Project Recovery Function Model

Project managers routinely identify problems and apply corrective actions on an ongoing basis throughout the project management life cycle. This normally represents minor or routine adjustments needed to bring around veering alignment with project cost, schedule, and resource utilization. Routine corrective actions also may address scope, risk, quality, customer service, and a variety of other issues. Conversely, when such factors have reached unacceptable thresholds, when they no longer respond to routine corrective actions, or when they become too numerous to control, a more formal approach is warranted — project recovery.

The PMO should be instrumental in defining when and how project recovery actions will be introduced in the project management environment. Presumably, using a formal process to fix a troubled project will be an infrequent activity and will likely draw attention to the effort on several fronts — project team, management, customer, etc. Devise a precision approach for quickly assessing the need for project recovery and then implement a solution that brings the project back on track. The ultimate goal is to return the project to a routine state of project management at the earliest possible time.

In a sense, project recovery represents a specialized approach to conducting a project audit, with the anticipated need for follow-on project planning support. To that end, features and capabilities developed in those PMO functions can be applied to the project recovery effort. This includes the examination (audit) of a project that has given indications of poor performance to determine what actually is wrong, followed by planning and implementing a revised project plan (and usually an adjusted, more rigorous project management approach) when it is confirmed that a project in fact needs special, project recovery attention to be successful.

The PMO needs to develop the approach to project recovery that will be used within the relevant organization. It can consider the prescriptive steps described in this function model to develop the project recovery approach used — by the PMO or other project recovery body — to guide project recovery actions within the project management environment.

The prominent activities of the PMO's "project recovery" function model are depicted in Figure 16.1. Each activity is described in the following subsections.

Figure 16.1: "Project Recovery" Function Model

Develop Recovery Assessment Process

The PMO should apply awareness of the relevant organization's culture, consideration for the nature of projects, and an understanding of business interests to establish an effective approach to assessing the need for project recovery. The PMO can focus on developing four process steps to guide project recovery assessment activities within the relevant organization. These are described in the following subsections.

Identify Recovery Indicators

The PMO should evaluate and prescribe the indicators that can be used to identify the need for a project recovery assessment. Such indicators will be used to define a troubled project in the relevant organization. Having such indicators not only addresses project recovery needs, but when routinely monitored, these indicators can also serve as a general means of project control. Essentially, the PMO will need to examine indicators and specify what criteria can be applied to the project under examination to distinguish it as one that is on a troubled course and thus warrants consideration for formal project recovery actions.

It should be noted at this juncture that the PMO is simply trying to identify the general indicators that can be used to bring attention to a potentially troubled project. It is not yet assessing the underlying cause of any problems. The PMO can consider indicators in the following areas, add more indicators pertinent to the relevant organization, and assign significant threshold criteria by which each indicator will be monitored:

• Scope:

  • Alignment of project plans (and deliverables) with official scope changes

  • Variation in stakeholder versions (or perspectives) of the scope statement

  • Frequency and cause of project scope changes

• Cost:

  • Variation in planned versus actual cost

  • Reliability of cost estimates

• Schedule:

  • Variation in planned versus actual schedule

  • Reliability of schedule estimates

• Resource utilization:

  • Variation in planned versus actual staffing

  • Reliability of resource utilization estimates

• Quality:

  • Level of defects or discrepancies in deliverables undergoing internal review

  • Level of defects or discrepancies in deliverables presented to the customer

• Risk:

  • Reliability of the most recent project risk analysis

  • Frequency of occurrence of unforeseen project risk events

• Other general indicators:

  • Reliability of vendors and subcontractors

  • Nature and impact of corrective actions taken to date

  • Timeliness, completeness, and accuracy of project status reports

  • Management satisfaction and confidence

  • Customer satisfaction and confidence

Monitoring these indicators on an ongoing basis is inherently a part of tracking and controlling project performance, and these are indicators that can be used to that end. However, the PMO should distinguish assigned criteria between routine control thresholds and those used to identify troubled projects.

In general, when the threshold for a troubled project has been identified, the PMO or relevant management group (e.g., executive control board) should make a decision regarding whether or not to conduct a project recovery assessment. The decision to assess implies that the project has reached unacceptable levels, that routine corrective actions are deemed inadequate to correct the situation, and that project recovery action is to be pursued.

Assess Project and Identify Problem Areas

The project recovery assessment represents a detailed examination or audit of project performance. It can be conducted by the PMO or by a qualified ad hoc team in the relevant organization. It is also a consideration that the assessment team could be a replacement for the current project team. A project recovery assessment is normally not conducted by the current project manager to ensure that a fresh and unbiased perspective of the project condition is achieved.

Conducting this assessment formally places the project in recovery mode. This status needs to be identified to warrant and explain the likely interference with routine project operations and the intervention of the assessment team that will be forthcoming. It also will help anticipate and explain the cost to be incurred by the project recovery effort.

The PMO or other assessment team can use the evaluation areas prescribed below to examine and identify the causes of poor project performance. This examination should include consideration of all examination areas listed, including those not necessarily aligned with initial poor or weak performance indicators. This is because the project will undoubtedly undergo replanning, and all aspects of project performance should be included as a basis for improving current project status and conditions and to provide greater opportunity for successful completion of the project.

