Being a Project Hero

From time-to-time, I get called in to help with a project that is in crisis.
We've all been there. A project is running late, over schedule, over budget. The customer is starting to growl. Team spirit is low, the blame game starts.
You step in. This usually involves working hand in glove with the project manager for few weeks until things are running smoothly again. The team get their fighting spirit back again. The project manager is grateful. The customer has stopped growling.
Pats on the back from everyone. Hero leaves stage...

I remember an old army saying:
An award on honor is given to a soldier that does something heroic in a situation that he shouldn't have been in, the first place.

So how did we get in such a pickle, and how do we ensure we don't get there again:
Most of the problems are solved by re-setting expectations and releasing project bottlenecks.

Project Workflows

One of the required functionality requirements in any project is the ability to run project approval cycles, generate alerts (before the project is in trouble) and provide task status visibility and transparency.

Embedding workflow alerts into projects enables to notify managers about "trouble ahead". The workflow system calculates workload trends and timeframes and sends automated alerts, reminders and escalations.

The most common alerts we find in projects:

• Send a task reminder when project budget has reached 80%
• Send an alert when project budget has reached 95%
• Send and alert if the milestone is due, but based on current task time, team will not meet deadline.

Common scenario: New Project workflow

The project manager initiates a "new project" workflow.
The workflow system send tasks and notifications to the relevant parties asking for their comments and approval including: feasibility qualifications, costs and resources.
If approved, the workflow engine will upload the information, including costs and resources, into project server and create a new project (or duplicate an existing template).
The workflow system follows up on the new project ensuring that the tasks are not delayed by using the SLA and workflow escalation policies.
The Business Intelligence embedded in the workflow system calculates project and process information, enables the project manager to foresee trends (If we keep on spending at this rate, we will be over budget in 23 days.., At the current working rate - the first phase will be overdue by 5 days)