The Survival Guide To Identifying and Recovering Lost Projects

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Project
Search and Rescue
The Survival Guide

to
Identifying and Recovering
Lost Projects
Copyright 2003 - 2013

Prodevia Learning, Inc.
All rights reserved.
TM
Project Search and Rescue
Table of
Contents
Table of Contents
How to Complete this Course ................................................................................. 3
How to Complete the Guide and Exercises.............................................................................................. 3
How to Contact the Instructor ................................................................................................................... 3
How to Submit Course Completion and Report PDUs ............................................................................. 3
Completion Checklist ................................................................................................................................ 4
Course Objectives ...................................................................................................5

Chapter 1 Introduction to Project Search and Rescue ..........................................7
Have You Ever Been Lost? ...................................................................................................................... 7
Project Search and Rescue Is a Critical Skill ........................................................................................... 8
Defining The Lost Project........................................................................................................................ 8
Review Questions..................................................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 2 The Behaviors of Being Lost............................................................... 11

Stress and Stressors .............................................................................................................................. 11
The Cycle of Behavior ............................................................................................................................ 12
Confusion ........................................................................................................................................... 12
Fear .................................................................................................................................................... 14
A Sense of Urgency.............................................................................................................................. 1
Panic................................................................................................................................................... 15
Poor Decision Making ........................................................................................................................ 15
Frustration .......................................................................................................................................... 16
Anger .................................................................................................................................................. 16
Depression and Withdrawal ............................................................................................................... 16
Fatigue................................................................................................................................................ 16
Forgetfulness...................................................................................................................................... 17
The Interdependency of Lost Behavior................................................................................................... 17
The Behaviors of Survivors..................................................................................................................... 17
The STOP Method.................................................................................................................................. 18
A Presence of Leadership ...................................................................................................................... 18
Review Questions................................................................................................................................... 20
Chapter 3 Discovering Lost Projects .................................................................. 21

Preparing to Search for Lost Projects..................................................................................................... 21
Planning for the Search .......................................................................................................................... 21
Planning a PSAR Review................................................................................................................... 21
Defining a List of Projects to Review.................................................................................................. 22
Initiating Conversation with the Project Manager ................................................................................... 23
Interviewing Project Participants............................................................................................................. 24
Participants Understanding of Why the Project Exists ...................................................................... 25
Participants Understanding of Scope, Schedule, and Budget Objectives......................................... 25
Participants Understanding of Project Risk ....................................................................................... 27
Participants View of Project Progress ............................................................................................... 27
Participant Behaviors and Responses ............................................................................................... 30
Words and Phases to Listen For ........................................................................................................ 33
Looking for Consistent Themes by Project Participants..................................................................... 34
Interviewing Project Managers ............................................................................................................... 34
Project Managers Understanding of Why the Project Exists............................................................. 36
Project Managers Understanding of Scope, Schedule, and Budget Objectives ............................... 36
Project Managers Understanding of Project Risk.............................................................................. 37
Project Managers View of Project Progress...................................................................................... 38
Project Managers Behaviors and Responses ................................................................................... 41
Words and Phrases to Listen For....................................................................................................... 44
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Table of
Contents
Reviewing Project Processes ................................................................................................................. 45

Project Charter Review ...................................................................................................................... 45
Scope Review..................................................................................................................................... 45
Schedule Review................................................................................................................................ 45
Budget Review ................................................................................................................................... 46
Risk Plan Review.................................................................................................................................. 1
Issue Review ...................................................................................................................................... 46
Change Review .................................................................................................................................. 46
Closing the Interview .............................................................................................................................. 46
Chapter 4 Evaluating Project Review Results .................................................... 49

Common Themes from PSAR Interviews............................................................................................... 49
Inconsistencies between the Responses of Project Participants ........................................................... 49
Inconsistencies between Project Participant Responses and Project Manager Responses ................. 49
An Interviewees Response That Was Unique to the Responses of Other Interviewees....................... 50
Positive Findings..................................................................................................................................... 50
Preparing a PSAR Discovery Report...................................................................................................... 50
Executive Summary............................................................................................................................ 50
Assessment ........................................................................................................................................ 50
Findings .............................................................................................................................................. 51
Sharing the Report.................................................................................................................................. 51
Chapter 5 Rescuing Lost Projects .......................................................................55

