When You Are Taking Over A Project
Taking over an in-flight project can be fraught with challenges and you don't know what you're getting yourself into. Below is a process of how you can take over a project and hit the ground running..
It's always exciting when you start a project. Sometimes, you will be taking over from another project manager. This can be exciting but loaded with landmines, some you can see and others you can't. A new project is like a blank canvas; a project that's been handed over is a canvas that is already used. You need to deal with what is there.
This article will give you steps to follow when receiving a handover from another project manager and when handing over the project to another PM.
The challenge with taking over a project is that decisions and actions made in the past over which you had no control. You may have made a different choice that would've taken it into a different direction. There are also risks and issues that you may not be aware of or that are visible that you would need to own and resolve.
Review Project Documentation and Governance
The first thing is to keep an open mind. Set up regular sessions with the outgoing project manager for a walkthrough. The purpose of the sessions is not only to review the documentation and understand the status of the project. It's also to get a feel of the project. What I mean is getting a sense of how the project is trending (going well, improving or declining in performance and progress). How the team and stakeholders are feeling? What concerns or challenges are coming up?
When you're having sessions with the outgoing project manager, make sure you're asking questions to improve your understanding of the project. Ask open-ended questions. Don't make assumptions; make sure the project manager validates them.
In a project I took over, the PM said it was just a new online form. I took it at face value and did not ask follow-up questions and validate it. It ended up being a huge change management piece for a segment of bankers that changed how they work.
Ask about how the project stakeholders are doing, what their concerns are and what is important to them. Ask which are the challenging ones and what are the dynamics between the stakeholders? You're trying to uncover the political dynamics of the project. Have this information at the back of your mind when you engage the stakeholders and don't let it colour the way you see them.
You will need to review the documents. Some things to look for are:
Are all the relevant documents there?
What is missing?
What is the quality of the documents (still being worked on, finalised, are there gaps, or it's just corporate fluff with no value)?
Is there a schedule? Is it realistic and up to date?
Is there confirmation of scope (either a scope document, WBS)?
Is the RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues and Dependencies) up to date and up to standard (impact, mitigation activities, owner, due date and risk rating are present)?
Are documents aligned with the governance process (for its current state, has all documentation and governance process been met)? If not, why not? What needs to be done?
Understand where the project is at with its governance. The purpose of this activity is to understand and assess how well the project is governed. Remember that just because there are a lot of governance requirements and artefacts, it doesn’t mean that the project is well managed.
Some things to consider when reviewing the governance framework are:
Has it completed all the relevant governance artefacts for where it’s at in the project stage? If not, why not?
Does the project status and state reflect accurately on the project governance? For example, from all the information you have gathered, the project is in amber and is that reflected in the status report or Steering Committee pack?
Has the project been reviewed by the PMO recently? What was the outcome?
Has the project had a regular Steering Committee?
Meet the Stakeholders
Reach out to the project stakeholders to introduce yourself and to organise sessions to meet with them individually. Stakeholders to cover are the sponsor, business subject matter experts, team members and any external vendors.
The goal here is to build a relationship with the stakeholders and establish your credibility. Understand what are their concerns and expectations. Listen, don’t prejudge and leave your views and opinions out of the conversation. You’re still collecting information and building your view of the project.
When meeting the project team members that you’ll be working with, invite them to ask questions and make sure you ask questions about the project in general and about their specific role and deliverables in the project. Make sure you organise ongoing one-on-one meetings with the team members to build a relationship and keep a safe environment where they can express their opinions and views. Ask them whether any improvements can be made.
Assess the Health of the Project
After collecting and reviewing all the information, you are in a position to assess the health of the project. Work out if the project is on schedule, on track with its budget, and still aligned with the goals.
Identify and mitigate new risks, issues, or bottlenecks that need to be resolved.
If the project is not on track with any of the key metrics of schedule, budget, quality and outcomes, you’ll need to come up with a revised plan to bring the project back on track. Make sure you include your team and your stakeholders in the development of the revised plans. This will ensure their buy-in and transparency of the challenges that the project faces.
Moving Forward
The key here is to communicate to the team and the other stakeholders on the way forward for the project. Make sure you put in place processes for monitoring and controlling the project. Set expectations with your project team on your leadership style, immediate priorities and what the new plan is.
If there are big changes to the project, it’s a good idea to have a new kick-off session to reinvigorate the project and draw a line in the sand separating the old from the new.
3 Common Challenges
The three most common challenges with taking over a project already in-flight are:
Lack of documentation: Poor documentation can make it difficult to understand how the project is progressing and what decisions were made in the past. The solution for this is to try to document what decisions were made and when, and by who and provide clear information on key deliverables like scope and schedule and budget.
Open issues, risks and dependencies: The project may have a raft of open issues and unresolved actions. The solution is to get across them as much as possible and start prioritising them and communicate to your stakeholders, and get them on the same page.
Resistance from team members and stakeholders: There may be many reasons for this. This is a major issue as they may impede and become detractors of the project. The solution is to build a relationship with them, your integrity and understand their concerns and issues.
Opportunity to Shine
Taking over an in-flight project can be fraught with risks for you as a junior project manager. But it’s also an opportunity for you to shine, show what you can do, and develop your craft.
A key ingredient that you need is courage. Courage to take on the project, the courage to make changes and call it how it is. If you’re finding this daunting, start small. Make small, courageous actions, and soon you will build momentum.
Follow these steps to make sure that when you take over an in-flight project, you are setting yourself up for success.
Practice - take a courageous action
What is one thing you are procrastinating on or not doing that you know you should?
Write it down
Write down what the next right action of integrity
Do it now, or if you can’,t schedule to get it done within 24 hours.
Share any insights that you have from this practice.
Quote
“Start small...on something big.” Ryan Holiday in Courage is Calling
Resources
This is a great little book. It has lessons on being successful in business and work. Dean Karrel is a career coach and trainer. I came across him on a podcast many years ago.
His book has insights and practices in different aspects of work and career. I don’t read it front and back but browse through the table of contents and pick out topics that I am struggling with on that day or week.
My Resources
Below are some of my free resources if you’re new to project management.
Templates
Paid Resources
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This is good advice and something I am going to implement now. Going through something similar with my team.