There are five major areas of project performance that can be examined as a part of the project recovery assessment, and these are described in the following subsections. The PMO can use this list as a reference in developing a more specific approach to project recovery assessment content and activities for use within the relevant organization.

Assess Application of the Current Project Management Methodology

This examination area evaluates how well the prescribed activities of project management have been accomplished. It includes consideration of:

• Timely and accurate achievement of key project management planning deliverables:

  • Project definition (requirements, scope, objectives, deliverables, etc.)

  • Project charter (project management authority, funding, etc.)

  • Project work breakdown structure (WBS) and work plan (cost, schedule, and resource utilization)

  • Resource responsibility matrix (requirements, competency level, tasks, etc.)

  • Adjunct project plans (risk, quality, communication, etc.)

• Timely and accurate achievement of key project management execution deliverables:

  • Project team formation and management activities

  • Customer agreement or contract execution

  • Management reviews and stage/gateway activities

  • Project tracking, controlling, and reporting

  • Customer involvement and deliverable-acceptance activities

• Timely and accurate application of appropriate technical management components:

  • Technical solution development (technical design, standards application, etc.)

  • Technical reviews and stage/gateway activities

  • Introduction of tools and technology

The examination of these methodology assessment factors should identify any critical project management activities that were not performed (or not performed effectively) as a basis for specifying contributions to poor project performance. In a general sense, the assessment should also examine the appropriateness of the content and process of the project management methodology used for the project under consideration.

Assess the Current Project Management Support Structure

This examination area evaluates how well or poorly the project management support structure of the relevant organization has contributed to project performance. It includes consideration of:

• Executive and senior management participation and support

• Business unit involvement and support activities

• PMO involvement and support activities

• Accomplishment of required training for project team members

• Availability, assignment, and use of project management and technical tools

• Availability, assignment, and use of technical equipment and new technology

• Functional alignment of project team (resource manager implications)

The examination of these support-structure assessment factors should provide sufficient insight to determine any impacts that the current support structure had on project performance. This includes examination of attentiveness (actions taken) and inattentiveness (lack of involvement or support) that contributed to the current project performance conditions.

Assess the Current Business Interests and Issues

This examination area evaluates the influence of the relevant organization's business interests and issues as contributions to project performance. It includes consideration of:

• Project priority (e.g., business importance, internal visibility, customer retention)

• Project contributions to strategic business objectives (i.e., business case changes)

• Adequacy and availability of properly skilled staff

• Timeliness of project resource allocation and assignment decisions

• Customer sales process and engagement-management issues

• Customer reactions to project performance

This examination area evaluates the implications of any changed business perspective or unattended business interest that is associated with project performance.

Assess the Current Project Work Plan

This examination area evaluates the fundamental drivers of project performance. These factors tend to be the primary points of examination, which is usually warranted because of their direct impact on project performance. It includes consideration of:

• Project scope and WBS:

  • Initial validation of project scope with the customer

  • Formal documentation and collaboration of project scope changes

  • Frequency of project scope changes

  • Occurrence of scope creep outside of a formal change-management process

  • Identification of internal and external events affecting scope change

  • Customer decisions, indecision, and unilateral changes in requirements

  • Incidental influence (expansion or reduction) of project team on work efforts

  • Scope representation in the WBS (e.g., work-flow gaps, critical activities, etc.)

  • Collaboration, coordination, and approval of all WBS changes

• Project cost:

  • Accuracy of project cost (budget) estimates

  • Cost variation history

  • Cost tracking and controlling practices applied

  • Current status of project cost

• Project schedule:

  • Accuracy of project schedule (time) estimates

  • History of schedule variation

  • Schedule tracking and controlling practices applied

  • Current status of project schedule

• Project resource utilization:

  • Accuracy of project resource utilization (staffing) estimates

  • History of variation in resource utilization

  • Resource utilization tracking and controlling practices

  • Current status of project resource utilization

This examination area addresses the core aspects of effective project management to ascertain how well they have been managed to date and to identify underlying causes for unusual variations and unacceptable project performance. The factors considered in this examination area are normally a direct responsibility of the project manager. Therefore, interviews and discussions with the project manager may be an important part of this assessment component.

Assess the Current Project Team and Key Stakeholders

This examination area evaluates the actions and interactions of the current project manager having responsibility for project performance as well as the associated project team (in whole or part) for their contribution to the current state of project performance. It includes consideration of:

• Project manager:

  • Workload

  • Competence and experience relative to project size, type, value, etc.

