Whereas in a previous blog I focused on three essential phases every project passes through https://peteralderliesten.com/2015/04/21/fear-hope-and-satisfaction/, one can extend these phases to encompass virtually every single undertaking man endeavors: whether a 10k run, a 10k walk with children or a 10mil-project.

begin-25%

From the onset until about 5% of the project, “Starting Up”, there is fear, respect, and in some cases despair in how to achieve the goal. From 5% until about 25% of the trajectory, “Hopeful Plans”, there is plenty of hope since a particular route has been chosen, and all participants are looking forward to reaching the goal. For projects, this is generally the phase of writing the project plan, for vacation travels like the 10-15 hour drive from Amsterdam to The Riviera the phase where children are happily discovering the holiday colour book, the new DVD-player in the back of the car, or the new sweets that mom has purchased to buy off whining children.

25%-45%

After about a quarter of the trip, “The Dip,” despair sets in, since the mistakes in the preparation are becoming apparent: the sweets have been fully consumed, the DVD is not as interesting – or as long-lasting as hoped for, the project team really should have had an extra member with expertise in the local culture, and the blisters really make the completion of the run impossible. This moment is the ‘tough spot’ where people give up when they realize the daunting task laying ahead of them. (It would be interesting to check on which part of the marathon the most contenders give up, but that is something to be done in the future.)

45-65%

From 45-65%, or “Steady Progress,” the project team has found it’s way of working together, the athlete has found her rhytm and the rowing team is in tune with the ‘slagman’ and focusing on their strokes speeding forward. The little boys in the back seat have had their fighting the previous fifth of the trip and have now settled in a semi-peaceful coexistence awaiting to be kindled alive only by the next incident.

65-85%

From 65-85% (“Looking Back”) the realization sets in how far the Group has moved already: in the 25-45% part the focus has been on the road that still had to be travelled, in this part the focus is turned to what has already been achieved. One of the dangers here is that satisfaction sets in too early, so that the final part of the endeavour is hastily finished, leaving many essentials uncovered.

85%-completion

After 85%, the “Finishing Up,” the success is secured – or not – while resources are fleeting the athlete’s body she still has to go a significant distance; who does not know the searching for a hotel bedroom in the destination, the free tent or camper spot on a camping which seems elusive, or the hotel’s address which is not covered correctly in the TomTom, the apartment minder who is not at home while the dog in the back really needs to have it’s daily walk. Since the project has achieved it’s main objectives, parties left and right are already pulling on the project resources, and most sponsors really do not want you to spend that valuable time on a Lessons Learned: the next challenge is already awaiting!

Keeping the overview

The leader – be it a parent or a project leader – aware of the phenomenon above can use it to motivate the participants to move forward: any communication or bringing attention to ‘the process’ during “The Dip” is fundamentally going to have a disadvantage that the audience will have a negative basic outlook. Thus, any overenthusiastic communication fall flat. This is the time that communication needs to be realistic to keep ‘rapport’ with the audience. Sometimes it might be best to not communicate anything at all, like parents ignoring the whining in the back of the car.

One particular challenge in “Steady Progress” is a Steering Committee loosing interest since there are no apparent criseses requiring their immediate attention. That might be fine fort hat particular phase, but the danger is that there is no contact at all, so that after half a year project management is forced to draw the conclusion that the project is rudderless and the attention required for the decisions to be made in that phase can not be regained.

The link between Begin and End

The “Finishing Up”-phase has it’s own challenges, which need to be tackled already when “Starting Up”. Then the value of the Lesson Learned needs to be sold to the Sponsor to seed the acceptance of “Finishing Up”. In addition, resources need to be obtained and secured: that menas more than an informal “Yes, I will do it” but also from the higher up a (written) commitment that the resource will be available during the whole trajectory.

Then to make sure that the estimates of time required are also halfway decent is a challenge which deserves a book by itself.