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Thank you for joining the notification mailing list for ‘Project Recovery’. I’ll let you know when the book is nearing completion.

What you can expect from this book

First, I’d like to clarify why I originally changed the title from Project Control to Project Recovery. The generally accepted definition of “project controls” is “the set of tools, processes and people skills that are used together to help project managers have the right information, at the right time, to make the right decision.” That’s fine, but pretty much includes most of what we would see as the discipline of project management because it includes everything to do with planning, scheduling, budgeting, execution and delivery, risk management, stakeholder management and project communications. I wanted to produce something much more specific

My approach to project management is really all about doing three key things:

  1. Ensuring that poorly conceived, poorly planned projects never get approval to proceed
  2. Making sure that projects that do get the go-ahead operate not only have robust plans, but are free to adapt and adjust to changing circumstances, because circumstances always change
  3. That where projects are at significant risk of not delivering, making sure that the right information is presented to the right people in the right way, so that they can make informed decisions about the future viability, direction and objectives of the project.

My goal with my previous books is that you avoid having to get out of difficult situations. My goal with this book is that you use it to get out of difficult situations, where your project is likely to fail badly or be cancelled before completion. My aim is also that you survive significant setbacks and go on to achieve success.

What will the book cover?

I’m planning to include seven chapters, each one looking at a key theme, as follows:

  • Managing Project Issues – What can we do to overcome our biggest problems? 
  • Project Governance – Is this project well-managed, is it still needed and is it likely to deliver the required benefits? 
  • Contingency Management – What assets do have in reserve to deal with unexpected setbacks and unknowns 
  • Change Management – What changes are we being asked to make and why? What impact will changes have on this project, other activities and on the benefits being sought? 
  • Managing Exceptions – Is this project still worth pursuing? If so, what do we do now and why?  
  • Project Closure – Have we completed the project? What have we achieved when compared to our original objectives? Are there any follow up actions required once the project team disbands, and if so who needs to take them? 
  • Lessons Learned Reviews – How did we do? What can we learn from this project so we do better next time?

What are your biggest challenges to do with recovering difficult projects?

Although I have a view on what this book will contain, it’s not too late for you to influence what goes into the book.

I’d love to know what are your biggest challenges in the area of managing difficult projects. I’ve created a short survey on SurveyMonkey that has just two questions. If you would like to take part please click here. 

My "Project Manager's Play Book" approach to managing projects

I started working in project management at the end of the 1980s, around the same time that I started playing American Football with a small team in the UK. Over the next three years I worked on projects during the week and played football at weekends. 

I still believe that I learned more about project management through the game of American Football than I did through training courses, books or anything else. I approach projects in the same way that I would think about playing a game of football, by thinking about three key phases:

  • In Phase 1 I try to set projects up for success, through an effective initiation phase that clarifies the problem or opportunity and establishes a clear goal, so that my teams are able to agree the work we need to do to achieve that goal. This is where as a team we decide the plays we’ll use for this particular game. I covered this approach in my book ‘Project Definition‘
  • Most of the time we get off to a good start, so Phase 2 is about maintaining that momentum. I like to anticipate and avoid setbacks that slow us down and stop us from achieving the small victories that eventually lead to success. I’m covering that in my book ‘Project Manager‘, which I will be releasing soon
  • Finally, if we’re not able to get off to a good start, if the project goes badly wrong at some mid-point or was at risk of failure from the start, that’s where Phase 3 comes in. I need to think about having a good defensive approach that minimises setbacks and gets us back into control of the project. That’s the subject of this book, the final one in the series.