  • Technical skill and capability to provide technical oversight

  • Authority and control (e.g., excessive or insufficient)

  • Response to business guidance

  • Personality and professional behavior constraints

• Project team:

  • Workload

  • Technical skill and experience relative to assigned project tasks

  • Composition and cohesion (i.e., stage of development)

  • Member reductions, additions, and intermittent appearances

  • Response to technical and management guidance and direction

  • Conflicts and unresolved interpersonal problems

• Vendor and contractor participation in the project effort:

  • Achievement of contractual obligations

  • Appropriate participation in prescribed project team role

  • Demonstration of continuing vested interest

  • Accomplishment of required reports and participation in required communication

• Customer participation in the project effort:

  • Achievement of contractual obligations

  • Appropriate participation in prescribed project activities

  • Demonstration of consistent guidance toward stable project objectives

  • Responsiveness to requests for clarification, scheduled document and deliverable reviews, and scheduled project activities

This examination area prompts enhanced awareness of the project recovery effort and should be pursued carefully and with a professional approach. It delves into an evaluation of personalities and competencies of individuals who hold responsibility for successful project performance. This effort should focus on fact-finding and not on personal attributes, although it is likely that personal attributes will be indirectly identified and examined as a part of the project recovery assessment.

Prepare Recovery Decision Package

The PMO should provide guidance for confirming the project recovery decision either for use under its own authority or for presentation for senior management review and approval. Conducting a project recovery assessment presumes that a subsequent project recovery effort will be undertaken. This activity step enables a final review of the project status to be accomplished and provides an opportunity to confirm the need for project recovery.

Recovery action review and approval is facilitated when the PMO constructs a standard document and approach to the decision process, i.e., a project recovery decision package. The following elements are suggested for inclusion in the project recovery decision package.

• Project recovery assessment activities: A presentation and written discussion regarding the project recovery assessment. This section can be as detailed or abbreviated as is required by the decision maker and in alignment with the established business document preparation practices of the relevant organization. It includes the following information points:

  • Assessment team composition

  • Identification of areas of project performance examined

  • Overview (statement) of assessment findings

• Statement of project condition: The results of further analysis of project recovery assessment findings are compiled and presented for reviewer consideration. They include:

  • Project performance problems and their root causes

  • Impacts of project performance problems (i.e., business, industry, customer, etc.)

  • Project performance improvement actions needed to achieve project success

• Project recovery recommendation: A recommendation concerning what to do with the project as a result of the current project condition is prepared. The recommendation should be consistent with project recovery assessment findings and with the subsequent statement of project condition. The default recommendation is to proceed with the project recovery effort. However, at this final decision point, there are still at least two alternative solutions. The three possible recommendations are:

  • Continue the project and proceed with project recovery. The condition of the project and its continued business interest and importance warrant proceeding with project recovery actions.

  • Continue the project without formal recovery action. The condition of the project can be rectified through minor corrective actions and does not warrant the cost and effort incurred by a formal project recovery action. This recommendation validates that the project has continued business interest and importance.

  • Terminate the project. The condition of the project is so severe that a recovery effort does not warrant the expense, or project continuation is not otherwise in the best business interest of the relevant organization.

The project recovery decision package is then presented to senior management decision makers for review and approval of the recommended action. In the interest of the likely pursuit of project recovery actions, this review and approval step should be expedited by the PMO. Following the project recovery decision, or alternative course of action, the PMO can prepare to lead the effort that implements the decision, beginning with the next and final step of this project recovery assessment process.

Coordinate Project Recovery Decision

The PMO can perform or otherwise facilitate coordinating the project recovery decision within the project management environment, and that effort may include some collaboration with key individuals in the business environment. In some cases, project stakeholders in the business environment will be involved in the deliberation and decision process.

The following are points of coordination to consider following a project recovery decision:

• Project manager and project sponsor (if not already involved in the decision process)

• Project team members (notification normally is achieved through the project manager)

• Vendor and contractor engagement managers (other appropriate key points of contact)

• Customer engagement manager (other appropriate customer points of contact)

• Business unit representative

• Resource managers

• Other project managers

Once all key participants are notified, the PMO can proceed with implementing the decision, presumably a project recovery effort.

Plan and Conduct Project Recovery

The PMO's reaction or influence in response to a decision to proceed with project recovery should be immediate and with a distinct purpose: to fix the problems encountered by the troubled project as soon as possible and to return the project to a routine state of project management operations.

In the following subsections, a four-step approach to conducting project recovery is presented for consideration.

Establish Project Recovery Team

The responsibility for bringing around a troubled project falls to the project recovery team. The project recovery team can be an incisive team striking immediately at the root causes of the troubled project, or it can be a replacement project team that addresses a comprehensive approach to project recovery activities. The project recovery team can be formed using a preorganized and pretrained group of highly experienced, highly qualified project professionals who are "on-call" for the purpose of conducting project recovery. Otherwise, convening the project recovery team is similar to any project team formation effort, but with more focus on ensuring that critical project management skills and experience are introduced as needed by the troubled project.

The disposition of the current project manager and project team members will vary by organization and industry and by the extent and nature of the project recovery effort. In some cases, the current project team will remain intact as recovery activities are pursued, such as in the case of the incisive team where the current project manager temporarily gives up the reins of the project. At other times, a large portion of the project team is disbanded, reassigned, and replaced by the project recovery team. It should be noted that unless the project team is only a handful of people, there does not have to be 100% replacement of all project team members. Rather, it is the key technical, business, and project management leadership that is refreshed under the project recovery mode of operations. In some cases, only the current project manager is reassigned. Most individuals would likely recognize project management replacement as a drastic measure, but that only serves to highlight the significance of a project recovery effort.

