Managing Risks Beyond The Obvious

This post discusses the case study Food Poisoning Ruined The Project.

I wish I could say it is not your fault that the employees fell ill; that your boss is behaving as if she never faced any problems; and that the customer is not accessible when there is panic. But it is. Really.

That is Project management for you. It is your responsibility to see a project through on time, if not before. Now here are a few tips that can help you to avoid such a situation.

1. The most critical resource in your project is your team. Whenever I see a person of my company eating at a joint and if I think the joint may not be that healthy, I make it a point to tell my engineer to avoid eating there. This may look like interfering outside the office premises, but to me anyone falling ill is within the scope of my project management.

2. Share all your risks with the customer, but more importantly, your team and your boss. Thay ensures that there are no surprises.

3. If you do not have a buffer (in days) on your hand your project management techniques are poor. Unplanned non-availability of resources is a standard risk. Your mitigation action may be anything, but your contingency action is generally a buffer.

4. Before the start of the project, you need to establish a protocol with the customer. How can I contact you in case of emergency? Can I call you on your cell phone, if I really need you? Here is my mobile number; feel free to call me at your convenience. If you are not available, who can I get in touch with?

Even with all risk management and project management, you will face such occasional disasters. As long as you keep your customer, team and boss in the loop from the beginning, you will find them more sympathetic and responsive.

Food Poisoning Ruined The Project

You are a Project Manager. You have a tight schedule. Seven people are working on this project. There are two days left for the last delivery. This morning when you came in there is a disaster waiting for you. Three of your project team members have reported sick. Turns out that they had gone to a nearby restaurant and this seems to be a case of food poisoning. With your project in crisis, you turn to your boss. In stead of being sympathetic she tells you that as a project manager you should have catered for such risks. She asks you to handle the situation. "We all work under constraints," she say. You know that the remaining team members cannot take the additional load. You contact your customer and he is not available. He has been reminding you over the complete duration of the project that a slippage is unacceptable.

What do you do?

What do you do?

PS: My views here:
Should feed poisoning be allowed to ruin the project

Managing Risks Beyond the Obvious