Those pesky project sponsors, customers, and stakeholders are always asking where a project stands. Earned value analysis is the darling of project management circles because it goes a long way toward providing answers. And if you analyze earned value before you’re asked, you may be able to correct course and sidestep delivering bad news.

Client: We want to build a Web site so our customers can get all the information they want without calling our customer support line. How much would that cost and when can you have it done?

Monty P. Manager: I’ll need some background on the information for the site. For example, do you have a list of the questions your customers ask? Which ones do they ask the most? How many times per month? Do you have customer satisfaction surveys or feedback? How much information do you have to publish on the site?

Client: We don’t know any of that. I thought you’d figure all of that out. We just know that we don’t want to hire more customer support people. So, how much would that cost and when can you have it done? The executives are breathing down my neck.

Monty P. Manager: OK. Got it. You want cost and schedule. Just pick door number one, two, or three.

Client: Huh?

Monty P. Manager: It’s easy. Behind each door, there are project costs and dates. Pick a door and that’s the cost and schedule for your project.

Client: But, how can I pick when I don’t know what’s behind the door? And what do I get for that cost and schedule?

Monty P. Manager: That’s how it works. I don’t know what’s involved in the project. And you don’t know what you’re picking. I figure, it all evens out in the end.

Client: But, I can’t do that! My management team has to approve the budget and we’ve already picked the launch date.

Aside from Bonnie: Do NOT get me started on pre-determined project finish dates. Some arranged marriages between people work out. But an arranged marriage with a finish date is doomed to failure.

Monty P. Manager: I can help you with that. How about we work on defining the project? I can give you an estimate of cost and schedule for this first step. And then, when we know what we’re dealing with, we can estimate the whole nine yards.

Trying to complete a project successfully is almost impossible if you don’t know what the customer wants. Extracting that key piece of information is fraught with problems. People tend to describe solutions rather than goals--because they’re easier to visualize and, thus, put into words. But many folks can’t describe anything. Yup, I’ll Know It When I See It is an all-too-often refrain.

It’s tough to describe what you want. Perhaps you have friends who tell stories about their disastrous online dating experiences. Despite all sorts of psychological expertise and tests, most online dating matches are completely off the mark. For me, the best example of the challenge is the movie Bedazzled (the original with Dudley Moore and Peter Cooke). Dudley Moore’s character sells his soul to the devil (Peter Cooke) and then asks for what he wants. Time after time, the devil gives him exactly what he asked for in a way that is completely unsatisfactory. Of course, here we’re talking the devil, not your current customer.

So, what to do? Well, if you’re already managing the project from hell--so to speak--all your choices require fancy footwork and smooth interpersonal skills. The basic course of action is to go back and redefine the objectives (or define them if you skipped that step). One way to convince management to do this is

The team has lost sight of what we’re trying to accomplish. Can we sit down and talk about the mission and objectives so I can help the team understand the project purpose?

The preferred approach is avoidance, as in, don’t start a project unless you understand what it’s all about. Take time to meet with stakeholders to hash out objectives, define the mission statement, the scope, and so on. You’ll probably be pressured to rush these tasks, but you must hang tough. If you’re up against IKIWISI, ask the customers if they’ve seen something like what they have in mind--a similar Web site, a magazine article with the right tone, or a police artist's sketch. A research or pilot phase is can give you a nudge in the right direction.
Special note for contractors, consultants, and third party vendors: avoid fixed price contracts if the objectives and scope are nebulous. Fixed price contracts place the risk on the deliverer; and that risk is so high, the fixed price is bound to knock you out of the running. An alternative is starting with time and materials until the project is defined and then switch to fixed price for the remainder.

If you can’t reach an accord with the customer on what the project is about, walk away. Yes, you are risking your next paycheck, an assignment, a contract, or your job. But being trapped on a poorly defined project can make you desperately wish you had. What was supposed to be a two-week assignment could eat up months of your time and earning potential. Or, the failed project could become an unsightly blemish on your reputation.

I know lots of people who are organized and get things done. So I'm not surprised when they, like me, end up with projects to run. I assume that they have their own crises in confidence and ask questions like Why does my boss think I can do this?, What am I supposed to do?, and Now, what the hell do I do? I empathize with the guy who supervised the construction of the Great Pyramids when he found out what he was doing the rest of his life.

Project managers have bigger problems than moving 20-ton stones, keeping thousands of slaves productive, and making sure the Pharaoh approves of his eternal resting place. We have to learn how to manage projects as well as how to use Microsoft Project to do so. It's hard enough when the person sponsoring the project isn't quite sure about the desired result. It's darn-near impossible when we're knee-deep in Project wondering what effort-driven scheduling is, exactly, and why we can't assign people to tasks the way we want.

I've figured out the answers to some of these questions. However, I know that whenever I think I know all the answers, something blindsides me without fail. So, I plan to share a few things I've learned about managing projects successfully and enlisting Project in the effort--with appropriate humility and deference to the project management gods.