Project Busyness! An “X” Factor? Once upon a time there was a project… and everybody, well almost everybody, was kept busy even though the project was in delay!

Back-to-back meetings, relentless barrages of emails, notifications of every incoming and outgoing document, pop-ups advising that somebody or other was diving out of one meeting only to deep dive into the next.  The project was characterised by a constant stream of communication punctuated by daily, weekly, and monthly reports on progress accompanied by trackers, and an ever-expanding array of various dashboards. And yet project progress slipped and continued to slip despite the busyness of the project participants and ever-increasing demands for even more busyness…but why?

Keeping People on Their Toes

‘Motivational theory’ emerged in the 1950’s.  Maslow developed the Hierarchy of Needs and McGregor conceptualized Theory X and Theory Y which, far from being ‘old hat’, are real.

Theory X organisations believe that people are inherently lazy, dislike work and will do the absolute minimum to earn their salary.  These organizations engage managers who, almost dictatorially, provide constant direction or supervision with threats of potential termination if orders are not executed.  Respect is demanded rather than earned, and trust quickly becomes significant by its absence.

Despite outward signs that people are engaged because of their abilities the idea that “we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do” is quickly replaced by “it’s my way or the highway”.  People can be subjugated and, as the extreme case of the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment showed, those in positions of perceived power and authority can quickly do so through intellectual abuse and creating artificial situations.  Those who would be oppressed keep their heads down while the oppressors thrive on being seen to oppress.

Heads Down

The idiom ‘heads down’ originated in the industrial age when workers were expected to work long hours with little rest, focus completely on the work at hand, and would not ‘look up’.  The phrase is also applicable to sports, or academic pursuits or even social situations where people concentrate on their task and, through choice, are not distracted.

However, in certain environments the oppressed keep their ‘heads down’ to keep from being noticed rather than to increase their productivity.  Also, and possibly more importantly their job security there is prolonged.  In a similar vein, the longer an overseer avoids being targeted for not being ruthless enough, the greater their security too.

Militarily, ‘heads down’ means literally “keeping your head down” and reducing the risk of being shot by an enemy or being observed.  In such cases, and with everybody trying to avoid being noticed, the productive ‘buzz’ of a harmonious and collaborative workplace can be quickly and easily silenced; nobody dares to challenge the status quo for fear of being fired.

Good News Reporting

Projects slip but reporting such slippage to a management that doesn’t like failure, or a hint of it, is difficult.  They need to be kept ‘on side’ or heads will roll but, inevitably, it’s the messenger who is shot and avoiding such a fate becomes sacrosanct and they must spin the ‘truth’ into a lie.  However, such spinning takes time and effort, a good imagination, and as the truth (in one form or another) will come out one day, the management must be kept at bay for as long as possible to maintain a messenger’s job security.

There are, they say, “lies, damn lies and statistics” and, to avoid being shot the ‘truth’ of any delay is disguised under a plethora of statistics and various comparative ‘baselines’ so positivity prevails.  We may here a cry of ‘productivity rates are improving’ but any productivity is an improvement if nothing has happened…now that’s ‘good news’!

Generating good news in the form of dashboards keeps people busy providing a constant stream of data to inundate and overwhelm management.  Daily, weekly, and monthly reports are summarised, trackers of some key parameter are produced, and we even have a tracker for trackers.  Multiple reports, despite no real progress, create an illusion of progress and, most importantly, people are seen to be busy being busy (rather than fixing the delays).

Meetings…& More Meetings

According to Parkinson’s Law, work expands to fill the available time.  The same can be said to be true of meetings when a project is in delay.  There is no better way to be seen to be doing something, and heard, than attending meetings.  Meetings can keep a lot of people occupied and a captive audience can be easily drummed up, after all as many people as possible will be also seen to be doing something.  Unfortunately, the proverb ‘actions speak louder than words’ is forgotten, and we find that the most vociferous attendees spend their time digging deeper into the whys and wherefores of any delays rather than resolving them.

These ‘progress meetings’ are not about exchanges and sharing information and resolution of difficulties.  They serve to provide a platform to expose the inadequacies of the workforce and apportion blame publicly.  More importantly, those who blame can be seen to be blaming without repercussions as there will be few who will challenge in public.  In the unlikely event that anybody raises their head to disagree, they will risk being shot down.

The result, far from being constructive, is disparaging discourse and destructive argument.  Any accused wrongdoers are kept on their toes as they are required to produce even more reports and attend even more meetings to defend themselves.  Such meetings resolve nothing, but they do create the illusion of progress even though the cost is confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization…and busyness is compounded.

Conclusion – The Reality of Busyness

If a project is not going well, it must be Somebody’s fault.  Anybody can be blamed, Nobody wants to be, and Everybody will deny any liability.  In the ensuing blame game, Everybody is kept busy to either blame or avoid being blamed.  If ‘management’ believe that Everybody is lazy then, despite their busyness, it must be true as evidenced by the project in delay.

The production of reports, trackers and dashboards and attending meetings may seem to be productive but they are merely a symptom of a project in trouble.  It may well be true that the number of meetings can be directly proportional to the magnitude of the delay and rate of slippage.

Our Theory X proponents readily cast aspersions on the ability and commitment of others rather than trying to resolve the delays themselves.  By keeping people busy, at least in the short term, everybody can be seen to be doing something.  However, in the longer run it takes an outsider to identify that there is trouble and that very little, if anything, is being done to focus on solving the problem.  Without outside interference and not allowing people to conduct their work in a trusting and supportive environment without fear of being fired then project failure may be inevitable, and busyness will prevail…it’s a choice.

Bio:

Malcolm Peart is an 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.