Projects in a crisis?

6. Dealing with any other business

The first five stages of the program covered popular issues in project management. Apart from these there may be other issues within a particular project. It is important to deal with all problems that are relevant for the project in question. It is the coach's job to raise every issue that might be relevant. For that reason it is so important that the coach is highly experienced in project management.

Example "black sheep":

A project had been in a precarious situation over a long time. Therefore the project image had been bad and it stayed bad although the project had regained success. It still was considered the "black sheep" in the project portfolio of the company. The staff morale was threatened by that unfounded accusation. The first priority therefore was to enhance the presentation of the project (and the way it was seen by the staff).

Example procurement:

The software development part of a project had been outsourced. Many difficulties occurred and especially scope changes were contested. When deadlines were missed seller and buyer blamed each other which lead to nothing but frustration. In this situation it was crucial to review the contract in close collaboration with the project manager. By means of a work breakdown structure project manager and coach clarified the scope. Ambiguities vanished and the work to be done by buyer and by seller became clear. On the basis of the agreed work breakdown structure deliverables were created and arguments between seller and buyer decreased.