The PMO should play a primary role in defining project recovery team roles and responsibilities, which will serve as the basis for convening a project recovery team when one is needed. The following five subsections identify the important participants in every project recovery effort.

Senior Management

Senior management should have appropriate involvement and oversight in all projects conducted within the relevant organization. Under project recovery conditions, they play an even more active and critical role that is warranted by the additional expense committed to achieving the project recovery effort. Senior management has undoubtedly been involved in the decision to pursue project recovery for the project at hand, and executives and senior managers will strongly influence the ability to rectify the project problems that were encountered. Their decision to recover the troubled project is likewise a decision to accommodate the fixes necessary to get the project back on track.

The more pertinent project recovery responsibilities of senior management include:

• Funding the project recovery effort

• Allocating new or additional resources required for the project recovery effort

• Adjusting project portfolio priorities and decisions to accommodate project recovery

  • Evaluation of impacts on other projects resulting from project recovery needs

  • Temporary or permanent reassignment of key project professionals

  • Review of strategic business interests affected by project recovery actions

• Participating in project recovery status reviews and updates

• Supporting and facilitating PMO development and implementation of process guidance in the project management environment to avoid recurring needs for project recovery

The PMO should serve as a primary advisor to senior management during project recovery activities, and it can take a lead role in ensuring that senior management is aware of its responsibilities and is appropriately involved.

Project Recovery Manager

The project recovery manager will serve as the new project manager during the project recovery period, and in some cases, for the remaining duration of the project. This is distinctly a role in which experience counts, and some specialized training in project recovery would be beneficial as well. At the very least, the project recovery manager should be among those individuals with the most impeccable qualifications in project management capability to be found within the relevant organization.

The PMO would be well advised to identify candidates for project recovery manager before the need for such an assignment surfaces. This allows the PMO and the selected individuals to achieve at least some fundamental preparation for the role and responsibilities associated with rectifying what ails troubled projects.

The following are primary responsibilities that are associated with the project recovery manager serving as the new project manager:

• Gaining early awareness of the project condition:

  • Review of the project recovery decision package

  • Review of current, viable project planning documents

  • Review of current, viable project tracking documents and reports

• Managing project recovery team formation:

  • Inform current project team members of approach to project recovery

  • Select new project recovery facilitators and core managers

  • Introduce and integrate current and new project team members

  • Establish guidance and responsibilities for operating in project recovery mode

• Preparing the revised business solution:

  • Review and update project financials

  • Review and reassess project risks

  • Review and update the project definition statement

  • Develop revised business case

  • Incorporate project recovery assessment recommendations

• Preparing the revised technical solution:

  • Structure the new technical approach

  • Develop a project recovery work plan

  • Incorporate project recovery assessment recommendations

• Collaborating project recovery activities with the customer:

  • Inform the customer of the status of the project recovery effort

  • Obtain customer input to business and technical plan updates

  • Prepare a project recovery proposal for submittal to the customer

  • Manage the customer relationship under project recovery conditions

• Managing the project recovery effort:

  • Facilitate frequent senior management involvement in project recovery review and approval activities

  • Closely monitor and manage project recovery team performance, with particular focus on accurate and timely project reporting

  • Direct and manage vendor and contractor replanning and performance under project recovery conditions

  • Conduct timely project recovery business and technical review meetings

  • Prepare timely project recovery progress reports to senior management

  • Manage costs and expenses associated with project recovery

  • Recommend return to normal project management operations

The PMO should develop a more detailed key activity checklist for project recovery to guide and assist the project recovery manager in accomplishing essential project recovery activities.

Project Team Members

The project recovery team normally comprises a combination of the individuals currently assigned to the project effort and the influx of hand-selected team members who will facilitate the project recovery effort. Some current project team members may depart for a variety of reasons that are not necessarily related to the root causes of the troubled project. Such factors as the timing of the recovery effort matching the individual's planned departure date, the need to replace someone on another project who is now assigned to the recovery effort, or the need to reduce the cost associated with project recovery are examples of such departure reasons. However, it should be recognized that there also might be some current members of the project team who are released because of their weak performance.

New members of the project team likely will be introduced during the project recovery effort to bring needed technical and project management skill and experience, as well as to revitalize an effort that is deemed to have continuing strategic business importance to the relevant organization. New team members should be selected because they have demonstrated capability and desire to address the challenges of the project recovery effort. In general, it will likely be mid level managers, established technical leaders, and others who have demonstrated leadership within the project management environment who will be hand-selected to fulfill just a few of the critical project roles during the project recovery effort.

Again, the PMO can be proactive in identifying candidates for critical project recovery team roles in advance of the immediate need for such assignments. It might even consider the same project managers who are also candidates for the role of project recovery manager. The consideration in using the same candidates is to get the best and most competent project and technical professionals on board immediately, with as little preparation as necessary to achieve early results, and then return them and the project back to routine operations as quickly as possible.

