PMcrunch

Though I have not heard it made official all indications are that we are in recession. This appears to be not just for the United States but for much, if not most, of the rest of the world. The cause of this recession, of course, is the credit crunch and all issues surrounding that. So the big question is, "What can project and program managers do to cope with this recession?" I have some thoughts, and for reference have tapped into ideas of Jack and Susie Welch.

Four keys to success in the recession: An upper management perspective
Jack and Susie Welch have outlined in their Oct 3rd Podcast of the Welch Way that there are four key things that managers can do to cope with recession. Here they are:

1. Cut costs to the bone — Cutting costs is tough, but Jack Welch asserts that it is very difficult to cut too deep.
2. Communicate, communicate, communicate — You cannot communicate too much, and doing so will allow concerned people to rally around you.
3. Compensation — With the dramatic change in the environment in Sep/Oct 2008, compensation plans need to change. To avoid a total melt down in performance, the suggestion is to create a new compensation plan to encourage strong performance in this dramatically changed environment.
4. Seize the moment — If you are well prepared on cutting costs and are executing well under the circumstances, this is a good opportunity to "buy or bury" competitors, in the words of Jack Welch.

A Project and Program Management Perspective 
Here are the four key approaches to managing under recession for program and project managers, simply mapped to the upper management perspective from management master Jack Welch above.  This actually maps quite well to what Project and Program managers can do.

1. Cost cutting —- Is your program or project absolutely necessary in the scheme of things within the organization? What can be done to substantially decrease the cost of the project or program or trim back on some less value added components to make the project or program still attractive under today’s conditions?
2. Communicate —-Be open with your team and stakeholders.  Get their ideas on what is most important. Be open and frank with them about your commitment to making things right in this economy, and ask for their commitment in helping you to do the same for your projects and programs.
3. Compensation plan — As a project or program manager, you may have lot of control over compensation plans, but you might especially in small organizations. If you can influence this, study it closely, and take a hard look and take some action. Be proactive and see if your company compensation plans for yourself and for your team members are set up to encourage maximum performance under these new conditions.  Engage with upper management about this important subject by taking the initiative.
4. Seize the moment —– Recessions not only involve dealing with trouble but often also involved dealing with do opportunities. These opportunities to be at this very moment or, more likely it could be setting up for opportunities in the not too distant future. We can opt opportunistic view and see the conditions have changed things elsewhere in the world surrounding your projects or programs. As the hiring environment changed such that you can hire some news thoughts. Have mature your prices decreased in any way that will help. The definition and scope of your project and program is changed perhaps even widened because of new potential opportunities that this environment has revealed.

Action needed
In this environment, the situation is not business as usual.  It requires decisiveness, introspection, and moving with eyes wide open.  It also requires a lot of communication and hard work. I find that taking the upper management perspective focuses the thinking and in the end provides tremendous guidance to moving forward successfully under tough conditions.
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John Reiling, PMP
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