Preview: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
It's difficult to comment on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow as a product of the long-running (and now rebooted) gothic action franchise. Abandoning large-scale exploration in favor of linear action -- which was itself abandoned when Castlevania: Symphony of the Night debuted in 1997 -- Lords of Shadow invites comparison to God of War more than any other modern game. That's an admittedly tiresome ...

A project manager is given a project that is already underway. It is large with a high profile in the company. Success on the project could translate into significant career advancement for the project manager. Of course, the opposite is true as well. If the project manager can't do a good job, then many negative consequences are possible.

The first step is to analyze the project. Why did you get it? What happened to the previous project manager? How large is the project, the current status, time lines and size of the team? These are basic project parameters that must be investigated. If the previous project manager was fired, you need to know why, especially if it concerned negligence on your new project. What else has changed in the scope, budget or schedule of the project? You must quickly analyze the strengths and weaknesses of this project. Document them and do further research when time permits.

You must also consider if you have adequate time to perform the project management duties for this project. If you are still expected to work on your prior duties, then you may have a major problem. The new project could easily take a lot of your time, especially in the beginning. When you honestly look at your existing workload and add the new project to it, what will your new workload be? You can't be expected to add a new 20 hour or more per week project to your existing 40 hour work week. If this looks like the case, then you have to get help from management.

Take your workload projections to management and show them your quantified analysis. It is their job to assign priorities to your work. You can do a lot but not everything. They can give you authority to suspend some of your activities, assign additional staff to assist you or re-assign some work to others. If you present a thorough workload analysis to management, they will help you for the good of your projects. If not, then seriously consider that you may fail in some or all aspects of your current position.

Assuming that you have a reasonable workload as you take on the new project, now what? With the support of your management, you can now boost the importance of your project. Even if it is deemed to be critical, there are things you should do. Meet with the project sponsor right away. Introduce yourself, (if necessary), and explain what you have already learned about his project. Show that you understand the importance to the sponsor. Try to gauge the sponsor's interest and boost it as much as you can. Your sponsor is the project's biggest asset. If possible, try to get the sponsor's boss to understand and support the project. Whatever you can do to increase the project profile in the organization will help you to gain or keep resources you need, which ultimately helps to ensure that your project will succeed.

With the workload and sponsor support issues covered, then you will be in a strong position to actually deliver the project. Keep communications open to your management and the project sponsor. Keep the team motivated and productive. Do what you can to make the project successful. Keep good executive and sponsorship support for a project by doing your job well and keeping everyone informed. This is absolutely vital. Of course, you can later leverage your success by showing the executives how you helped them during the completion of this critical project. Taking over a project is a risky proposition but a good project manager can become great by following simple steps and getting the job done right.

Vaughn Smith, PCMP, PMP
http://www.PracticalPMJournal.com