go wrong if there is a lack of commitment.
Without commitment then, at the first sign of difficulty, people may give up or become disillusioned. There may be second thoughts and doubts. The management may consider changing the plan, re-organising key staff or, in desperation, look for signs that recovery has happened through some divine intervention. There may also be recourse to more meetings to ‘discuss the recovery’ and ‘explore other options’ in the time-honoured belief that if a problem is talked about for long enough, it goes away!
Good intentions are not guarantees and need to be reinforced with good planning and positive actions. “Abandon hope all Ye who enter here” may well be the sign at the end of the road if you only rely on good intentions.
Road to Successful Recovery
Nobody, normally, plans for failure but a successful project recovery is achieved by meeting predefined targets. Planning is essential and, as the alliterative saying advocates: “Prior preparation and planning prevents p*ss poor performance“.
Planning without action is merely a dream and action is required to make things happen. “Doing what’s right, the right way, at the right time” (Arnold H. Glasow) ensures the actions are taken as per plan and we avoid a nightmare and that requires positive effort through “Patience, persistence and perspiration” (Napoleon Hill).
The road to heaven is also paved with good intentions and temptation must be resisted. Being tempted to believe that more processes and procedures will save the day may create optimism, but resultant complacency will not complete the journey. A ‘quick win’ tempts a declaration of success before it’s certain, while just having taken part rather than finishing is not winning. An incomplete recovery, just like an uncompleted course of anti-biotics, will not cure the problem and the underlying cause may come back with a vengeance.
The Right Track
The statistics of failed projects sagely warn that many projects fail despite, presumably, efforts to save them.
Nobody should believe that recovery is easy. If it was easy, then the original project could have been ‘saved’ earlier through normal monitoring and control. The project fell into trouble one day at a time and recovery is clawed back in a similar way.
First-aid and the application of a metaphorical Band-Aid with a couple of Aspirin is unlikely to fix things. Even if ‘quick fixes’ are applied then follow-up and aftercare is needed to ensure that the symptoms ‘cured’ are not signs of a more sinister problem.
If there are signs of early improvement, then we should avoid declaring “success” too soon; this may well be a false positive and rumours of recovery being achieved will abound causing confusion. The predetermined success criteria should be validated, and validated carefully, before victory is declared.
Troubled projects can ambush the complacent Project Manager who has taken his eye off the road believing he has recovered his project. His journey may well begin again…unfortunately with yet another painful lesson in tow.
Bio:
UK Chartered Engineer & Chartered Geologist with over thirty-five years’ international experience in multicultural environments on large multidisciplinary infrastructure projects including rail, metro, hydro, airports, tunnels, roads and bridges. Skills include project management, contract administration & procurement, and design & construction management skills as Client, Consultant, and Contractor.
Provision of incisive, focused and effective technical and managerial solutions for all project phases; identifying and dealing with troubled projects, and leading project recovery and change through hands-on interaction.