178 Project Management
with your customer any potential modifications to performance
standards. And make sure that team members understand that
this is never their decision to make alone.
How Should You React to the Information?
OK, you’ve gathered information and done some analysis. Now
it’s time to react.
If everything is going well, little reaction is necessary. Most
of the time, any action you
might be inclined to take
would be in response to an
undesirable situation. This
is commonly known as
taking corrective action.
When steering a ship,
knowing what to do to get
back on course isn’t very
complicated. Not so with project work. You’ve got people,
processes, and technology to worry about. You’re dealing with
dimensions that are interdependent (cost, schedule, functionali-
ty, and quality). And there may be many strategies for getting
your project headed in the right direction.
There is no “right” way to take corrective action. Choosing
the best course of action is purely situational: you must careful-
ly consider many factors, including the following.
Know when to take action. This is one of the most difficult
aspects of corrective action. There’s an old adage: “A project
slips one day at a time.” Does that mean you should take action
as soon as your project falls one day behind? Probably not. But
it does suggest that you should not ignore that situation. Early
detection is critical to keeping your project from straying too far
off course. This is one of the reasons that regular team meet-
ings are so valuable.
Keep a sharp and watchful eye on a situation—and make
sure that task performers knowyou’re keeping an eye on it.
Corrective action Mea-
sures taken to get a project
back on track. It typically
pertains to action taken to remedy an
unfavorable set of circumstances
(schedule delay, cost overrun, perform-
ance issue).