The weeks passed by quickly from the project kick off. It is in fact development period. Everyone is busy in the execution. The project is getting heavier each day with pressure to keep track with project timeline.
As Pam is managing this on a program level, each of the Project Manager is responsible in the delivery on their respective project deliverables. Everything seems to be in the right track until as issue came on in the work stream that Ronna is in charge of delivering.
"Pam I missed to respond in that one email from the supplier of the server." Ronna was unusually gloomy. She has been doing this work in the past 4 years. Risk planning is not new to her. Project Managers always have back up. There was need to confirm the specs of the order to get delivered on the target date. A slip in confirmation will cause a week or two of delay in the overall project delivery. Not to mention the dependency that her project would have on Jim's workstream.
"Have we confirmed the arrival and the impact to the set up?" She asked from Ronna.
"Yes, since we confirmed two days delayed of the target. The servers will be shipped on the next schedule which is 5 days from the original target. We have lost 5 days assuming customs will get it released as forecasted.
"The thing is we have not raised this up until last week. It is too sudden that something like this will delay the project by 5 days at the minimum." Pam was thinking on how to deliver this news to the steering committee.
"I will take the responsibility during the update." Ronna timidly said. She worked with Pam for the longest time and she takes responsibility seriously. She does not want the blame to be put on her. The negligence was on her part.
"Don't worry about it for now, we will see how the other streams can crunch activities, so we still make it overall on time. We have a day to prepare for the update. "
The past days heated exchange here and there was unavoidable. It's common in projects especially something as big as this integration. As professionals, this should not be taken personally. However, Pam is too stressed keeping her cool. There were several instances in the steering committee that she felt getting picked on. At high level discussions, you need to be prepared how high or detailed the question would be. She has never worked hard as to any project like this.
She recalled how last time escalations were questioned. The steering committed wanted timely response to any project risk or issue and escalation is key. Tim particularly mentioned there seems to be gap on the escalation process which is something she is managing. Information flows through from project team to Project managers to Program Manager. They have weekly huddle and seems its not enough to have weekly on. Just as she implemented a daily 15 mins huddle, this issue on server delivery is raised.
Following day at the steering committee meeting, the high-level program status update will be presented. Risk will be reviewed for any action or decision from project leadership.
In the middle of presentation," we are at risk of delaying the delivery of Phase 1 by 5 days. The servers are arriving 5 days later than expected." Pam downplayed the reason for the delays and plainly informed the committee on the impact of the delayed in delivery.
"We just had out committee meeting two weeks ago. The project was on track. The delay appears to be sudden." The COO gently remarked.
"We received confirmation of the shipment two just two days ago. "Pam respectfully replied. This is true but still she is trying not to surface the fact that the confirmation of specifications was provided to the supplier 2 days delayed. She does not want to put Ronna into bad light.
"Have we checked the readiness of data center with the new dates?" Tim questioned this in his usual low tone.
Pam and Ronna has not talked about this and the assumption is that the data center will be on standby. "We will double check on the schedule and ensure we don't incur further delays." This is something that Ronna must check immediately.
"Double check? Was it checked already in the first place or everything was an assumption?"
"The data center manager has been informed of the delay, but we are yet to get confirmation." This is the safest and quickest response that Pam could give when Ronna whispered she already emailed the data center manager.
"It's a bit disappointing Pamela." Tim has always called him in her full name, not even Pam. She finally got used to it, the distant feeling. She clenched her fingers to keep her cool.
Tim continued with serious expression," this is clearly part of the project's critical path. The Phase 1 delivery is a promise we made to one of the partners of NextGen. One of our biggest partners has agreed to do pilot before closing into an even bigger deal. I hope this will put this deal in jeopardy."
Ronna bit her lower lip, she was so focused on the huddles for QA. She saw this email and slipped her mind. Now Pam is in a hot seat with this delay which was caused by her negligence. She started to feel bad.
"I understand this clearly Tim, we will work with the team to ensure we don't add delays to the timeline. We will provide update next day with regards to the matter." Pam replied in humble tone.
After the meeting, people are slowly leaving the conference room. Pam was fixing her laptop, note taking stuff when she heard Ronna in soft voice. "Tim, the issue on server delivery. I am responsible for it."
"Is there a use to talk about who is responsible for what now?" He has always been straight forward with his western upbringing. Ronna just bowed her head to acknowledge this, there were few people still inside the room and she does not want to create a scene. Seems to her Pam has carried the burden of her negligence.
As Tim is preparing to leave the conference room he added without looking at anyone in particular, "its best to make sure this do not happen again. There would be consequences if it does. I hope we don't get abandoned in chaos." The remarks were sharp, and he obviously put stress on the word 'abandoned'.
Pam was preparing to retaliate but she hold her breath. Instead, she chose to follow Tim and confront him. It feels like all the comments were directed towards her.
"Mr. Connor, can I have a few minutes with you?" She was trying to catch up with his normal long strides. Tim was wearing his gray pants paired with powder blue long sleeves which he is now rolling up to his elbow. Pam even with her usual 2 or 3 inches heels barely stands above Tim's shoulder. Back in the days when they were together, people stare at their height difference and their interesting contrast by means of looks and fashion.
"I have another meeting in 15 minutes. What do we need to talk about." He continued to walk without even looking at her as he entered his room. Pam stopped at the doorway as Tim reached his chair and looked at his laptop. "Are you just going to stand there? I only have 12 minutes left before the next meeting."
Pam did not waste time she walked near his table and remained standing, "do you have any problems with me or my team."
Tim raised his head looking at her directly in the eyes which made Pam felts chills run down her spine. "With you? Your team? Do I really have to answer this question Pamela?"
He sounded like he is mocking her, no matter how she trained herself to harden herself on situation like this, her emotions cannot be filtered as her eyes turned red. "I just hope you can be more professional on this and not take it against the team if you have anything against me."
"Really? Seriously? Anything against you? Who do you think you are?" with that Tim stood preparing to go to his next meeting. Pam was left standing in the room, calming herself.