TL;DR
Last time we presented Schedule Equals Commitment, eight schedule game. Today we talk about changing project goals, We’ll Know Where We Are When We Get There, ninth project schedule game. The post is based on a remarkable book written by Johanna Rothman, Manage It!
The Pattern
When management above project team constantly changes project goals, you are playing the We’ll Know Where We Are When We Get There game. You could think that this is similar to the Bring Me A Rock game. But in that game, management changes the deadline, wanting it to be shorter. In We’ll Know Where We Are When We Get There The team does not have a focus and, in the end, delivers nothing.
How To Play
What you can do is to be sure to have documented project goals and delivery dates. If project goals are not documented, request a meeting with sponsors to set those goals. Project management has the money, and if they want to change goals, you will have the written down in the document. Just in case if they start to play the blame game when the project fails. Also, monitor project team motivation. If it is low, do a survey to correlate project goals changes with their motivation.
