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CBeingproactiveintryingtoavoidprojectdelayscanbenetbothyouandtheclient.THREEPOSSIBLEOPTIONSTHENUCLEAROPTIONSuggestedremedySuggestedremedySuggestedremedySuggestedremedyEveryschedulepre-sentationneedstoincludeafrankdiscussionofhowexibleortightitiswhatdatesarecost-ordelivery-criticalandwhattheeffectofnotmeetingthemwillbe.Mostofusdothisbutoftenwithouttheseri-ousnessitdeserves.Beveryspecic.ForinstanceIfthisdateisnotmetitisunlikelythatwewillbeabletomakethepressdatewevearranged.Missingitcouldcostyouanadditionalseveralthousanddol-lars.Sometimesespeciallywhendealingwithwimpyclientsmakingdecisionsforthemistheonlywaytomovethingsforward.Takingactionwillhavelessriskthandoingnothing.Makesomeassumptionsandproceed.Latertelltheclientitwasnec-essarytokeeptheprojectontrackandsavethemmoney.Theymaydisagreebutitissel-domarelationshipkiller.Youwillhavegottentheirattentionandresolvedissuesthatwouldotherwisehavedraggedon.Additionalworkinarmspipelineprovidesexibilityinswitchingbetweenprojectswhenaschedulefallsthough.Yetrmsareoftenafraidthatoverbookingcouldcauseinter-nalbottlenecksanddelays.Accepting25to50moreworkthanarmcannormallyaccommodateseldomcausesproblems.Ifallclientsshouldkeeptotheirschedulesthecrunchcanbeaccommodatedbyovertimeorputtingontemporarystaff.Orshouldclientsmisstheirsched-ulestheresworkfromotherstomakeupforit.Clientsshouldbeawarethatanyprojectforwhichtherehasbeennorecentactivitywillbeclosed.Worktodatewillbearchivedforthefuturebutreopeningtheprojectwillneces-sitatenewpricing.Insertaclauseinyourproposalsthatinactiveprojectswillbeclosedandbilledoutorthedepositretained.Inactivitycanbeselec-tivelydenedbutwouldnormal-lybeafter30daysforsmallerprojectsand45daysformajoronesfromlargerones.Withallgoodintentionsandpreparationssomemissedsched-uledatesandprojectdelaysareinevitable.Mostfortunatelycanbeaccommodatedwithoutanyextraordinaryeffortbyshiftingandrearrangingworkow.Someclient-causeddelaysthoughdirectlyaffectaprojectscostanddelivery.Whenthisisthecaseclientsshouldbepre-sentedassoonaspossiblewiththreechoices.Theprojectcancontinuebutitwillbenecessarytoreesti-mateandrescheduleit.Iftheclientagreestherewillbenodisruption.Whendelayshavecausedmajortimeandmoneyproblemsanalternativemightbetoscaletheprojectback.Iftheclientagreestosomethinglessambitiousitmightstillbepossibletomeettheoriginalbudgetandtimetable.Assumingtheprojectisntcrucialthiscouldbethebestsolution.Itwillbeclosedandtheclientwillbeinvoicedforallworkdonetodateandgiveneverythingpro-ducedshouldtheydecidetoreopentheprojectsometimeinthefuture.Afewclientsareincorrigible.Theirhabituallatenessinvariablycausesproblems.Theycometoexpectthatsupplierswilldowhateverittakestomakeupfortheirinattentionprocrastinationandlateness.Thisoftenbecausesuppliersarepapertigerstooworriedaboutlossofbusinesstopushback.Thereisofcourseriskinpushingback.Butlessthanmostrmsbelieve.Goodclientsdontrespectrmstheycanpusharound.Whenarmcon-stantlyjumpthroughhoopsitgetsthesamerespectasatrainedseal.Thebestcureforhabituallylateclientsisoftenshocktreat-mentexperiencingtheconse-quencesoflatenessandthetruevalueofasupplierwhohaspreviouslypulledtheirironsfromthere.Atsomepointinalateprojectinformthemthatbecauseofdelaysitisnownolongerpossibletomeetthedeliverydate.Ifthismeansforegoingfuturebusinesssobeit.Theclientwasnotworthkeepinganyway.Morelikelyyoullbesurprisedathowmissingadeliverywillfocustheirattentiononscheduledatesinthefuture.Ifthisseemstoodrasticsaythattheremightstillbeapossi-bilityifyoucouldmoveanotherclientsworkaround.Butyouwillhavetocheckwiththemrst.Letthemworryforabit.Thencallbackandsaythatyourotherclientwasverygenerousandallowedtheirworktoberescheduledsotheerrantclientsjobcouldstillbecompletedontime.9CreativeBusinessMarchApril2008Emphasizetheconse-quences.Dontbeafraidtotakecharge.Overbookyourtime.Billoutstalledwork.1Highercostslaterdeliv-ery.2Reducingthescope.3Closingitout.B