Okay, so you’re crafting a recovery plan to rescue a project that’s gone astray. Think of this plan as your treasure map, guiding you and your team back to the path of success. But how detailed should this map be? Should it outline every single step, every twist and turn, or just provide a general direction?

That’s where the “80-hour rule” comes in. It’s a guideline that suggests you shouldn’t plan tasks in your project management tool with any more detail than can be accomplished in 80 hours. This helps you avoid getting bogged down in minutiae and keeps your focus on the bigger picture.

However, here’s the catch: while the 80-hour rule is useful for high-level planning, it’s not enough for the day-to-day management of a recovery project. Think of it like this: you wouldn’t navigate a complex maze with just a rough sketch. You’d need a detailed map showing every dead end and every shortcut.

Similarly, your team needs more than just a high-level plan. They need a granular, day-by-day guide that clearly outlines who’s doing what and when. This means going beyond your usual project tracking tools and creating a separate resource tracking spreadsheet. This spreadsheet should allocate tasks to individuals at a daily level, providing clear visibility into everyone’s workload and progress.

Now, here’s another crucial point: while you, as the Program Recovery Manager, are ultimately responsible for the plan, you shouldn’t create it in isolation. Remember the saying, “The people who dug the hole generally can’t dig themselves out”? Well, the same applies to projects.

The team that got the project into trouble might not be the best equipped to get it out. But that doesn’t mean you should exclude them entirely. They have valuable insights and knowledge about the project’s history, its challenges, and its potential solutions.

Your job is to strike a balance. You need to be mindful of the team’s biases and potential blind spots, but you also need to leverage their expertise and empower them to be part of the solution.

Think of it like this: you’re a coach leading a team to victory. You provide the overall strategy and guidance, but you also rely on your players’ individual skills and knowledge to execute the game plan.

If the project’s challenges are primarily technical, you might even consider bringing in external experts – like a team of seasoned architects – to provide an objective assessment. But even then, the core team needs to be involved in crafting the recovery plan. This not only ensures that the plan is grounded in reality but also fosters a sense of ownership and shared responsibility.

By involving the team, you’re not just creating a plan; you’re building trust, fostering collaboration, and empowering them to take ownership of the recovery process. And that, my friend, is a recipe for success.