An article this morning on Tech Republic 10 Red Flags that shout “Stay Away from this Project!” put me in mind of projects I have worked on that I wish I hadn’t.  The article itself is targeted to IT consultants but I have a few of my own red flags to add that apply more generally.

1) No support from upper management – if the big boss doesn’t want it done, it ain’t going to get done.  Doesn’t matter how great an idea it is or how many other management types like the idea – if the prez says no, it isn’t going to happen.  Trying to make it happen anyway will at best just irritate everyone and at worst get your fired.

Fix – get support for the project first, if the big boss says no, find out why (politely!) and then come back next year with answers to his/her concerns.  Smile when you talk to them.

2) 52 pick up – remember that “card game” joke as a kid – someone says do you want to play 52 pick up? and you say sure! not knowing they are just going to throw all the cards on the floor and expect you to gather them up?  This game happens in project management too – someone decides to do something (and actually gets the money and backing needed to get it done) and suddenly everyone has just a wee little thing they would like to add.  Scope Creep is another term for incrementally adding on to the project – in 52 pick up it happens like a blizzard.

Fix – stay focused, do cost benefit analysis on EVERYTHING (one sure way to back off a good portion of those who want to add to your project is to ask THEM to do the cost benefit analysis to show why its worthwhile to add this on)

3) Management by committee – everyone knows that committees can often derail a project as they can’t seem to agree on anything or they can talk through issues but no one is charged with making sure anything actually gets done.   However, we all also know that committees are often key to ensuring that upper management and other critical players stay engaged in the project.

Fix – Staff the committee, with someone who is actually the project manager.  They make sure everything actually gets done, that the project stays on task, and proactively manages the work of the committee so they stay positive and productive.

Those are the “top of mind” red flags for me.  What are your red flags?

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Blog by Joyce