Chanelle Gibson

How to Manage Project Drift to Reach Company Goals When a project begins to “drift,” it means the team and stakeholders are losing sight of the project’s established purpose. As communication muddles, plans change, and new ideas form, the original goal is often lost in the process. If allowed to drift, projects may end up lost at sea or shipwrecked far from its intended destination. Project drift can cause teams to do unnecessary work or inadvertently start an entirely different project. Significant changes or new tasks may develop throughout a project, but if they are extending too far from the stated goal, they should be treated as a separate, follow-up project. If not careful, a team can deplete its resources racing toward the wrong finish line. Successful projects refocus as they go, continuously ensuring their processes are still leading them to where they need to be. Teams that don’t hold themselves accountable to the goal are likely to lose sight of it and fail. To avoid project drift, organizations and project teams must keep an eye on the horizon as they venture forward. Projects often find more success by keeping the destination in mind with organizations that enforced the following actions: 1) Establish clear project outcomes. Formally define what needs to be accomplished in a Project Charter to ensure there’s a common understanding among all parties. Capture the scope and the benefits of the project so the organization can agree on what its success really means. After the Project Charter is complete, share it extensively and invite feedback to gain support for the project outcomes. 2) Regularly consult the Project Charter to maintain alignment. Continuously revisit the Project Charter to confirm the project is still headed toward the desired results. Many projects begin on a straightforward course toward the goal, but any unforeseen changes can easily take things off course. Insert the Project Charter into any checkpoints, breaks, or major shifts that occur as the team goes through the project’s life. 3) Periodically utilize third parties to assess project health. As projects carry on for longer amounts of time, they are at higher risk for trailing off course. A time old saying, “Don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees,” is something to keep in mind. Teams can focus so heavily on delivering the next milestone that they don’t acknowledge how things are veering off track. Engaging objective third parties to review the project’s progress will validate whether it’s on course to achieve the desired outcomes. An impartial health assessment will evaluate all facets of the project and allow the team to course-correct and prevent future complications. 4) Be open to changes and distinctly document them as they occur. Project planning assumes the direction things will go, but nothing is certain until each step comes to fruition. As business circumstances, new learnings, and changes in organizational sponsorship all fluctuate, prior assumptions will be adjusted according to what materializes. Recognize each change individually and incorporate them into the formalized processes and Project Charter as they happen. Be clear about these inevitable changes and how they may impact the project’s overall expectations or results. 5) Embrace the possibility of redefining the project destination. Sometimes projects are about the journey of discovery more than the destination, especially because a whole new endpoint may come up along the way. In project management, the term “progressive elaboration” is commonly used to acknowledge that not everything can be known today. As such, plans must be refined based on what will be known in the future. Many projects intentionally start with a broad, generalized idea of what the outcome may be. In this case, however, all involved must commit to shaping and distinguishing a specific project destination over time. A project that follows a straight line to completion is rare at best. Everything is subject to external circumstances, updated learnings, organizational shifts, and executional obstacles. These continuously unforeseen changes can push a team further and further away from the initial objective. Failed projects are ones that neglected to properly confront these adjustments, while successful ones avoid drift and stay on track by quickly refocusing after each hurdle. Following these conducts will help keep projects on the right track. For all desired outcomes to be reached, management and leadership must prioritize these ways to avoid project drift. If projects are free to shift and transform without clear guidelines, the original goal can slip further and further away. Defining early on how these project modifications should be handled will prevent not only project drift, but also miscommunications and inefficiencies.