What Should You Do When a PRINCE2 Project Heads Downhill?
Not all of the projects that you run will be easy to control. Indeed, some of them may start to go badly downhill at some point. What will you do if this happens?
Each situation is going to be unique, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t find ways of getting things back on track. The following are a few of the different things that you can do to make sure that this is just a temporary blip.
Don’t Panic
Perhaps the worst thing that you can do is to panic when a project isn’t going to plan. It might seem like a disaster at the time but the chances are that you can still sort it out if you stay calm and focussed.
What will happen if you begin to panic? Well, this can lead to you making poor, rushed decisions that you later regret. You might also end up blaming others or getting into heated discussions about what has gone wrong. The sense of panic might also spread to your team and to the stakeholders too.
Just about anything that goes wrong in a project can be fixed in one way or another. Even if it looks impossible just now, the chances of sorting things will be a lot higher if you don’t give in to the urge to panic.
Admit the Problem
One thing that you need to avoid is the temptation to try and hide the issue. If you know that it is going to be a big problem then you might wonder whether it is best to keep it under wraps while you try and sort it out.
However, this is never a good idea. It is only likely to make matters worse when the stakeholders eventually find out. It is far better to come clean right away and admit what has happened.
You might also find that this allows you to get solutions more easily, as you can turn to others to give you suggestions or consider your own ideas. This is going to be a lot better than trying to do it all on your own.
Understand the Timescales Involved
How quickly do you need to react to this setback? Can you fully consider matters for a few days or does it need some immediate action taken on it?
We looked earlier at the reasons not to panic in this situation. However, that doesn’t mean that you should be slow to react. It is important that you check the project plan to see what the knock-on effect is likely to be.
The sooner you start to assess the damage done the better. This will let you get to work on fixing it swiftly too. You can use the techniques you learned in your PRINCE2 course edinburgh to ensure that you stick to the correct methodology rather than rushing off to try and fix things on the spur of the moment.
Work Out What Is Needed
Having worked through the previous points, you should now be ready to work out what is needed. Do you need to re-work the plan or go back and look at the requirements in a new light?
It might be that you need to bring in new skills to the project or ask for more resources to help out. The chances are that there are a few different ways of doing things, so it makes sense to consider each of them in turn.
By working through this in the right way, you should be able to get your project back on the path to success. Plenty of projects go through rough patches but are still successful in the long run.
