7.9 Generic Reactions

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So far, I have offered an approach to having truthful exchanges with team leads regarding their progress, and I have identified likely trouble points. Earlier we discussed contingency planning. A good Plan B will have a "go/no go" date (i.e., a trigger date at which time it will be determined whether or not the risk mitigation strategy should be invoked). So, you add those items to your project surveillance as well. Most project issues will arise from these areas during implementation. In other words, most potential issues should be known in advance.

If that is the case, then what is the response? Plan Bs have responses already spelled out, so that should be a straightforward process, assuming you have done a good job preannouncing the potential for this and make people aware that a Plan B is going to be kicked off. As for the others, those generic opportunities for delay, it simply makes sense to anticipate them, test for their presence, and follow up. Never assume that people will remember to do certain things or are necessarily motivated. It never hurts to make those preemptive phone calls or send those confirming e-mails taking the approach of "Dear Laura. If there is any reason why you will not be able to execute that change control (No. 123445) that we discussed last week, feel free to respond, or call my cell phone (123) 456-7892. Thanks."

Remind yourself that you must always follow up. It is far better to be embarrassed about being a nuisance double checking everything than to be ashamed because someone else did not perform as expected, but you failed to stay on top of that.

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