A Framework for Rescuing Struggling Projects

Author: Laura Veasey 

When looking for a project manager (PM) to rescue a struggling project, I’ve developed a framework over the years for what I expect to see. Especially when it’s costing my company a fair bit of money, I look for:

• Longevity: If a PM changes jobs frequently (every 1-2 years), it often indicates either skills issues, behavioral problems, or both. It’s best to avoid such candidates.

• Complexity and Impact: A strong candidate will demonstrate increasing levels of responsibility and broad impact in their resume. You want someone talented and driven, capable of handling significant technical or process complexities, involving multiple teams, stakeholders, and navigating office politics. You need a PM who sees your project as something they can manage with ease, not something they are learning on the job at your expense. 

• Hard and Soft Skills: An experienced PM has at their fingertips all core project elements, such as how to build a schedule, manage a project team’s tasks, and effectively facilitate meetings. However, there are soft skills required for excellent project management — these are the qualities you want to see in a PM:

Bias for action – you don’t need to prod them, they are likely prodding you. 😊

Example: You give the PM an outline of the project, a link to any templates that exist, and the org chart. Within a week, the PM has set up 1:1s with you, scheduled initial meet & greets with every key stakeholder, and identified their initial project team members.

Good decision quality – can be trusted to make the right decision at the right time.

Example: When the PM meets with you and gives you a run down of what they have been doing, they consistently make the right decisions, the right moves, for the project. You aren’t flinching at hearing what’s going on because the PM isn’t able to function within their job role or team. You aren’t having to insert yourself to untangle people or feelings due to bad decisions. However, the PM will still have questions for you and will need information that only you can provide.

Ability to deal well with ambiguity and create structure – can take on chaos and create structure with a path forward that everyone can understand and follow.

Example: Some people love chaos and like to keep it going. Some are the opposite and can only handle things if they are very cut and dried. You don’t want either. They are both incredibly problematic. What you are looking for is that person who can take in a tsunami of information and, using hard PM and soft PM skills, can create a framework for organizing that information. They document it so it is transparent to everyone and transferable (e.g., everyone can access it and see the same information). This then allows the PM to gain consensus for how to move forward, and allows new information to come into the project which can be fit into that framework, be understood, and then acted upon

Within 2-3 weeks, the PM should be able to generate a business case/charter that can start to be reviewed and then signed off on.  They should also be able to start a very high-level schedule and begin filling in the very tactical details.

Intellectual horsepower – is smart.

Example: They’re intelligent and can learn quickly. I don’t need to mention most things more than once. Every once in a while, I might need to repeat myself, but not often. They are able to take in the information, and even start asking me questions that cause me to think a bit more deeply.

Organizational agility and Managerial Courage – adept at understanding an organization and culture quickly, and see how to weave their project into it appropriately. Willing and able to speak truth to leadership in a professional and clear manner.

Example: All organizations have their own culture and way of doing things. There are inherent power structures and influences. I look for a PM where I can give an outline of the players and how things push/pull in the org, and they are able to start building a network of support, information, and boosters for themselves and the project. Along with this, the PM will need to be able to communicate truth to leadership in a way that is professional, clear, consumable, and timely. For every “this isn’t going to work,” they should be giving “this will work, though.” For every problem they see, they need to provide one or more solutions.

Perseverance – doesn’t stop at the least resistance. Keeps working the problem till it gets solved.

Example: If a PM is walking me through their week, and I hear a bunch of items that seem stalled out, I become concerned. As I dig in, and it’s just a matter of timing, OK. But if I hear things like “I emailed them and they didn’t get back to me” or “the project team won’t decide on scope,” I become concerned. I am looking for someone who says things like “I emailed them, they didn’t respond, so now I have a 30 min 1:1 with them set up to go over it” or “The project team isn’t in agreement, so I am taking these steps to get us there.”

Forward problem solving – looks ahead to see what might go wrong in order to mitigate it ahead of time. Minimizes the need for heroics and/or excessive staff hours due to constant rework or missed elements.

Example: You don’t want a PM that is constantly doing everything last minute, or even after the last minute. This causes burn out of your staff and also causes people to lose confidence in the PM. Some things will always be a surprise, that’s just the reality of a project. However, it should be the exception, not the norm. You want a PM who has the experience and attitude to look ahead 1 week/1 month/6 months to see what is needed, what could go wrong, and what decisions need to be made when in order to “forward problem solve”.

Random comment: I will NEVER not ask if we have enough server space for whatever we are implementing again. This cost the project 3 months and an additional $150,000. Sigh.

Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) – they can communicate from the janitor up to the CEO with equal comfort, clarity, and professionalism

Example: Your PM needs to be able to talk to any staff at any level with ease and tailoring of the information. I remember working with a technical PM who couldn’t remove their very specific jargon when communicating with the SVP (sponsor) of the project. The PM was removed from the project as the SVP got fed up by not being able to understand that PM. .

• Technical, Process, and/or Domain Expertise: Ideally, you want someone already familiar with the technical aspects, process elements, or domain expertise related to your project. This accelerates their understanding and integration, reducing ramp-up time and anticipating potential pitfalls.

A couple of additional thoughts:

• When interviewing a project manager, a very good sign is if the PM can walk you through a big project they managed and tailor that communication to you. What does this mean? A good PM can walk me through a project I have no background in, and I will be able to understand its complexity, what core project deliverables were used, and how that PM navigated all the really hard stuff – the people.
• Transitioning between PMs . . . can be trickier than just having them have a conversation together. Things get missed. A program I know of had every PM turn over three times before the project was done. You need a transition document. This should contain a list of 1) all meetings that were occurring in the project, who attended, meeting frequency, and topics; 2) links to all project documents that have been created to date (business case/charter, project schedule, meeting notes, action items, RAID log, power point decks, etc; and 3) all stakeholders and project team members with their titles and roles/subjects they are contributing.

Finding the right project manager can be challenging, but focusing on these criteria will increase your chances of success. Good luck!

Note: If your organization has low project maturity or leadership is struggling to lead, any time frames mentioned here will extend greatly. Often an organization blames a PM for issues systemic and endemic to that organization, which no PM can resolve for you. The effectiveness of a project manager depends on how well the organization supports their performance.