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Friday, June 22, 2012

Your new project. What would you do?


You, a project manager, have just been assigned a project.

Your first briefing tells you that this project is the “President’s Baby”.   Managers know that putting this in place will give great benefit to the company – lowered costs, increased efficiency, leading edge. . . and will replace the existing  tool (an old, antiquated system that users are constantly complaining about).

Users will love it. It’s state-of-the-art and has the highest ratings.

You can have anything you want. Oh! By the way. it needs to be in place before the Board Meeting in 5 weeks. Your team is waiting in the Project Room. I am counting on you.
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What would you do if this was you?
  • Celebrate?
  • Cry?
  • Run?
  • Take it and make it work?
  • Something else?
Break it down and let's talk!
Charles

3 comments:

  1. Celebrate = Yes! Always
    Cry = Never
    Run = Not yet . . .
    Take it and Make it Work = Of Course.

    I would try to be in a position to know what this is all about before being pressed into service - and prepared enough to answer the question "What do you need?"

    Looking forward to your answers to this puzzler Charles!

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  2. Thanks Alan,

    This is the same as all projects. We never know how it will turn out until we start planning. One thing I do know is DO NOT CHARGE AHEAD AND DO IT without thinking first. You know - - Draw the gun, pull the trigger, OOPS!, forgot to aim. Expectations can be only be reset with facts. So it is your job to gather the facts. Only with facts can you reset expectatons. So gather your team and start brainstorming and planning, Agile methods are needed! Record everything. Present your case. Use flexible and open communications. . . .

    ReplyDelete
  3. A clue to another approach is the statement that the existing tool is "an old, antiquated system that users are constantly complaining about." There are always people with opinions -- some may be true and some may not. So look into the present tool and determine its actual state. Maybe it's true that the tool is old and unusable, but there may also be updates with new beneficial features. See, you may be a hero or heroine after all. Enjoy your new promotion!

    ReplyDelete