A surefire way to get better status

Ask better questions to get down that winding road to good answers.

In Monday morning’s team meeting, project manager A is asking the team for status. The Quality Manager notes that they are 75% done with testing. PM A nods and makes a note. Perhaps she asks if testing will meet their dates. The Quality Manager says Yes. PM A moves on.

But does she really know if testing will meet their dates?

How many meetings like this have you run? Someone gives you a number and you take their word for it – because they are the expert. When the testing runs long, and the PM scrambles to explain the slip to the sponsor, there will be precious little information to relay.

As a project manager, it’s your job to know what’s going on and why. Never assume that you can go back to the quality manager in three weeks and get the story

Better questions for more information

Project Manager B is running a similar meeting. The Quality Manager says they’re 75% done with the testing. PM B probes a bit.

PM B: How does the QM know they’re 75% complete?

QM: Well, we’ve finished about 7 out of 10 of the scripts.

PM B: How many of the scripts have run successfully?

QM: Not sure.

PM B: How many tickets have been generated?

QM: Not sure.

PM B: How do they know they are going to finish on time?

QM: They will get done.

PM B: Could you please send me a report on the testing that includes the number of successful passes, the number of tickets generated, and tickets closed.

It’s important when running a status meeting to ask enough questions to confirm the numbers. In business process engineering, this is called the “5 Whys.” It’s a technique used to get to the root cause of a problem or situation.  I find it useful in status meetings as well.

It surprises me how many managers really don’t understand the work that they are managing. I don’t expect a manager to know every little detail. It does make sense to me that they talk with their teams and understand the basics of where the work is, why the work is behind or ahead of schedule, and can give some justification of the status they are relating  to the team.

Don’t let them off the hook.

At first, they might be confused or angry that you’re interested in the reasoning for their status report. Remind them that you have to justify the entire report to the sponsor. It’s better to have the answers up front than to need to track someone down and ask them to remember circumstances from a few days ago.

After a few meetings, folks start to come to the status meetings more prepared. People typically want to look knowledgeable in front of their peers. As you ask more and better questions, your team starts to anticipate what you’ll want to know. They’ll start getting the answers before you ask the question.

It’s never a bad idea to do a little probing when someone gives you an answer. Find out what the reasoning is behind the response and be better prepared.

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