The following are several of the key responsibilities of individuals assigned as members of the project recovery team:

• Recognize the effort as one of project recovery and business importance

• Advise the project recovery manager in areas of professional and technical expertise

• Conduct and communicate risk management activities in areas of responsibility

• Provide frequent and timely project status reports

• Perform assigned project tasks in a timely manner

• Collaborate immediately with the project recovery manager on issues and problems

The PMO should devise a means of recognizing members of the project recovery team. It can do this during the assignment, but it is particularly important at the conclusion of a successful recovery effort.

Vendors and Contractors

Different organizations will likely have different perspectives regarding the alignment of vendors and contractors as members of the project team. Regardless of their capacity and involvement, these external resources, when aligned, will be important stakeholders in conducting the project recovery effort. They warrant sufficient attention and examination if they are to be included in the project recovery effort.

Vendors and contractors who remain on the project will need to be aware of the project recovery operating conditions, and they will need to become an active participant in achieving project recovery objectives. New vendors and contractors introduced after the initiation of project recovery activities will likewise have to become acquainted with the demands and constraints of the approach to project management conducted under recovery conditions.

Essentially, this means preparing vendors and contractors for the rigorous oversight and control they will encounter, ensuring that they have assigned competent and experienced personnel to critical tasks prescribed by the project recovery plan, and gaining their support and commitment for the duration of their involvement in the recovery effort. On major projects, the PMO can support the project recovery manager by serving as a facilitator for the advance qualification and preparation of vendors and contractors. Otherwise, the PMO can construct guidance and recommendations for managing vendors and contractors under project recovery conditions, and these recommendations can be used by subsequent project recovery teams.

Customers

The customer is arguably the project stakeholder experiencing the greatest impact from the need for project recovery. The customer's expectations for project success have undoubtedly been diminished, faith in the competency and capability of the performing organization has likely been stirred, and reliance on future project success is at best uncertain. It is therefore imperative that the customer be involved in the project recovery effort to the extent that the customer desires without being an adverse influence or a hindrance to the timely deployment of a recovery solution. Perhaps the preferred role of the customer, at least from the perspective of the relevant organization, is that of active participant.

There presumably will be early business meetings with the client to identify project failure and to deliberate the alternatives, and the results of such interactions will factor heavily into the decision to proceed with a recovery effort. Therefore, by the time project recovery actually begins, the customer is essentially poised for participation in the recovery effort to be undertaken. However, the participation needed and the specific role of the customer may not be clear at the onset of recovery activities. The PMO and the project recovery manager should address initial participation and ongoing customer involvement in the project recovery effort.

If, perchance, the customer was a contributor to the troubled project, the recovery plan will identify how those root causes of problems can be rectified, and the customer relationship can be discretely managed to implement necessary corrections.

Otherwise, the customer should be actively involved in several key project recovery activities:

• Review of and concurrence with the recovery plan

• Participation in meetings to discuss project recovery progress

• Participation in technical review meetings (particularly when changes to project scope, deliverable specifications, or delivery schedule are discussed and deliberated)

• Review and acceptance of deliverables

• Celebrations of project success

The PMO can develop a customer information package that specifies recommended points of customer involvement in the project recovery effort. This information-style package presented to the customer can also provide reassurance by highlighting the activities undertaken by the relevant organization to ensure effective management of the recovery effort and ultimate success of the project.

Develop Project Recovery Plan

The project recovery plan represents the renewed approach and commitment by the relevant organization to the project recovery effort. It will likely require more detail, or at least more supporting documentation and analyses for its content, than that normally required for routine project planning. Above all else, the project recovery plan must be a mechanism that demonstrates that the relevant organization knows how to manage projects. Nevertheless, there is still room for deliberation regarding the content actually needed in the project recovery plan.

The following four items represent the suggested minimum content for a viable project recovery plan:

• Revised project work plan:

  • Work breakdown structure (WBS): Incorporates tasks and actions to rectify adverse findings and implement prescribed solutions identified in (a) the project recovery decision package and (b) per the revised specification of project scope and objectives contained in the new project definition statement

  • Cost: Specifies reestimated project cost figures resulting from more precise use of project cost estimating tools and techniques

  • Schedule: Specifies reestimated project timelines resulting from application of more-accurate time-estimating tools and techniques

  • Resource utilization: Specifies reestimated project resource utilization requirements resulting from more effective use of staff-estimating tools and techniques

• Updated project risk management plan:

  • Includes (a) a review of the original risk assessment and associated response strategies and (b) the preparation of a new plan to address the elements of the revised project work plan

  • Specifies (a) the general risk management responsibilities of all project team members and (b) the specific responsibilities of selected managers and technical leaders assigned to the project recovery team

  • Identifies (a) the likely increased frequency for conducting project risk reviews and (b) specifies the need for immediate reporting of results to the project recovery manager

• Updated quality assurance plan:

  • Integrates steps to rectify quality issues cited in the project recovery decision package

