Published by JMB Project Management Co. LLC
Repeatedly missing a milestone is a reason to examine the plan. It is also useful to look for the conditions behind the delay: unresolved decisions, changing requirements or commitments that the team cannot validate.
A project health review can help establish the position before further resources are committed. It should begin with defined questions and access to the evidence needed to answer them.
Forecasts move without a clear explanation
If dates change at each review, ask which remaining activities were reassessed. A revised completion date needs a basis in the work, resources and dependencies still ahead.
Check whether the team can distinguish completed deliverables from activities in progress. Where acceptance evidence is missing, the forecast may depend on work that has been treated as finished prematurely.
Decisions stay open
Look for requirements, approvals and supplier issues that appear repeatedly in reports. Identify who can resolve them and what their delay is preventing.
A useful warning is the absence of a decision owner. The team may be holding meetings and issuing updates while lacking authority to settle the matter affecting progress.
Scope changes are absorbed informally
Ask whether new requests are being evaluated for their effect on time, cost and resources. If extra work is added without adjusting commitments, the approved plan may no longer describe the actual assignment.
Compare the latest requirements with the original scope. Document the differences before discussing recovery dates or additional funding.
Accounts of progress conflict
Different workstreams may describe the same dependency differently. A supplier may consider a deliverable complete while the business owner is still awaiting acceptance evidence.
Use the disagreement to identify the missing definition, record or approval. The review should establish the facts rather than simply choosing the most confident account.
Readiness work is absent
Check whether testing, training, operational procedures and support arrangements appear in the plan. Their absence can make a launch date difficult to assess even when technical delivery is progressing.
Microsoft’s go-live guidance is an example of implementation guidance that considers readiness alongside solution delivery. Product-specific requirements should be interpreted for the system being introduced.
Define a focused review
Agree what the assessment will cover, who will provide information and which decision the findings will support. Outputs might include a verified delivery position, unresolved assumptions and prioritized actions.
The purpose is to help leadership decide how to proceed. A finding that a date or objective cannot currently be supported is useful information, provided the reasons and options are clear.
JMB provides project health reviews and recovery support. Contact JMB to discuss the concern you need assessed.