Christopher Global

Far too many seasoned project program managers fail because they forget the most critical project element to manage; and not your ability to know everything. When the PM fails to take a firm focus on people management, project resources fall out of alignment and go rogue ninja. Rogue ninjas cannot be tolerated because rogue ninjas will develop scope or lead teams with their perception of the requirements versus what was communicated by you.

Dealing with miscommunication of requirements or the development of unquantified requirements will produce the biggest threat to your or any project, rework. Rework is a time killer as much as it is a budget killer. Once you're locked into the cycle of rework, the downstream domino effect is undeniably not what you want. To get back on track, you'll need to be strategic about your next steps to recover your losses.

What can you do to avoid this situation? The first thing is to acknowledge that you're not the SME but need the SMEs at the table to establish team alignment. Second, don't overtalk in the discussion; facilitate. Direct your resources to stay on the agenda and let them do what they do best. Third, gain alignment through notes and action items. When it's crystal clear what next steps need to happen and who the owner is, alignment and consensus are much easier to obtain. And fourth, ask questions to highlight gaps. Your credibility will come from proactively forecasting possible risks and proactively addressing them with the team. The better you at executing this management model, the better chance your team will have at staying on scope, schedule, and budget.