Management Flexibility

Case Study:

You’re the general manager of a software development company and you’re running the Wednesday Meeting where progress on a major project is being updated. This project is for an important client, in fact, 25 percent of company revenue comes from work done for this client.

Twice during the meeting you have to remind Tom, the lead on the project, that he’s been asked a question. You find this both surprising and frustrating. It’s surprising because Tom is usually on top of things and often comes in early and works late without complaint. It’s frustrating because he is critical to the successful completion of the project and seems to be losing focus.

During the meeting you find out that the current milestone will be a week late. The reason for the delay is that it was discovered that two items, scheduled to be completed during the next milestone, had to be done early in order to complete the current milestone. This means that the schedule is not in jeopardy, only the current milestone. You tell the meeting participants that you will personally call the client and explain the situation.

The meeting is adjourned and, as you walk back to your office you notice Tom walking a few paces in front of you. …

The questions are:

Do you do anything immediately? If so, what?
What do you do in the long term?
What are the reasons for what you did, or didn’t do?
Did you make any assumptions? If so, what assumptions did you make?
Consider carefully your actions, reasons, and assumptions.

What Can Happen

Return to Top

Copyright 2007, Brad Fregger