Closing on Poorly Contracted Projects

I was once asked to help with a large transformation program at a fortune 500 product development company. They had outsourced several IT security transformation projects to a vendor. The contract was very poorly written, more assumptions than deliverable were listed, the deliverables listed were not measurable and there was too much loose information. The projects which were supposed to take six months each ended up taking three years.

 

I was faced with one of two options, spending dozens of hours sifting through project change requests, meeting minutes and status updates for three years' worth of work, or come up with an agile, fair, and meaningful approach to close on the project. Luckily, I was provided a punch list that a former project manager in the past had felt was all the work items missing. The punch list helped me make the decision to choose the latter option and follow an agile approach to close out on the project. I followed some simple steps;

 

1. Setup weekly punch list calls
2. Defined my role and the objective of the effort
3. Went through the list each week
4. Compared to the original contract
5. Identified any gaps

 

These five steps might seem straight forward, which they are, except when you have two teams, one representing the client always asking for additional items which are mainly operational enhancements and not project deliverables; and another team which is the operational team on the vendor side fulfilling these requests, not realizing that they are also playing a role as the project vendor team. This is the crux of the complexity. It is not that the projects were not closed out, and not in production, they were indeed open projects, but the work delivered is well in production use for years, with new teams on board from both sides and now people are not considering the original baseline or expectations, they are comparing with the day before. It was a continuous bleeding scar for both companies.

 

So the trick in closing these projects in addition to the agile process above was assertiveness, clarity, separation of duties and the ability to act as a mediator and setting a clear measurable deliverable for each open item, with the confidence to act as a business analyst or contract manager specifying the measurable deliverable as needed on the go.

When its Time to Close a Project, Close it

It's in the best interest of the project, its sponsor, the team and the business to close a project when work is delivered and value is realized. I have come across several instances where the client feels the urge to keep the project open for one reason or another. Here are common cases where project teams keep the project open.

 

• Waiting for a new feature in a future COTS product release
• Few minor defects not fuly resolved
• Extra funds are available
• It will be hard to get approvals for a new project
• No guarantees that team members will be available in the future

 

None of these reasons are legitimate reasons to keep a project open. Open projects are like potholes, they only accumulate trouble until they get out of control and then need a complete removal and replacement with a new project. If the business value has been delivered, close it, move on and start a new one if needed when the time comes.

 

Change Agent Strategies: A Need for Survivability

The only constant in this world are the rules of the Creator. The world we live in has been created in accordance to precise measures and in adherence to strict laws. Laws of physics, chemistry and biology are a few examples. Another clear example is the earth's rotation around itself and the sun, a phenomena we experience every moment and take for granted. So does this mean we live in a constant world with no changes. Absolutely not, change is the norm of our lives. People's interests change, impacting business dynamics, which impacts economies and society which in turn impacts people's behaviors and the cycle goes on.

Organizations which wish to survive must adapt to change, in other words must change themselves. Healthy change however has to be founded by a certain set of values which a person, organization and society treasures and takes as sacred.

Hence, there are two main points we need to consider when we talk about change. The first is a stable unchanging framework that defines the boundaries that we operate and live within. We can not exceed these boundaries, either due to inherent limitations in our capabilities or due to a conflict with laws of the Creator, manifested in how the creation behaves. The second point is that for change to be of utility it must be controlled and understood. So lets look at an example to understand these two points better.

Considering the sun, moon and earth. These are Creations of the All-Mighty God. Their behavior does not change, and adhere to a precise set of laws, and we are unable to change their behavior. The sun rises from the east every morning and sets in the west every evening. This is our framework of light, heat and energy. Now we might decide that during summer season we do not want too much sun light, so we place barriers between us and the sun in the form of hat, canopy, umbrella or some other structure that we develop. We can change the configuration of this barrier as the sun rotates and moves around, and during winter months we can remove it all-together.

"a stable unchanging framework that defines the boundaries that we operate and live within is needed for a viable environment"

What we are able to do is only change the impact of the behavior of the framework, but not the framework itself. When mankind starts to attempt to change the framework itself, unpredictable results occur which could be devastating, if we are even able to do so.  Change within the framework is healthy and recommended, as it leads to innovation and growth. Going back to the example of the sun's heat and protecting one self from it, we realize that the simple shield of a ceiling made of straws thousands of years ago has turned into advanced engineering structures with air cooling and filtering systems and sensor controlled sky lights.

" controlled change leads to innovation, growth and opportunities"

Of course man made frameworks are not perfect, and could have limitations that require changes and improvements. This is also healthy as long as we can control the changes and understand the impact of the change on what is inside that framework and on other frameworks that communicate with our framework.

So how can one implement change agents that are healthy and valuable? Lets say an organization wishes to change its bylaws. The bylaws to the organization is the same as the sun to people living on earth. It is the framework by which this organization runs its affairs and the binding contract among its members. Lets look at some practical steps for introducing the change into the bylaws.

