How to Budget/Schedule Projects with Unclear Priorities

Interview with Joe W., Principal Curriculum Developer, Learning & Performance Solutions - Citrix Systems, Inc.

Do projects typically lack set deadlines or budgets? And when there are no clear deadlines or budgets, what is the first thing you need to do before working on the project?

The absence of deadlines or budgets is not typical, but it is also not uncommon that we do not have a deadline or budget from the beginning, especially if the scope is limited. The first thing I want to do is talk to the client to get an objective for the project and determine what the goal of the project is. You have to have a general idea of what the project is, then work ahead from there.

How do you handle projects that do not have clear deadlines? How should a project manager pursue clarification without being overly aggressive?

Well, when presented with a situation where there are no clear deadlines, and it does happen quite a bit, the first thing I do is try to set my own expectations or deadlines so I can prioritize my own schedule. You do have to make an educated guess. From there I can get the client to review the estimate, then communicate it to other people within the organization. This way, they can get additional people or companies to contribute to the project, schedule resources and set up delivery mechanisms so the client can see there is value to each activity. It cannot be completed all at once and it helps the client to clarify what can potentially be done.

I really think that trying to sharing project assumptions with the client helps them clarify what the deadlines are or should be. By giving the client the component pieces, you are starting to let them see how to clarify their own expectations of timing and getting them to commit to a general understanding of the time it will take to develop a project. And this makes for a more realistic estimate.

What should be clarified first, the budget or deadlines? How important is it to set measurable objectives?

If there is some ambiguity, I think a deadline is more important to clarify first. The reality of reaching an aggressive deadline really is most impacted by the budget. If you have no budget and an open timeline, with a lot of time to accomplish the objective, you can work something out. A good example is the three-legged stool of fast, good or cheap, and you can only pick two. If someone has time, you can do something good with limited or no budget as long as you do not need it right away, which is why I am inclined to first find out the deadline and how it will be impacted by a lack of resources.

Measurable objectives become more important with the complexity of the project. Simple projects may not require a lot of analysis, so projects that are smaller in scope and have a shorter timeline may depend on the client. If you have more complexity without clear deadlines, you need to know what to accomplish along the way using measurable objectives.

Is it important to have the entire group assigned to a project agree on a schedule when there is no deadline? How would you create a reasonable schedule without a deadline?

It is really important to have team members agree to responsibilities in a project when you do not have deadlines. You capture a critical path, because you can expect slippage along the way, but have to watch the contributors as it can it be devastating to the whole project. You need the contributors’ agreement to their responsibilities along the way in absence of a firm timeline

I see this as a soft deadline because you have to have an idea on some end-point when you want to have the project completed. You have to state your needs to contributors - what it is you are expecting - and you need to negotiate to get them to prioritize. If the needs you have are the ones they can move around a bit, you want to make sure they understand what you need so they can work on it with some priority and get it done versus never working on the project. This creates a framework and you should stay in touch to see where they are.

Without set deadlines, how do you schedule meetings, check-ins, etc? Without timelines, projects can lack focus, how do you maintain focus for projects?

I think it relates to getting the contributors to agree to some reasonable schedule. You have to negotiate and keep the end objective in mind. Make sure the contributors and you understand what the end goal is. If they understand what you need, they can do a better job of moving tiles around on their own schedule to get you in there. It helps the contributors to put the work you want them to do in the proper places. When you want meetings or check-ins, it is a matter of being able to negotiate and fit it into whatever else they are doing.

One key thing for project managers is to communicate with the client. It is almost best if you write out a list of reasons why it is important to communicate with the client. I think the discipline of communication is key. The client is what keeps you on your toes, too, and the benefit is that you start to keep your own status in mind. The client is already on board with the soft deadlines. To keep focus, you want to concentrate on the outcome and sell the outcome to keep the team motivated. This will help you avoid a time crunch down the road. With a softer schedule, you really want the team to remember the benefits of this program.

How is a project handled without a specified budget? Are there projects that lack a budget throughout the entire duration of its lifecycle?

We have unspecified budgets and they become projects for our own resources. Using the budget we have for normal resources, we get a lot of those that are smaller, which we end up budgeting time for instead.

Yes, there are projects that lack a budget through the entire course. They have a discretionary budget with money available for expenses we might incur for software, consulting, etc., but it is very small. In the ideal world, there is no project without a budget. A project is doing something and it costs time and energy ,as well as bargaining time, from others. So all of our projects come with some sort of budget.

We can have a project in a corporate work environment with no budget, but your time and discretionary spending does not require high-level approval.

How do you go about accurately estimating the cost of a project? What happens when a project comes in over budget?

In a lot of ways, things I manage are fairly small scale and you have to be a detective of sots to estimate costs for a project. Your own experience can help you. Where there is no experience, you have to do research, ask lots of questions, and talk to colleagues, stakeholders or references. There are publications that give some general rules on cost, and they can get you started, but then you need to have a reality check on real costs that you might be considering.

My initial reaction to a project coming in over budget, if you start seeing development taking longer or a service provider charging more, would be to do what you do at home with your own budget. You look for savings, make changes in expectations or scope, or look for more money. Usually you are aware of it coming in over budget along the way and there are no surprises if it does come in over budget.

If you understand why a project is over budget, and communicate this to a stakeholder or client, they will understand why it is coming in over budget long before the project is done. To be realistic, a project can be allowed to go over budget if the benefit is seen clearly enough and it is on track in those regards.

How do you stay motivated when there is pressure from a project? What are some tips to remain positive during stressful times? How so?

To stay motivated, focus on the outcome, benefits and getting the project service to the customer. The frustration will come up, but you keep going through it because you think it is worthwhile and when it is done the outcome will be good.

One of the main things is to stay positive; it is not about me as project manager if there is a real problem with someone. Project managers have to communicate assertively with the entire team, the client and our own management. If there is a problem with a teammate, you have to communicate your support for them and give effective feedback. It really comes down to being able to communicative, not being negative, and providing feedback that allows the person to learn.

Stress is contagious and if we could get a vaccine for it I would take it right away; an anti-stress vaccine. It can especially be detrimental for project managers to be the source of stress and I think the best vaccine would be clear communication. That reduces stress for everyone. The team members should be able to value their contribution and realize the project manager is their ally, not an antagonist.

From your past experiences, tell me about a time when you worked on a project with an unclear deadline or budget. How did you work through it and was the project a success?

Last year we had a Clarity consultant onboard to support our performance management process. We started out with an idea, time-wise. We initiated in our own department and aligned stakeholders. Due to our business climate, though, our stakeholders shifted their priorities away from our project. We wound up scrapping the timeline we started with.

We kept chipping away at the project, but the deadlines continued to slip. My manager was very supportive, communicated clearly, and adjusted the scope of the project after the first deadline was missed. Then it really became a question of how soon we thought we could finish, and we reduced the scope to bring the deadline closer. We still came up with a project that was finished on time and well received, and now we are talking about moving into phase two to pick up things we dropped during the first phase of the project.

Another good thing is that we focus on results, on what we are doing here. We really have an environment where we do not go by artificial deadlines. We rationalize deadlines based on what the issues are and I am given the freedom to get done what we can in a supportive environment. My own management has the anti-stress vaccine going, too.

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