  • Includes, where possible, enhanced quality control activities to improve deliverables and offset any negative perceptions resulting from project failure, i.e., making a good deliverable better as a means of demonstrating success and positive influence of the project recovery effort

  • Specifies opportunities for increased middle-and senior management technical review and approval of project deliverables, as is necessary to the recovery effort

• Revised project communication plan:

  • Introduces the enhanced need for close collaboration of plans and progress among project team members and, as appropriate to individual roles, with other stakeholders, e.g., senior management, customer, vendors and contractors

  • Identifies the project recovery manager and other new participants on the project recovery team, and outlines their roles and responsibilities

  • Presents revised requirements for reporting project status — content, frequency, and distribution — and progress to senior management

  • Highlights adjusted, presumably tighter thresholds for reporting cost, schedule, and resource utilization variations and for elevating issues and problems encountered in a timely manner

  • Reiterates the required change-control process and provides guidance for the coordination and distribution of revised project plans, technical documents, and other correspondence and reference materials

The PMO can prescribe these four primary documents to provide fundamental guidance to the project recovery effort. However, it can also recommend or require the development (or revision) and implementation of additional technical and project supporting plans, as necessary.

The nature and impact of the particular project recovery effort may warrant creation of additional guidance either for inclusion in or separate from the project recovery plan. This refers to the preparation of planning elements that address the business interests of the relevant organization. The PMO will need to collaborate with senior management and the project recovery manager to better define the need and the content, but the following are a few examples of additional project planning elements associated with project recovery that the PMO can consider in support of the current and ongoing capability to respond to project recovery efforts within the relevant organization.

• Customer relationship management plan

• Internal incident (rumor) control plan

• Public information and media management plan

• Senior management activity and response plan

• Business unit reorganization/realignment plan

• Shareholder communication plan

• Project management methodology update plan

• Project team member training plan

• Project management governance policies review plan

The concept of project recovery necessitates that the project recovery plan be reviewed at high levels in the relevant organization and be approved for implementation. The level of review may vary from organization to organization — some will have the newly assigned project recovery manager as the final authority, and others will want senior management to demonstrate that they are active participants in the recovery process, with final review and approval authority placed at that senior level. In reality, there likely will be several levels of review, and concurrence at all levels should be sought as a basis for proceeding with implementation of the project recovery plan.

Finally, the PMO should examine the situation of each individual recovery effort as a means of determining which stakeholders need to receive copies of the project recovery plan or any of its components. To that end, the PMO can facilitate distribution, consistent with its overall role in the project recovery effort.

Stabilize Project Using Recovery Solution

Once the project recovery plan has been prepared and distributed to the project team and other appropriate stakeholders, there can be a formal project restart or transition to project recovery mode. The project recovery work plan, in particular, will enable the project recovery team to begin rectifying problems and continue with the development of project deliverables per the revised project schedule. The critical event here is to implement the revised and refined project solution to demonstrate that control has been reestablished and that project success is imminent.

The implementation of the project recovery plan and its prescribed solution is highlighted by the close attention paid to several essential project management actions, which incidentally represent the same primary project management actions that are applied to routine projects, but with added focus under project recovery conditions:

• Recovery solution implementation: The elements of the project recovery work plan are followed to achieve scheduled tasks and deliverables. The work plan is closely monitored to ensure that all activities are accomplished according to established technical requirements and deliverable specifications. Technical review and decision meetings are specified in the work plan and are conducted to include appropriate participation by members of the project team, senior management, and vendors and contractors; and meetings are monitored for attendance and achievement of desired results. The work plan is updated to reflect new risk response strategies (risk management is performed on an ongoing basis) and to incorporate bona fide changes from other project plan components.

• Stakeholder communication management: Collaboration and participation of project stakeholders are managed to ensure that individual and business commitments are honored. Project documents and materials distributed for review and comment or decision are tracked, and timeliness of individual responses is monitored. Attention is given to effective meeting management; advance notification and meeting preparation instructions are given, an agenda is prepared, and individual action items are captured and tracked to completion. senior management decisions are facilitated by timely presentation of information and reports, and follow-on contact to provide clarification is conducted as critical decision dates draw close. Customer participation in key activities and critical decision points is particularly monitored, and professional reminders of the customer's role and responsibilities in project recovery are conveyed, as appropriate.

• Project tracking and controlling: The three primary elements of the project work plan are tracked and controlled relative to planned versus actual:

  • Cost tracking and controlling: The revised project budget is closely monitored at frequent intervals for any discernable variation and for the cause of that variation. Cost variations outside of an extremely small tolerance range require immediate application of corrective actions. Project expenditures are closely managed, and expense approval and spending authority is limited to the project recovery manager (and possibly a few delegates) during the recovery effort. Virtually all expenses, particularly incoming invoices from vendors and contractors, are scrutinized for accuracy and validated for acceptance. New and additional funding is monitored for receipt and inclusion in the project budget.

  • Schedule tracking and controlling: The revised project schedule is closely monitored at frequent intervals for any discernable variation and for the cause of that variation. Schedule variations outside of an extremely small tolerance range require immediate application of corrective actions. Project task performance is closely managed at shorter-interim review intervals. Task completion is verified. The project's critical path is frequently examined for progress and to identify potential delays or roadblocks, sometimes on a daily basis.

