Project First Aid: Bring your projects back from the dead

View full case studies and treatment plan: http://lt10.ca/q0

We’ve all been there—neck deep in a project burning with fever and sliding off the rails. Blown budgets, steaming clients, a timeline doomed from the start. Join PM first responders, "Dr." Carson Pierce and "Dr." Rachel Gertz in the proverbial operating room for some intensive project first aid. We’ll lay the worst examples on the table, assess their vitals, and with your help, develop an emergency care plan to bring our projects back from the dead.

Be prepared to get your hands dirty. This will be a fast-paced, intensive workshop filled with real-world case studies, including past horror stories from our very own DPM speakers. Like a brain zapping game of Operation, you’ll be in for one crazy ride.

You’ll learn:
• How to assess your project’s vitals: the good, the bad, the just plain ugly
• How to create an immediate care plan to stop the bleeding
• How a prevention plan can keep your ongoing projects bright eyed while keeping your new ones out of the O.R.

Transcript

1. PM First Aid:
   Bring Your Projects
   Back From the Dead
   

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2. Welcome Resident Doctors
   Louder Than Ten
   Project Teaching Hospital
   Faculty of Emergency Project Medicine
   Vancouver, Canada
   

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3. Dr. Carson Pierce
   !
   Dr. Rachel Gertz
   

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4. Mr. Travis Gertz
   AKA ‘The Patient’
   

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5. Case study #1
   

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6. Project description
   Client:
   Teaching hospital, Infectious diseases ward [Client X]
   Project brief:
   Client X approached agency requesting an application for educating
   public about and highlighting major risk factors, complications, and
   treatment of MRSA infections (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
   aureus) with $100K budget set aside.
   Anticipated launch: April 2015
   

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7. • Rocky kickoff: client not clear on app
   goals or needs
   • PM misses ‘private email’ sent by POC
   • Surprise! Director arrives as new
   (unhappy) stakeholder
   Initial onset
   

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8. Red flag symptoms
   Unclear goals
   Unclear expectations
   Stakeholder conflict
   

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9. Client is “solutioneering”
   Unclear goals
   

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10. Functionality requirements
    are missing or out of date
    Unclear goals
    

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11. Unclear expectations
    Three new stakeholders
    show up at design meeting
    with scope changes
    

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12. Unclear expectations
    Point of contact
    communicating outside of
    designated channels
    

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13. Stakeholder conflict
    Client & stakeholders
    arguing during meeting
    

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14. Stakeholder conflict
    • Client & stakeholders
    disagree on project
    direction
    • Design halted
    

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15. Prognosis
    SERIOUS
    CONDITION
    

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16. Treatment summary
    A. Revive project plan
    B. Clarify expectations
    C. Get it in writing
    

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17. Prevention
    

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18. Prevention
    • Practice tough conversations
    • Mystery voices
    • Pause clause
    

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19. Case study #2
    

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20. Project description
    Client:
    Retail baked goods company [Client Y]
    Project brief:
    Client Y negotiated contract with agency salesperson to convert their retail
    baked goods ecommerce site to new content management system. Some
    minor design updates may also be required. Approach appeared to be a
    relatively straightforward project, so fixed price of $40,000 and three month
    timeline set.
    Anticipated launch: January 2015
    

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21. • Fixed budget set by salesperson
    • Assertive project manager brought on
    to ‘control’ team
    • Internal conflict escalated unchecked
    Initial onset
    

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22. Red flag symptoms
    Unhealthy team
    Underweight budget & schedule
    Unstable resourcing
    

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23. Unhealthy team
    • Teams of ‘one’
    • Lack of trust
    • Aggressive PM
    

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24. Underweight budget & schedule
    • Budget & timeline too tight
    • Cutting corners vs missing
    deadlines
    

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25. Unstable resourcing
    • Some teammates working
    hard, some hardly working
    • Schedule overlap will put
    future projects at risk
    

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26. Prognosis
    CRITICAL
    CONDITION
    

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27. Treatment summary
    A. Build trust with team
    B. Clarify goals & expectations
    C. Introduce strong leaders
    

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28. Prevention
    

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29. Prevention
    • Choose right people for team
    • Chunk estimating: e.g. rolling
    wave
    • Use Project Evaluation Review
    Technique
    

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30. Case study #3
    

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31. Project description
    Client:
    Luxury tile company [Client Z]
    Project brief:
    Client Z approached agency requesting new branding, logo, and full
    website redesign for high end tile distribution company. Have $85K
    budget set aside for all work. Customers include high profile celebrities
    like Kanye, Joe Pesci, and Carrot Top.
    Anticipated launch: November 2014
    

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32. • Your boss is ‘friends’ with Tile Distributor aka
    your new client, aka no formal agreement
    • Wife ‘writes’ content, ‘designs’ logo
    • Wife leaves client
    • Joe Pesci sues client
    • Client threatens you via voicemail
    Initial onset
    

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33. Red flag symptoms
    Inadequate documentation
    Poor content performance
    Abusive client
    Stopped payments
    

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34. Prognosis
    DOA
    

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35. Treatment
    

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36. Prevention
    

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37. Prevention
    • Avoid conflicts of interest
    • Content & design together
    • Don’t put up with sh*t
    • Create healthy client mix
    

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38. Rx summary
    • Clients only drive when they
    think you can’t
    • We teach people how to treat us
    • We make this industry better
    

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39. Your projects are
    waiting…
    Review complete case symptoms
    and prognosis at: http://lt10.ca/q0
    !
    

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40. Come to the
    DPM Summit
    next year!
    

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41. Thanks
    louderthanten.com
    @louderthanten
    

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