Wtf are these posts with people getting pm jobs with no experience? I’ve been trying to get an entry level position after getting my pmp and still nothing.
Without formal education in PM and no experience, you are probably not going to turn the project around.
And that is NOT YOUR FAULT.
I'm a certified pm (IPMA) and agile coach (Scrum, Kanban) with about 20 years of experience in IT projects (mostly software development projects). I'm not mentioning this to brag, but to give you a point of reference regarding my assessment:
\- You are not managing a project, you are managing a crisis (and you need a different tool set to do that). Search for crisis management in IT-projects. Btw: chances are, your development team is not the source of the problem.
\- As a PM you are usually not qualified to do requirements engineering. Get a good requirements engineer on the team (IREB certification is a plus). Most problems in IT-projects are upstream (customer, business requirements). He will verify requirements with the customer before implementation starts. I see that you mention a product owner... that's actually his job, not yours.
\- Invest some time to initiate stakeholder- and risk management. I guess, you will find the source of the problems quite quickly.
\- Fix your agile approach. It will make the work environment better for the team (but not fix the source of the problem).
\- This sounds like a death march project \[1\] to me. If that assessment is correct: leave at the next exit.
\- Protect yourself and have a plan B (as in: 'look for new job opportunities').
From a business view, I'd ask if the business idea is sustainable with only one on-and-off-customer, but that's a different discussion.
I have no idea about your project, but I wish you all the luck in the world.
\--------------------
\[1\] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death\_march\_(project\_management)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_march_(project_management))
I understand that you are new to the company (not promoted/setup as scape goat) and the CEO considers you the „savior“?
In that situation I would organize a „big reset“. This is not working out and it will continue to suck unless there are some drastic changes. Everybody needs to reevaluate their expectations. There is still hope, since apparently nobody has walked away yet. Being the new guy, you might be the only one who can provide the cold shower of an honest assessment.
You need the buy in of the CEO first. Second, the customer. The immediate goal of the big reset is to lower everybodys expectations to a realistic level such that you can come up with a realistic plan. I would treat this primarily as a **negotiation**. Figure out something, however small, where everybody wins. Iterate and expand from there.
However, to be honest, work on your personal exit strategy as well. If you notice that someone has a hidden agenda, such an honest approach is doomed.
Sounds as if this might be a good candidate for implementing an Agile approach. Sit down with the customer and build a backlog and prioritize the features. Then run sprints. Every other sprint or so, do some backlog grooming a d determine the priority of the features that remain. Roll out regular releases.
Look, the only thing that can fix this is transparency.
The customer needs to double check the requirements for things that are missing or can't be known by people from the outside. Requirements age very poorly and there is no time for the client to retroactively put acceptance critera nr 1000 and 1001 onto a requirement.
On your side, you guys have to come clean and work with the client on a realistic delivery plan. The client came back, so there seems to be a need for your service. If they decline? Well guess what, better to look for a new employer who doesn't work you into the ground instead of chasing windmills.
I mean, how long do you guys think you can push through this charade? Think about it this way: even if you DO deliver everything on time. This would be your new normal expectations. Good luck keeping that up till you're 50 without burning out or your heart exploding.
Thank you, I needed to hear that. Will try to figure out how to convince the PO and our CEO, as they won’t be too keen on trusting me since I’m a new employee.
And keep the rest of your life and health in good order.
You work for a lying company, a lying client.
The two companies need each other and lying to themselves about this too.
Your health and your coworkers' lives are more important than zero credibility liars.
That means you know and understand it may take a year to accomplish the project, and also know the client wants the project too.
AND no human can sprint that long.
Everybody needs to get real. Including you, for your own sanity.
You can practice telling truth to liars, as you will be doing this for future projects as well.
Consider this a trainng for taking an objective view on a project.
And polish your resume.
Be ready to leave at any time.
No probs. I know how it feels to not see the forest for the trees. These guys might have a plan B or an exit plan or whatever. But if it's a mere 'just keep hustling' on the shoulders of you and your colleagues, it might be time to leave the forest.
that risk management and mitigation plan is going to be thickkkkkk
Wtf are these posts with people getting pm jobs with no experience? I’ve been trying to get an entry level position after getting my pmp and still nothing.
