Uncertain times are causing fear, panic and commitment issues on projects. The temptation is for Project Sponsors to tell Project Managers to stop what they’re doing… ‘for now’… until things settle down. The problem is there is no PAUSE button in project management. Either projects are continuing or they are closing. It’s called a ‘Go/No Go’ decision for a reason. Projects cannot be put ‘on hold’, indefinitely. Either it makes sense in continuing to invest in the project or it doesn’t.
Reason 1: Momentum.
The team are in the middle of building something. There are drafts upon drafts of things and at the moment. In the current flow, it all makes sense. It’s fresh in everyone’s mind how this all fits together and what the next steps are. As soon as you hit PAUSE, the flow is gone and the short-term memory disappears right along with it. When you eventually hit PLAY again, it’s murky, it’s unclear and it’s going to require steep re-learning curve to figure out what’s what, at what state was it last left in and what still needs to be done – even with meticulous notes/documentation. On top of which you are not guaranteed by the time you hit PLAY again that you’ll even be working with the same team who was working on it previously – up the angle of that learning curve!
Reason 2: Suppliers.