Situational Analysis for handling projects

Hi,

I imagine this is a question/prompt you received in interviews? Here is how I would approach this

1. Scope out the 3 projects
   1. Work remaining required
   2. Time needed to complete that work
2. Identify priorities/timing
   1. Confirm which projects are highest priority
   2. Confirm which projects can be delivered late if needed
3. Identify key milestones
   1. What milestones need to be hit and when (first draft, 2nd draft, workshop ,etc)
   2. Create project plan across all 3 projects based on milestones
4. Identify where workload is too much
   1. Based on the project plan, figure out where you have too much on your plate (and why)
5. Bring project plan to your superior to work through issues
   1. Wherever it is physically impossible for you to complete all the work, flag to your superior, leveraging the project plan
   2. Identify and propose solutions for every single bottleneck
      1. Either you need x extra resource to support you
      2. Or, x milestone for x project needs to be delayed

By the end of this you should have been able to identify what matters and what doesn't. What items can either be removed or pushed back. What resources/support you can get to ensure delivery when/where needed.

Hi there,

Can you please give some context for your question- i.e. is this a practice scenario or given to you in an interview?

Here's my steer on handling the situation:

1. Since supervisor is giving you additional responsibility, your hypothesis has to be that "they trust you to get the job done". So 3 months in and you are doing well- align on this understanding with them before you set off. It shouldnt be the case that they feel you are lacking in some area(s) and hence testing you with additional responsibilities. If the hypothesis turns out wrong, ask for specific feedback and development points.

2. With deadlines for the three projects approaching, assess that they wont be any slip ups. If yes, do a full and quick diagnostic of the situation and get coaching/feedback from your supervisor on appropriate course of action e.g. informing client, or getting more resources internally or adjusting payment milestones etc. But if as per #1 you are doing well, there shouldnt be any problems in this stage for your existing projects.

3. Once #1 and #2 are taken care of, try and understand the specifics of the colleague's half done project- deliverables due, timelines, client/customer sentiment, team on the ground etc. Ask your supervisor on how are you supposed to get some sort of handover on the colleague's project- directly with them or through someone else or through documentation on shared drive. Also ask what support can you expect to take on the extra work and get it done with no client/customer impact- be clear on what exactly (activities, deliverables etc) needs to be done. If there is no way to figure out the colleague's work and its a complete dead end, then you need to stand your ground and walk away. You can walk away as you are doing job (validated by #1 above) and this shouldnt impact your performance. If this isn't true and you must take the extra work, then you will have to create a plan of action with the supervisor and be very clear on how they can help you to be successful to finish your ongoing projects as expected and smash the extra work with equal impact - you show a die hard attitude but be clear on help you will need.

4. While you are doing #3, you must find mentors/friends/colleagues in the company to confide and get their coaching. You never know someone must have faced a similar situation.

Cheers!

Adi

Hi,

I can share my experience since I was a practice lead in Accenture Strategy leading a team of 45 consultants. 

First and foremost its a fact that the most sincere guy is loaded with work because we are assured the work will be done. Offcourse quality also matters. 

But in Accenture, it rarely happens that a consultant is staffed on 2 projects full time. At EM level , its possible that I am managing 2-3 projects but defnitely not full time. I might be full time on a project providing supervision or oversight on other 2 projects. Its hectic but doable. At principal level, they do manage multiple projects but with partial billability in all. 

Rarely it would happen that a person is leading 3 projects at same time. This is from personal experience from Accenture and Deloitte. Dont think it would differ a lot in other firms. End of the day a person has so much that he/she can do. 

Last but not the least, learn to say NO. If you cant , things might be complicated later. 

Thanks