When the going gets slow … its even more important to say no!

We had quite a rainstorm here yesterday and as is usual in these conditions traffic got very slow. The main road near where I live has lots of minor roads joining it – each has a give way sign [equivalent to “Yield” in some countries] what became clear was that as the traffic slowed down – these signs started to work in reverse. Most vehicles on the main road let someone out of one of the side roads – slowing the traffic down even more.

This got me thinking about change control in projects.

The need to focus on avoiding change and in particular late change is well known and often paraded as a major contribution to meeting project goals. Most of the time, the pace of the project helps with this because things move on and overtake the [helpful] suggestions.

But there are times in all projects when the pace of progress drops whilst we wait for particular activities to be completed or there is an unplanned delay. The danger here is that the reduction in the pace allows participants to reconsider options and this can  lead to more opportunities for change to be suggested.

It is even more important that these changes are resisted because they will only lead to further delay and cost. If possible, the proposals should be rejected out of hand because they will consume energy and resources if nothing else.

So just say no!