A number of years ago I was hired as a business management consultant by a Fortune 500 companies. My mission was to discover the reason behind a drop in productivity and an increase in error rate within the research division of the company. For three days I lived with their research staff, watching them work, examine their tools, and speaking with them about what they were doing, why they were doing it, and how they felt about what they were doing. At the end, I met with the VP who had hired me. When she asked me what I thought was wrong, I didn’t hold back.

“You hired these people, gave them their assignments, then walked away. You gave them no support, no resources, and no guidance. What did you expect would happen?

They each built their own tools, and their own procedures. They did the best they could, but they’re researchers, not system developers. No two of them are doing the same thing in the same way. They don’t know anything about quality control, or even how to know if they’re getting the right answer. And their workload just keeps increasing, so of course mistakes are being made.”

“So, what do we do,” she asked.

I told her that, among other things, she needed to bring in a tech team to build and test a common set of software and procedures that included a healthy dose of QC.

After discussing a few more key needs, she asked me, “what’s the hardest part going to be?”

Without hesitating I immediately said, “the people.”

She seemed to take offense at that. “What’s wrong with my people? They are good people. They’re smart and they’re dedicated.”

“They are also scared to death,” I told her. “You gave them no support and no guidance, and when things started falling apart you blamed them. And now, you’re going to ask them to learn new software and procedures developed by someone they’ve never even met, much less trust. When you hit them with that, they’re going to be even more afraid. And they’re liable to just leave.”

It’s a true story. I wish I could also say it’s unique, or at least rare. But I’ve seen this situation far too many times. It’s grim, and the prognosis is not good.

So, how should they fix the problem? They fix it by doing what they should have done to begin with, by implementing the following essential ingredients to any successful project management.

• Planning
• Communication
• Support
• Heuristics
• Rewards

Planning

Whether you’re just starting out, or making a change in an existing business, adequate planning is a must. Planning includes:

• tasks to be accomplished,
• money required,
• time and effort required,
• tools and other resources needed, and
• staff required and the skills they need.

And if you’re making changes, don’t forget that existing work must continue while new products or processes are put in place.

Communication

Having a great plan is worthless if nobody but you knows the plan. Make sure your management team and your frontline workers know the plan. They need to know:

• where you are going,
• how you will get there,
• what’s expected of them, and
• what’s in it for them.

Communications is a two-way street, of course. Solicit input, and when it’s offered LISTEN to it. Using input from others can improve your plan, and it gives your employees some buy in, a sense of ownership.

Support

One of the most important laws of the universe, right up there with gravity, is Murphy’s law, which says anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Be prepared. Don’t expect your employees to deal with surprises and setbacks on their own. Be prepared to offer:

• more staff or staff training,
• more time,
• more money or other resources, and
• more guidance.

Also, always be prepared to give aid and comfort to the wounded. Stress, anxiety, fear, and exhaustion are your enemies. Get to know them, learn to recognize them, and be prepared to address them.

Heuristics

Anyone remember that left turn Bugs Bunny should’ve made in Albuquerque? Like Bugs, don’t assume the road from A to B is a straight line. Come up for air now and then, see how you’re doing. Don’t be afraid to make a few adjustments if things are not going quite the way you planned.

Rewards

A rat will be highly motivated to run a maze if it knows there’s cheese at the end. But people are not rats. The longer a project drags on, and the greater the stress, anxiety, or fatigue your employees experience, the less that increasingly theoretical piece of cheese matters. Break your project into phases, and give rewards at the end of each phase. Money is always nice, but it doesn’t have to be money. It could be a gift, or an extra day off, or a party to celebrate accomplishing a milestone. Just remember that, while praise can be motivating, “atta boy” only get