Did you ever work on a “phantom” project? A project that has been worked on by a team a few years ago, then an intern one summer and a colleague, and now you. Every organization has a few projects that never die, they resurface every few years with different names, a new spin and a different executive champion. This happened to me more than once and I lived to tell the tale. Hopefully my experience can offer you some pointers on surviving a phantom project.
Before we discuss tips and tricks, let’s dig into why a few projects resurface every few years. Institutions have a memory of an elephant. You can quickly understand the general sentiment why a project is being worked on again. The reasons usually fall into five categories:
- Company has new capabilities and competencies. It is perceived to be the right time to re-visit this project.
- Macro-economic conditions have changed making it possible to attempt again.
- The company’s philosophy has evolved, or the constraints/guardrails have relaxed. For example, inorganic growth is no longer against the company’s DNA.
- It’s an executive’s passion project and he/she is not happy with the previous attempts.
- The previous team(s) did not do a thorough job – maybe they explored a narrow angle, did not execute due to resource constrains or never closed the project.
Whatever the cause, the “phantom’ projects cost organizations money and hurt morale. It could breed territorial, anti-collaborative attitude and increases mistrust for leadership that corrodes the company culture.
If you find yourself working on such project, below are a few pointers.
- Learn from history: Before rolling-up your sleeves and jumping all in, first assess what has changed. Has anything changed at all? Think about macro-economic, micro economic trends, company philosophy, leadership attitude, team’s skills, expectations, the premise and capabilities. Spend time with the executive or members on his team to understand motivations. Grab a coffee with previous project owners, team members and consider all perspectives. Analyse the assumptions that were being made and work towards dissecting the assumptions. Phantom projects do not just occur due to lack of business analysis, they are manifestations of organizational attitudes.
- Be respectful to the previous team(s): Do not be that guy/gal! It’s not always about the results and your behavior can also open or close future doors for you.
- Gather organizational support: Understand how influence works in your organization and figure out a way to include couple of key influencers. Maybe you need access to resources or a capability to succeed and key influencers can help you make a progress.
And, finally do your successors a favor and develop a brief to summarize your assumptions.
If you are a leader sponsoring such a project, re-evaluate why the project keeps coming back.
- Assess team capabilities: Are the teams truly empowered with the right capabilities and other relevant details? Understand that it is hard for anyone, however, talented to transform another’s idea, develop strategy and execute. Partnering with the team to develop the strategy can lead to better results.
- Call for open competition: It’s is expensive for a company to fund a phantom project. Call for open competition. Sponsor a hackathon or have two-three teams work on the same project. If done right, open competition can lead to good times and great results.
- Be open to the idea of moving on.
Have you survived a phantom project? Share your story!
Thanks for reading!