When projects go from slightly off track to troubled, it's important for the PM to get through the issues quickly and get the project back on the right foot. This simple primer provides 8 simple steps to help the PM keep focused.

1. Dealing With
Troubled Projects
A quick primer in
8 simple steps

2. What is a Troubled Project?
Any project can get off track
But a troubled project is…
Consistently off track or
So far off track it’s unlikely to
recover

3. What it feels like
Page 3
The ship is sinking
The world is on fire
And things will never get better
Nobody is happy

4. Step 1: Don’t panic
Skip the Emotions
Emotions don’t solve
problems
Facts, reason, and
commitment solve them
Stay focused

5. Step 2: Get the Facts
Gather information
Be a journalist and ask…
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
And don’t forget How?

6. Step 3: Put In to Context
Project problems are a
disconnect between
expectations and
reality
Solve problems in context of
explicit expectations

7. Step 3: Put In to Context
Expectations are explicit if they can
be traced to contracts, documentation,
requirements, and scope definition
All other expectations may be implied, based
on beliefs, wants, desires, etc.

8. Step 4: Fix Problems, Not
Symptoms
Troubled projects have symptoms
of underlying problems
“The customer is unhappy”
Is a symptom
Only fixing the symptoms makes the patient
feel temporarily comfortable

9. Step 5: Prioritize
Develop the list of problems
the effort to fix
Evaluate their impact to the project, and
Impact
Effort to fix
high
low
low high

10. 3rd
2nd1st
Step 5: Prioritize
Fix High Impact and Low Effort
problems first
Impact
Effort to fix
high
low
low high
• Problem 6
• Problem 5
• Problem 4
4th
• Problem 1
• Problem 2
• Problem 3

11. Step 6: Bring In the
Special Teams (if needed)
When fixing problems, limit the
impact on the ongoing project
Use budget from risk
contingencies

12. Step 7: Plan, Execute, and
Communicate the solutions
Communicate progress
• To customers and stakeholders
• Frequent, clear and concise
• Fact-based
• Transparent
• Rebuild trust

13. Step 8: Analyze Root Cause
If a problem is urgent,
perform RCA quickly
(detailed RCA can come later)
Use Why? questioning to get
quickly to root cause

14. Step 8: Simple example
Problem: The accountants missed their deadline for filing
the month’s accounts for the financial close.
Why did they miss the deadline?
Because they didn’t load the system in time.
Why didn’t they load the system in time?
Because they couldn’t log in.
Why couldn’t they log in?
Because their passwords had been reset.
Why did their passwords get reset?
Because the system has a 90-day automatic password
reset policy if passwords are not changed regularly.
Why does the system have a 90-day password renewal
policy?
Because of internal information security controls.
Solution: Accountants will reset passwords every 80 days.

15. And always ensure lessons
are learned
“Those who don’t know
history are doomed to
repeat it.” Edmund Burke
• Document findings
• Share with other teams
• Read lessons from other projects

16. A focused approach will help
• Identify problem root cause
• Build and execute action plan
• Rebuild trust with stakeholders
Get through the issues as quickly as
possible, to the satisfaction of
customers and stakeholders

17. Eight Steps to Handling
Troubled Projects
1. Don’t panic, skip the emotions
2. Get the facts
3. Context, focus on explicit expectations
4. Fix the problem not the symptom
5. Prioritize
6. Bring in the special teams (if needed)
7. Plan and execute the fix, and
communicate
8. Perform a Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

18. Connect with me on LinkedIn
https://cn.linkedin.com/in/doug-ziemke-a75a023
Doug Ziemke
deziemke@gmail.com
Other Publications:
Separation of Duties (SOD) is a critical part of business controls yet
often goes overlooked or is not implemented effectively. Check out
my Pocket Guide to SOD - An Overview and Methodology for an
easy 6-step method to putting SOD to work.
Photo credits: barnimages.com, shutterstock.com