  • Resource utilization tracking and controlling: The revised staffing plan is closely monitored at frequent intervals for any discernable variation and for the cause of that variation. Resource assignments and resource manager commitments are monitored for timely fulfillment. Individual resource participation is managed relative to the completion of assigned tasks. New and additional resource allocations are monitored for fulfillment and inclusion in the project staffing plan.

• Change management: Changes to project scope, plans, specifications, and customer contracts or agreements are closely monitored and strictly controlled. The project recovery manager normally serves as the single point of approval for such changes and will usually collaborate and convey approved changes directly with affected stakeholders. The PMO should be proactive in establishing and monitoring the use of a project recovery change-management process. Essentially, this means using any current change-management process already included in the project management methodology, adjusting its procedures and content for the recovery effort at hand, and ensuring that it is used to track and manage changes encountered during project recovery. A rigorous change-management process is implemented to avoid casual decisions and to ensure proper coordination and collaboration of bona fide change requests, including performing the following general change-management process steps:

  • Request: Specifying the details of a needed change and forwarding it for consideration in a project-change request

  • Analyze: Analyzing the needs, benefits, and impacts of the change request, and preparing a recommended response for acceptance or rejection of the change request

  • Review: Conducting a review of the recommended response by the project recovery manager and any other key stakeholders

  • Approve: Approving the change request by the project recovery manager, senior management, or other designated authority

  • Implement: Implementing the approved change, which includes (a) modifying the content of the project work plan, other project supporting plans, and technical and contractual documents and (b) announcing the implemented changes to members of the project team and other relevant stakeholders (per the project communication plan)

The PMO, as a prime stakeholder in project recovery efforts, needs to develop the capability to monitor the performance and results of these project management actions under project recovery conditions. In some project management environments, the PMO may be called upon to conduct these activities. In either case, the PMO should act in a supportive role during the transition to project recovery mode and should facilitate the accomplishment of project management actions that lead to a successful project recovery effort.

Conclude Project Recovery

Project recovery can be concluded when the project recovery manager deems the project has been stabilized and can demonstrate that essential project management indicators — usually cost, schedule, and resource utilization — are under sufficient control to ensure that the project will be successful in producing required customer deliverables, achieving customer satisfaction, and achieving its business objectives for the relevant organization. Other project management indicators can be specified for inclusion in the determination of project health and viability. The PMO should be a participant in constructing the indicators for use on project recovery efforts and in preparing guidance for their application.

The PMO will also need to develop the process that enables a project in recovery mode to transition back to routine or normal operations. The following elements are highlighted for consideration and inclusion in that transition process:

• Compile recovery project data: As a determination is made that transition to routine project operations appears warranted, a data collection point in time is specified, and a final compilation of key project management indicators and project recovery data is accomplished. This includes collecting collateral project recovery data from vendors and contractors and surveying the customer for input of project performance indicators.

• Prepare project analysis and recommendation report: A report is prepared by the project recovery manager to convey the project management improvements made, to specify the trends and current status of acceptable project management indicators, and to show that project stabilization has been accomplished. Included in this report is the project recovery manager's recommendation for project transition, which inherently represents that the project is now viable and problem free according to widely accepted business and project management standards and practices, as applied within the relevant organization.

• Specify transition activities: A separate document, or one attached to the analysis and recommendation report, should be prepared by the project recovery manager to show the activities that will be accomplished to facilitate the transition to routine project operations. This essentially equates to developing a transition plan that includes:

  • Specification of final review, coordination, and approval activities

  • Designation of the project manager (current project recovery manager continuation, assignment of a new project manager, or return of authority to the original project manager)

  • Dispersal of the project recovery team (which members of the project team are leaving, which will be retained as part of a core team needed to complete the project, what new resources will be assigned or returned to this project assignment)

  • Redesignation of roles and responsibilities for the remaining members of the project team

  • Designation of the approach to project recovery document and material collection, including plans for a final examination of the project recovery effort (lessons learned) prior to archiving the data and materials

  • Specification of planned internal information announcements, including recognition of project recovery team and customer satisfaction statements

  • Specification of recommended public information and media announcements

• Obtain approval for transition: The project analysis and recommendation report, along with the transition plan, are provided to key project stakeholders — prominently senior management and the customer — for review and approval decisions to proceed with transition to routine project operations. This process may include a personal appearance and presentation by the project recovery manager to substantiate the recommendation for transition.

• Conduct transition to routine operations: Upon receipt of the approval to proceed, all project stakeholders are notified, and the transition plan is implemented.

• Archive project recovery documents and materials: All project recovery documents and materials are collected and stored.

Conducting project recovery is presumably both a cost burden and an inefficient use of valuable resources for most organizations. Therefore, it is in their better business interest to rectify the problems of the troubled project as quickly as possible so that the routine practice of project management can resume. The PMO, having facilitated a large potion of the project recovery activities — if not directly leading them — will also benefit from a reduction in the demand for resources and in the urgency of project recovery support requirements as the project returns to normal operations.