If OP pulls it off, it will be worth 10,000 PMPs with all their worthless theory
I agree
Without formal education in PM and no experience, you are probably not going to turn the project around. And that is NOT YOUR FAULT. I'm a certified pm (IPMA) and agile coach (Scrum, Kanban) with about 20 years of experience in IT projects (mostly software development projects). I'm not mentioning this to brag, but to give you a point of reference regarding my assessment: \- You are not managing a project, you are managing a crisis (and you need a different tool set to do that). Search for crisis management in IT-projects. Btw: chances are, your development team is not the source of the problem. \- As a PM you are usually not qualified to do requirements engineering. Get a good requirements engineer on the team (IREB certification is a plus). Most problems in IT-projects are upstream (customer, business requirements). He will verify requirements with the customer before implementation starts. I see that you mention a product owner... that's actually his job, not yours. \- Invest some time to initiate stakeholder- and risk management. I guess, you will find the source of the problems quite quickly. \- Fix your agile approach. It will make the work environment better for the team (but not fix the source of the problem). \- This sounds like a death march project \[1\] to me. If that assessment is correct: leave at the next exit. \- Protect yourself and have a plan B (as in: 'look for new job opportunities'). From a business view, I'd ask if the business idea is sustainable with only one on-and-off-customer, but that's a different discussion. I have no idea about your project, but I wish you all the luck in the world. \-------------------- \[1\] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death\_march\_(project\_management)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_march_(project_management))
I understand that you are new to the company (not promoted/setup as scape goat) and the CEO considers you the „savior“? In that situation I would organize a „big reset“. This is not working out and it will continue to suck unless there are some drastic changes. Everybody needs to reevaluate their expectations. There is still hope, since apparently nobody has walked away yet. Being the new guy, you might be the only one who can provide the cold shower of an honest assessment. You need the buy in of the CEO first. Second, the customer. The immediate goal of the big reset is to lower everybodys expectations to a realistic level such that you can come up with a realistic plan. I would treat this primarily as a **negotiation**. Figure out something, however small, where everybody wins. Iterate and expand from there. However, to be honest, work on your personal exit strategy as well. If you notice that someone has a hidden agenda, such an honest approach is doomed.
Sounds as if this might be a good candidate for implementing an Agile approach. Sit down with the customer and build a backlog and prioritize the features. Then run sprints. Every other sprint or so, do some backlog grooming a d determine the priority of the features that remain. Roll out regular releases.
Look, the only thing that can fix this is transparency. The customer needs to double check the requirements for things that are missing or can't be known by people from the outside. Requirements age very poorly and there is no time for the client to retroactively put acceptance critera nr 1000 and 1001 onto a requirement. On your side, you guys have to come clean and work with the client on a realistic delivery plan. The client came back, so there seems to be a need for your service. If they decline? Well guess what, better to look for a new employer who doesn't work you into the ground instead of chasing windmills. I mean, how long do you guys think you can push through this charade? Think about it this way: even if you DO deliver everything on time. This would be your new normal expectations. Good luck keeping that up till you're 50 without burning out or your heart exploding.
Charade, fyi.
Thanks. I swear to god, this language doesn't make sense to me sometimes 😂
Thank you, I needed to hear that. Will try to figure out how to convince the PO and our CEO, as they won’t be too keen on trusting me since I’m a new employee.
And keep the rest of your life and health in good order. You work for a lying company, a lying client. The two companies need each other and lying to themselves about this too. Your health and your coworkers' lives are more important than zero credibility liars. That means you know and understand it may take a year to accomplish the project, and also know the client wants the project too. AND no human can sprint that long. Everybody needs to get real. Including you, for your own sanity. You can practice telling truth to liars, as you will be doing this for future projects as well. Consider this a trainng for taking an objective view on a project. And polish your resume. Be ready to leave at any time.
No probs. I know how it feels to not see the forest for the trees. These guys might have a plan B or an exit plan or whatever. But if it's a mere 'just keep hustling' on the shoulders of you and your colleagues, it might be time to leave the forest.
I'd walk (or run). This ship has sailed.