 A powerful storm blows through a forest tearing leaves, limbs and branches from the trees. A few
days later a hiker surveys the damage and shakes his head in awe at the force of nature. Then he
meets a happy looking forester on the trail who tells him, "This will be wonderful for the forest." He's
right. A year later the storm has been forgotten and the forest, free of old, weak foliage, is bursting with new growth.
Projects, like trees, benefit from trimming. Recessions lead to lower budgets and reduced staff which no one welcomes, but they also lead to healthy re-evaluations of project priorities. The
following four steps provide guidelines for emerging from troubled economic times with a healthy project inventory.
Step 1. Start with the project inventory
An organization with multiple projects will have a
project inventory, whether it has been formalized or not. A project inventory, which is
easy to build in a table or spreadsheet, begins as a list of project names and in this case project numbers. This example is from a
water district, but these tips apply just as well to any list of projects.
Project # |
Project Title |
W3-174 |
Depot Road Water Main Replacement |
W3-244 |
Central Street Water Main Replacement |
W1-168 |
Pumping Station #4 Refurbishment |
H2-191-2 |
Network Upgrade |
W4-183 |
Westborough Water Storage Capacity Increase |
H0-165 |
Process Analysis Project |
Step 2: Establish the criteria that will influence project priorities.
Next add the considerations for advancing the project in a weak economy, beginning with an estimate of each project's progress to
date, then by revisiting the decisions that went into starting each project. Project decisions that were reasonable in a rising economy may not be as worthy during a downturn.
This previous inventory tells us that the water district is replacing two water mains, refurbishing a pumping station, upgrading its
network, adding storage capacity and analyzing some processes. The next version of the same inventory adds some new and some
old reasons for maintaining the project. Note how each project's list of criteria begins with an update of the project's current status.
Notice that the prioritization criteria are focused on facts rather than judgments which will follow next.
Project # |
Project Title |
Updated Prioritization Criteria |
W3-174 |
Depot Road Water Main Replacement |
v This project is in the proposal development phase.
v
Capacity is adequate for now, but a new subdivision, scheduled to begin construction next year is likely to over-extend capacity.
v The Fire Department has public safety concerns related to this upgrade and the new subdivision.
v
A commitment to start the project this year was made to the voting district's Councilperson. |
W3-244 |
Central Street Water Main Replacement |
v This project is 65% through construction.
v Contract cancellation penalties and restart costs will exceed cost to completion.
v Open trenchwork at the project site will increase public safety risks over time.
v Project construction costs have risen by 15%. |
W1-168 |
Pumping Station #4 Refurbishment |
v
This project has completed its electrical refurbishment. Mechanical refurbishments is scheduled to start in two months.
v These refurbishments are scheduled every 7 years. |
H2-191-2 |
Network Upgrade |
v
The purchasing phase of this project is complete. Waiting on delivery and installation.
v These upgrades will improve network performance and reliability. |
W4-183 |
Westborough Water Storage Capacity Increase |
v The design phase is 80% complete.
v
This project can be delayed one year without impact.
v State funding of $1.5M likely to be withdrawn |
H0-165 |
Process Analysis Project |
v This project is in the proposal phase.
v Process improvements are tied directly to productivity improvements.
v Network upgrades have made process improvements possible. |
Step 3: Analyze criteria and establish priorities.
The prioritization criteria need to be analyzed and shared with key members of the project team and major stakeholders. It's best to
keep project priorities simple by limiting them to three choices such as now/later/cancel or "A", "B" and "C". The sample below
includes the new priorities, and adds comments about them.
Project # |
Project Title |
Updated Prioritization Criteria |
Priorities |
W3-174 |
Depot Road Water Main Replacement |
v This project is in the proposal development phase.
v
Capacity is adequate for now, but a new subdivision, scheduled to begin construction next year is likely to over-extend capacity.
v The Fire Department has public safety concerns related to this upgrade and the new subdivision.
v
A commitment to start the project this year was made to the voting district's Councilperson. |
LATER: This project could be placed on next year's budget. Current capacity is adequate. |
W3-244 |
Central Street Water Main Replacement |
v This project is 65% through construction.
v Contract cancellation penalties and restart costs will exceed cost to completion.
v Open trenchwork at the project site will increase public safety risks over time.
v Project construction costs have risen by 15%. |
NOW: Shut down costs nearly equal the costs to complete this project. |
W1-168 |
Pumping Station #4 Refurbishment |
v
This project has completed its electrical refurbishment. Mechanical refurbishments is scheduled to start in two months.
v These refurbishments are scheduled every 7 years. |
LATER: Electrical, the most critial of the two main refurbishments is complete. |
H2-191-2 |
Network Upgrade |
v
The purchasing phase of this project is complete. Waiting on delivery and installation.
v These upgrades will improve network performance and reliability. |
NOW: 70% of this project's funding has been used to acquire hardware and software. |
W4-183 |
Westborough Water Storage Capacity Increase |
v The design phase is 80% complete.
v This project can be delayed without impact.
v State funding of $1.5M likely to be withdrawn |
CANCEL: Complete design and wait for economic recovery. |
H0-165 |
Process Analysis Project |
v This project is in the proposal phase.
v Process improvements are tied directly to productivity improvements.
v Network upgrades have made process improvements possible. |
NOW: This project and the networking project need to proceed together. |
This example is intended to show a process and the type of thinking that goes into maintaining a project inventory in times of economic
stress. Revisiting the reasons that created the projects and updating those decisions to reflect new realities provides a basis for evaluating each project's future.
Step 4: Evaluate options for improving productivity, adding project support or postponing projects.
Options for improving productivity or adding project support vary from project to project and organization to organization. One
organization might look to improve productivity by consolidating some of its projects; another might reach out for project partners; another might look for a merger, and so on.
The point is that by reprioritizing the project inventory decisions about restructuring the project workload can be guided by reason and
objectivity. As with nature, pruning the project inventory will be healthy for it in the long run.
Learn more in the Multiple Projects workshop or with multiple project consulting services.
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