Being Prepared for the UnexpectedBy Kenneth Darter, PMP

One of the joys of working on projects is thatyou will never grow bored. All projects aredifferent, and each has its own issues andunexpected occurrences. Even if the exactsame system is implemented a second time,the project will be different: the customer willhave different ideas, the technology will havechanged or the project team members will havedifferent ideas about the system. Whatever theproject is, the project manager should alwaysbe prepared for the unexpected on a project.

No plan is fool proof, and there are always occurrences that were not thoughtof before the project was started. These unexpected problems can quickly turna project from "green" to "red", slowing it down and in the worst case stoppingit from moving forward. While project managers cannot create policies andprocedures for every eventuality that might occur during the project, they canplan for most of the possible contingencies and create processes and ideas forhow to deal with those unexpected issues. The following are some ideas andguidelines for project managers to keep in mind when preparing for theunexpected.

Build Contingency Into the Schedule

The first step to dealing with the unknown occurs before the project evenstarts. When the schedule is being created, there should be enough slack in itto account for contingencies that happen during the project. A project managercan add a buffer at the end of the schedule or during each major phase, or theproject manager can over-estimate task durations. This sort of contingencyplanning in the schedule will help everyone deal with unexpected problems orissues during the project execution phase. The project manager might evenneed to put a contingency buffer in the scope and the budget in addition to theschedule.

Keep Resources at the Ready

With contingency built into the schedule, the next step is to determine whatpeople are available to help with unexpected issues. Of course, these peopleare not sitting around just waiting for something to happen. Some of thesepeople will be assigned to your project and some will be assigned to other

1

projects. However, it is still important for project managers to understandahead of time where they can pull people from to handle problems with theproject. Identifying these people and how they can be utilised on the projectwill help the project manager deal with problems down the road.

Use a Good Playbook

Like any good coach, a project manager needs to have a good playbook. Whathappens when a key leader on the project leaves the company, what happenswhen the customer rethinks the proposed solution, or what happens whentesting runs over the allotted time or too many defects are found? All of thesegeneral problems can and do occur on projects, and the project manager needsto know how he is going to handle it. Will he look to the customer to delay, willhe assign more resources to the project or will he rely on executivemanagement to work through the problems? Creating a great playbook willhelp a project manager be better prepared when problems happen.

Look at History

The project manager should also be spending a great deal of time looking atwhat happened in the past on other projects. Seeing the problems and issuesthat happened then will help the project manager be ready for the unexpectedproblems that can occur on the present project. Understanding what workedand what did not on the other projects will help make the case for thescheduled contingency and will help the project manager build up his ownplaybook and handle the unexpected.

In conclusion, project managers cannot create policies and procedures forevery eventuality that might occur during a project; however, they can plan forunexpected problems. It is important to include some contingency in yourschedule, identify people who can help in the case of problems, create a greatplaybook and review and act on the lessons from past projects. Being preparefor the unexpected will ensure you know how to react should any problemsarise.

If you found this article useful, please share it!

© 2014 Project Smart. All rights reserved.

2