The Logic Place

Have you ever gotten a knot in your stomach because you’re afraid you’re going to make a mistake: missing a deadline or a small detail that could impact your project success; or saying the wrong thing on a conference call? I have. And often, when I have successfully cleared one hurdle, all I can see is the next one, looming large and ominous.

I recently had to do a “reset” on a project that was causing me to lose sleep, worrying about missing something important. When I’m in that place, I wake up in the middle of the night trying to figure out how I’m going to clear that next hurdle, or groan aloud when I think back on something I said that I thought made me sound like a babbling idiot. To get rid of those feelings, I might skip a few planning steps and go right into “just do it” mode. That may seem like the right thing to do under pressure. But before long, I realize I haven’t taken time to do my monthly status reports, check how much time team resources are spending on the project, update the project schedule, or determine if I need to make a scope change to make the work or schedule more realistic.

In this case, I decided to take a step back and go to my “logic place”.

My “logic place” is furnished with templates and processes that my fellow PMO team members and I have developed over the years. It contains valuable tools like Microsoft Project and the IS Project Portfolio. These tools, templates, and processes are driven by logic. For instance, if a team member tells you they are feeling pressured by another team member to finish something in an unrealistic period of time, you can start by looking at the RACI chart. What exactly are the roles of each of those resources, and what tasks should be assigned to those roles? Do the roles need to be changed to accommodate changes in the project? You can look at the project schedule to determine which task needs to be done before the next one, and which tasks can be done at the same time.

As I drilled down into the schedule for this project, I was reminded that this was the most important place I could be spending my time and energy. It is the role and responsibility of the project manager to manage the schedule, and it is one of my greatest areas of expertise. As I worked through it, I began to see possible solutions, not only to the delays in the timeline, but to team members’ feelings about those delays. The steps involved in creating and maintaining a project schedule are very logical and concrete. But a by-product of logical outcomes can be a greater sense of comfort and confidence for team members.

I also took some time to look at how many hours each resource was spending on the project, so that I could support them and justify their allocations to the project. Then I made sure that every outstanding issue was documented and included in my monthly status report, which I sent to stakeholders to let them know where we were making progress and where we needed help.

Many people have little understanding of, or tolerance for, the importance of adhering to process when handling project challenges. This is the reason why the role of a project manager is vital—not to convince people how important planning tools are, but to be the one to make those tools work for the project.

Spending a few days in the logic place has decreased my insomnia and loosened the knot in my stomach. More important, however, is that it has cleared more space in my head, so I can be a better listener and a more effective leader.