However, not all projects will necessarily return to normal operations after being in recovery mode. In some cases, business interests may dictate continuing the enhanced attention and detailed management of the project recovery effort for the duration of the project. In other cases, it may be found that even the project recovery effort does not sufficiently rectify the troubled project, and project termination again becomes an option for consideration.

Capture Recovery Lessons Learned

The completion of a project recovery effort is a significant undertaking that warrants review to determine what went well; what could have been done better; and what should be done in future, similar efforts. The PMO should be a facilitator of information collection and analysis as well as a repository for lessons learned from project recovery.

There are four recommended areas in which the PMO can focus its efforts to obtain maximum benefit from its review of the project recovery experience, as described in the following subsections.

Examine Project Management Indicators

The need for the project recovery effort was originally identified because of project management indicators that were found to exceed specified acceptable thresholds. The PMO can examine the relevant project recovery assessment report, as well as the approach used to monitor project management indicators during the recovery effort, to determine whether new indicators or threshold criteria are needed.

The result of this examination should be (a) to validate that current project management and project performance indicators and criteria are still acceptable or (b) to specify that new indicators and criteria are needed. This activity does not actually develop any new or revised indicators and criteria, which is actually done in conjunction within the PMO's "standards and metrics" function (see Chapter 3). However, those involved in this examination (the PMO or others) are free to recommend specific modifications that can be considered during a separate development effort.

Examine Project Selection Criteria

The troubled project presumably started its life cycle by successfully passing through the project selection process — a process of close scrutiny relative to strategic business interests, technical performance competency, and overall perceived value within the relevant organization. The PMO can examine the business case used to select this project, with particular focus on the project's achievement of specified selection criteria. The results of this examination should provide some indication of whether or not the selection process could have precluded selection of the troubled project at the onset, or whether the project was selected despite selection indicators and criteria to the contrary. The results of this examination should be immediately forwarded to the executive control board, or other project selection authority, for inclusion in considerations for pending project selections. In the bigger picture, the PMO can recommend and revise the established project selection process and associated criteria per the validation of findings from this project recovery effort.

In addition to examining the selection criteria that represent the business case element of project selection, the PMO should also examine any associated resource allocation impacts. In particular, it should identify, from a retrospective position, whether all resource allocation commitments were fulfilled as prescribed during the selection process. It can also review early project selection negotiations that possibly reduced or modified the number or types of resources actually needed to ensure project success. Again, any preliminary findings resulting from this examination should be forwarded to the project control board (or other project selection authority) for inclusion in considerations for pending project resource allocation decisions. The PMO can resolve any existing resource allocation process issues as a separate effort from this examination.

Examine Project Recovery Process

The PMO can enhance the capability to conduct project recovery by reviewing application of its current project recovery process relative to the just-completed recovery effort.

The following list highlights a few of the areas that the PMO can examine to determine whether the prescribed project recovery process was effective or whether it contributed to project management difficulties during the project recovery effort:

• Project recovery process utilization: Did all key project recovery team members have access to and use the prescribed project recovery methods?

  • Process availability

  • Process familiarity

  • Process applicability

• Project recovery process effectiveness: Was the process comprehensive enough to provide sufficient guidance to enable users to initiate and conduct the project recovery effort?

  • Description of roles for project recovery participants

  • Description of procedures and activities for project recovery

  • Management tools and templates for project recovery

• Project recovery support: Does the process provide adequate guidance for obtaining (and giving) technical and business support during project recovery?

  • PMO guidance and support

  • Senior management guidance and support

  • Project recovery manager guidance and support

The PMO can examine the project recovery process in a manner similar to that used for the project management methodology. The objective is to identify what worked well and what did not work well. The examination can be based on a combination of PMO observations captured during the recovery effort and user comments solicited through surveys and interviews conducted during and after the recovery effort.

The PMO can use the findings of this examination to plan revisions to the project recovery process for future enhancement of project recovery capability.

Update Routine and Project Recovery Remedies

In conjunction with the earlier examinations of the project recovery effort, the PMO should receive considerable insight into the project management strategies and tactics used to rectify the problems encountered by the project in recovery mode. Indeed, the PMO may be a contributor of corrective action guidance for the project recovery manager and project team. The project recovery effort, in turn, provides an opportunity to validate the effectiveness of corrective actions implemented to achieve project recovery objectives.

Along the way, the lessons learned during project recovery will also provide some new insights into corrective actions that can be applied to routine project management efforts. In particular, it would be ideal to identify the corrective actions that do not work very well and then replace them with more-effective means of resolving routine project problems and issues and, of course, of reducing project variance across cost, schedule, and resource utilization indicators.

To that end, the lessons learned in project recovery efforts can be used to formulate standard remedies that can then be applied by project managers who encounter various project ailments and project management difficulties. The ultimate goal is to develop and implement remedies during routine project operations so that the project never veers so far as to require a project recovery effort.

The remedies developed can be incorporated by the PMO into both the project management methodology process as well as the project recovery process.