1. The need for the change must be clearly understood. This includes documenting the need for the change. Assessing its feasibility, its pros and cons, its urgency, its importance and its impact. This is must be followed by an assessment to study the readiness of the organization for change. Once the need is understood, the need must be communicated to all impacted parties and awareness must be established.

2. Organize a team or project with required authority to guide the process and formulate methods, policies and plans to control and guide the change process; and visualize it.

3. Remove obstacles that prevent others from acting on the vision, and create a sense of urgency to ensure buy-in and support. It is crucial to ensure that all parties involved are empowered. An empowered organization is one whose main focus is on its constituents that it serves and the role of its leadership is one of a facilitator and coach, rather than a controller and monitor. Relationships across the organization are peer-based rather than top-down and every individual in the organization has the ability to make decisions and take responsibility within a clear framework without lack of power and authority.

4. Coach, train and educate top management on the technical aspects involved in the change.

5. Collect all ideas and points of view to each proposed change. Measure, control and report progress of the implementation of the change.

6. Be ready to utilize emotional intelligence, and to handle behavioral issues effectively. Control the complexities of change which are a result of the intangible areas involved in change such as beliefs, behaviors and perceptions of people through constraint management, scenario forecasting, motivation, negotiation and collaboration.

7. Guide the assessment of the results of change, and ensure the implementation of clear acceptance criteria and metrics to accept the change as measured or to make further improvements to it. Capture lessons learned and evaluate comprehensively the impact of the change; economically, socially, and otherwise.


When change agents hit road blocks the points above could help move the process forward safely and effectively. Each of these points is an exercise in itself and needs to be executed carefully and comprehensively. However once the need for change can be justified and plans developed, execution needs to be quick.

More on changing the state of an ailing project that reached bifurcation next week.

** The above image has been developed using Wordle at http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1748011/Change_Agents_Strategies

Instilling Change: A Key Component of Leadership

Leading change is by no means a trivial job. Only the experienced leaders with astute vision can lead their teams to change. The Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) is a role model for not only change, but transformation.

Our Creator informs us that no group of people will change unless they take initiative to embrace change themselves. Indeed the only things that is constant is change itself, or as Muslims know it as the sunnah of Allah (ways of Allah).

Scholars of management [1] define a few steps which are key for successfully leading change. I summarize these points [2] and provide references from the Quran and teachings of the Prophet (PBUH).

1. Intention:
Quran: Indeed Allah does not change the condition of a group unless they change themselves.
Hadith: Indeed deeds are based on their intentions

2. Urgency:
Quran: So flee to Allah quickly indeed I am to you from him a clear warning
Quran: And hasten to a forgiveness from your Lord and a paradise the width of the skies and earth

3. Clear Vision:
Quran: And Indeed Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship him, this is the straight path (Mary 36)

4. Stick to a Good Team:
Quran: And seek patience in your soul with the ones who remember their Lord in the early morning, and the evening late at night, seeking his pleasure and acceptance (Cave 28)
Quran: Wow to me, I wish I have not taken him/her a close companion (friend) (Al-Furqan 28)

5. Self Critique Self:
Quran: Oh you who believe fear Allah, and shall a soul see what it has prepared for its tomorrow (hereafter), and fear Allah, indeed Allah is with what you have performed all knowing
Hadith: Seek forgiveness, for indeed I seek forgiveness 70 times in a day

6. Take Action and Perfect it:
Hadith: Indeed Allah loves if one of you do an action, that you perfect it

7. Be Consistent:
Hadith: The best of deeds are the continuous, even if they are little

8. Take Small Steps:
Hadith: This way of life (Islam) is deep so get in it slowly and gently

9. Don't Give Up:
Quran: Tell my servants who have transgressed upon themselves to not despair from the mercy of Allah, indeed Allah forgives all the sins.

10. Offer Value and Increase Benefit:
Good deeds wipe out bad deeds

11. Ensure You are Working on a Sound Foundation:
Fix your beliefs and values
Quran: And Satin said when the matter was over (life on earth, and the day of judgment), indeed Allah promised you the promise of truth, and I promised you and broke my promise, and I had no power over you, except that I invited you and you accepted, so do not blame me, and blam yourselves. (Ibrahim 22)

12. Set and Realize Realistic Goals
Quran: Indeed Allah does not burden a soul with more than what it can handle

13. Stay Away from Distractions
Quran: Do not even come near fornication
Quran: So flee to Allah

14. Remember Your Mission in Life:
Quran: I have only created jinn and mankind to worship me
Quran: Is it not that with the rememberance of Allah that hearts have tranquility and content

15. Remember Life-cycles End:
Hadith: Remember the destroyer of all pleasures (death)

16. Never Execute Trivial Work:
Hadith: A human's accountability on the day of judgement will not be over until he is asked about four things, from among them is his time and how he utilized it

17. Forecast Risks:
Quran: Indeed the plotting of Satin is weak
Be vigilant and forecast problems and risks




[1] Dan Cohen and John Kotter, "The Heart of Change Field Guide", Harvard Business Press, 2005.
[2] Ayman Nassar, "Implementing Change", Friday Khutbah, Hanover, PA, July 10th, 2009