Plan for common project delays: 5 Point checklist

Often even the most diligently planned projects sometimes are susceptible to small slippages. And even the most experienced Interactive Project Managers sometimes are caught off guard by what should be anticipated delays. Good PMs will account for unanticipated delays by creating a buffer or "cushion" between key Milestones.

However, there is a way to predict re-occurring delays. Here is a simple check-list to account for the most prevalent ones:

1. Holidays
   Let's start with an easy one; your office's Holiday Schedule. Create "Non-working" days for each of the Holidays. Also anticipate that the day before the Holiday is a very unproductive day and should likely be considered a "Non-working" day as well.
   
   When working with International teams, it is important to address Holidays in the foreign country as well. Once the appropriate Holidays are determined, associate only those affected.
   
   
2. Vacation
   As your project resources are assigned, send them an email and find out what vacation time they may have upcoming and book it as “non-working” time in your timeline. If you can, see if your resources can anticipate who may be substituting in during their vacation, and create a hand-off meeting a week before the vacation time.
   
   
3. Multiple Revisions
   Its difficult to get a deliverable accurate without changes on a first attempt. Leave an opportunity for your team to have a couple of revision cycles. This may be a politically sensitive, but this is not demonstrating a disbelief in the ability of the team, but rather an understanding of our collective work schedules and mistakes do happen. We are only human.
   
   
4. Client and Senior Management Decision Delays
   Often times a project can be delayed due to Client or Senior Management stakeholders due to delayed decisions on key budget or scope elements. If these decisions milestones can be predicted, provide a leeway of a couple days to reach a decision.
   
   If the stakeholders require further time to provide a decision to the project team, the project is then delayed and cost overruns and rescheduling can then be addressed.
   
   
5. Knowledge Transfer
   Within the interactive agency world, resources on a project may be transfered, or may resign and requiring a knowledge transfer. This may be the most difficult situation to plan for. Tnasfering ownership between the departing resource and the new incoming resource can hopefully be completed without during a point in the timeline that does not required them to complete a deliverable. As this situation cannot be affectively anticipated, it is simply a good policy to cushion this time into each phase of the project.

And if it turns the project finishes early, just simply ask for forgiveness.