All Sails Set - Towards the Shoals?

by: Grant Rule

It's not like it was in the old days! When built in 1926, 'Provident', the Brixham sailing trawler shown here, sailed with a crew of three, mostly with a lot of sail set so she had enough power to tow her trawl and make progress against wind and tide. But her skipper, hero of a First World War rescue of 72 sailors from a torpedoed merchantman, knew that even when 'Provi' appeared to be rolling smoothly along, it was essential to keep track of the 'course made good'. Compass bearings, transits and dead reckoning were the techniques used, aided by experience and reference to charts showing the shallows, rocks and tidal flows.

Nowadays, 'Provident' is a sail training vessel with a crew of 12 plus skipper, mate and cook, with the benefit of a diesel engine, GPS position finding, radio beacons, radar and acoustic depth sounder. Today sailing is done for fun and 'character building'; many years ago she was sailed so the crew could make a subsistence living. The threats, though, are pretty much the same.

Perhaps we have all grown too used to driving our cars along prepared highways. Roads go directly from one place to another; the choices of direction are forward, back or stop. But neither sailboats nor software projects ever travel directly along the route planned. Both are subject to many forces that divert the progress actually made. The best we can hope for is to establish measures of the 'course made good' and to provide rapid feedback. This allows the skipper or project manager to take corrective action so that the actual course never varies far from the planned course, but oscillates gently around it, while maintaining the desired general direction.

Preparation, planning and professional evaluation of the threats to a project ought to be a frequent and regular activity for every project team. Risk management is not a 'once and for all' exercise to be performed while the ship is getting ready to sail - it is an essential part of everyday activities. With reasonable and realistic plans, plus regular, weekly (or even daily) review of the threats to success and implementation of effective counter-measures, most projects will reach their destination safely.

One simple and efficient approach we have implemented recently goes as follows:

Weekly - Each Team Leader produces a one-page 'SOFT' report (reviewing their team's successes, opportunities, failures and threats). The Project Manager holds a checkpoint meeting with all the Team Leaders, assessing the project's RAG status (Red/Amber/Green) and ensuring counter-measures are assigned for those threats that can be handled. Any issues beyond the project team's level of authority are identified. If necessary, an Exception Report is produced and escalated to the Project Board.

Bi-weekly or monthly - The Project Manager produces a Highlight Report and discusses status and any remaining threats with the Project Board. The executive sponsor of the project, aided by the senior user and senior supplier management on the board, help clear obstructions and provide the authority to counter any remaining threats.

It's certainly not rocket science - but it is efficient and effective at helping a project survive, just like those fishermen of old.