Opinion: How to Fix a Failing IT Project - ' Lessons Learned '

So, here are the broader lessons learned.

First, in almost every case, we learned to "be lawyers" for a while. We recorded (and circulated our record of) everything we were doing, especially every interaction with the client. We acted as if we expected to be in court some day, even as we worked to avoid just such a situation. We never blamed anyone specific for anything specific, but we did build and document a case that made it clear what had happened, who had been involved (or should have been involved but wasn't) and what the consequences were.

Second, we insisted that the client put some skin in the remediation game by assigning a senior member of the client's team to the project and giving him or her the authority to resolve issues quickly. Most of the time, failure to do this was a large part of the reason the project was in trouble in the first place.

Third we built a "wall" around the project team so that they were insulated from client-generated random interruptions and "noise" (there is an incredible amount of this around a troubled project, and very little of it helps). We did not cut off all communications; that doesn't help either. But we filtered and moderated all contact so that it flowed though the remediation team first. As the situation got back on track, we eased up on this isolation, but by then the most important behavioral lessons had been learned by both sides.

Then we started in on the work environment and project process.

First we put everyone on a "rational" work schedule. On many of the projects we worked on, teams were working 70 or 80 hours, six or seven days a week. We cut everyone back to a core of 40 hours and a maximum of fifty with no more than five days a week for anyone. (Except for the remediation team: We worked significantly more hours, although I insisted that everyone have a least one complete day off a week.)

Second, we reduced scope and accelerated delivery. In essence, we transferred the client's attention away from what they hadn't yet received to what they had received, by delivering something, and then offering to help them get the deliverables deployed and into effective use. I was often surprised to see how much the team had done that the client didn't know about or had received but not deployed, because it was't ready to do so. That's where the senior executives assigned to the remediation effort came into their own, clearing obstacles in their own business that we couldn't reach or influence.

Third we "rationalized" the working environment, reorganizing the people and the work spaces so that there was less wasted time and effort just being involved in the project. We often added an "administrative assistant" to the team to free up team members from routine chores that were necessary but didn't add value. We updated everyone's tools and technology to the latest version. We added some convenience and team-building factors to the work environment.

Fourth, we looked at the team itself. Did we have the right people? The right leadership? Were some folks burned out and in need of a rest? Did the team dynamic work, or were there people who just didn't fit in and therefore couldn't contribute effectively? Were key technical or business skills lacking? Over a couple of weeks of observation and interviews we talked at least once to everyone on the team (and to a lot of client people) usually individually over breakfast or dinner. We built relationship and influence maps. By the end of a month we had a plan together and a list of priorities. We took this first to our own management and then to the client. In almost every case we got quick agreement from both.

Finally, we sold it to the team. This was often the hardest part of the sales effort, particularly because we told them that they would have to carry out the plan without us. Sure, we would be available to advise and we would be monitoring their progress. But we would not be taking over the work. This was their project, not ours, and it was theirs to succeed with as well. This is a big step for a team that has been beaten down by circumstances. But given the chance to be successful, most teams will respond to the challenge. And as I mentioned earlier, in almost every case the team rose to the occasion and got the job done.

Without embarking on a Death March along the way.