Project From Hell Update

There has been a major concession with the project-from-hell. The biggest concession is that the business sponsors decided to install what we have and determine what's going to happen with the stuff that isn't working.  I am not even sure what to say about it.

It looks like my tenure is almost over.  I have soooo many lessons that I have learned.  I hope that this makes me a better project manager.  When I joined the project it was trending towards $1M over budget.  There wasn't an established end-date.  The development work was in shambles - no clear list of deliverables required.  Also, there were resources all over the globe, but there were no plans for keeping them busy.

I cut the $1M overage down to $100K overage and maintained that budget for TWO YEARS.  I worked very hard to establish general project management tools and processes.  I made sure that my work was organized and in an easy-to-communicate format.

I will say this.  It is very difficult to manage a project that is in jeopardy.  It is emotionally draining and can be demoralizing.   One thing that I had to learn is that sometimes I have to go with the flow and accept that I cannot stop a train that is completely off the rails.  All I can do is to do what is necessary to make sure that the fall is not soooo hard.  LOL

Also, it is also difficult to manage end-user expectations. Especially end-users that do everything correctly, one hundred percent of the time.  Especially end users that are skilled in passive aggressive behavior.  I realize that no matter what the technical team does, they won't be happy.  Therefore it is important to always think about what is best for the project.  That means focusing on bring everything on-time, on-budget, and within scope.