Planning the PSAR Rescue & Recovery Effort ...................................................................................... 55
Defining and Documenting Objectives ................................................................................................... 55
Evaluating Risk and Current Issues ....................................................................................................... 55
Clarifying Scope...................................................................................................................................... 56
Considering Time and Cost .................................................................................................................... 56
Developing a Communication Plan for the Project ................................................................................. 56
Creating a Steering Committee .............................................................................................................. 57
Establishing Regular Project Reviews.................................................................................................... 57
Key Considerations for the PSAR Team Engaged in Rescue & Recovery Efforts ................................ 57
Chapter 6 Recognizing if You are Lost................................................................ 61

The STOP Method Revisited .................................................................................................................. 61
1. Stop ................................................................................................................................................ 61
2. Think............................................................................................................................................... 62
3. Observe .......................................................................................................................................... 62
4. Plan ................................................................................................................................................ 63
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 65
PSAR Crossword Puzzle ....................................................................................... 66

Tools .................................................................................................................... 68
High-Level Work Breakdown Structure for PSAR Review ..................................................................... 68
Project Participant Interview Outline....................................................................................................... 69
Suggested Answer Key ......................................................................................... 80

Chapter 1 Introduction to Project Search and Rescue.................................................................... 80
Chapter 2 The Behaviors of Being Lost .......................................................................................... 80
Chapter 3 Discovering Lost Projects ............................................................................................... 81
Chapter 4 Evaluating Project Review Results................................................................................. 84
Chapter 5 Rescuing Lost Projects................................................................................................... 85
Chapter 6 Recognizing if You Are Lost ........................................................................................... 86
Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 88
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How to Complete
this Course
How to Complete this Course

How to Complete the Guide and Exercises
This course is broken down into course chapters. In order to develop a better understanding of the
content of this course it is recommended that the student complete the work as follows.
For each chapter of the guide:
Read the chapter for comprehension.

The student is encouraged to make notes on the provided margins of the guide. These notes can
assist the student in the review questions following each chapter. Notes may be related to key
ideas the student wishes to remember as well as personal insights the student may have.
Complete the review questions for each chapter. Ideally, the student will keep a separate
notebook with his or her answers to all review questions.
Check off assignments on the Completion Checklist, page 4.

Move to the next chapter of the guide.
How to Contact the Instructor
Prodevia Learning course instructors are available via email anytime or by phone during Prodevia
Learning business hours (8:30am-5:00pm M-F, USA Eastern Time). All course correspondences will be
returned promptly.
Contact a course instructor via email at support@prodevia.com.
Contact an instructor by phone during business hours at: 1-800-291-6244 or 770-321-1655
How to Submit Course Completion and Report PDUs

You have an unlimited amount of time to complete any Prodevia Learning course. When you have
completed this course, you are required to indicate your course completion to Prodevia Learning in order
to receive the Project Search and Rescue Certificate of Completion and be awarded 5 Professional
Development Units.
The Project Search and Rescue (PSAR) Course Completion and Evaluation Form is found on the
Prodevia Learning web site. Refer to the Course Completion tab at www.prodevia.com. The Course
Completion webpage also includes information and links to submit your PDUs to the Project Management
Institute online.
RETAIN THIS PMI R.E.P COURSE NAME AND NUMBER FOR PDU SUBMISSION:
PMI Provider ID: 1945
PMI Activity ID: 051003
5 PDUs
This course also automatically earns 5 Credit Hours toward the
Professional Project Executive (PPE) certification.
For more information about this program click here.
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How to Complete
this Course
Completion Checklist
Chapter 1 Introduction to the Project Search and Rescue

Reading
Review Questions
Chapter 2 The Behaviors of Being Lost
Reading
Review Questions
Chapter 3 Discovering Lost Projects
Reading
Review Questions
Chapter 4 Evaluating Review Results
Reading
Review Questions
Chapter 5 Rescuing Lost Projects
Reading
Review Questions
Chapter 6 Recognizing If You Are Lost
Reading
Review Questions
PSAR Crossword Puzzle
Tools
Review Tools
Course Completion
Submit completion to Prodevia Learning and earn 5 credit hours toward your Professional
Project Executive (PPE) certification
Submit 5 PDUs to the Project Management Institute
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Course Objectives
Course Objectives
By the end of this curriculum the student will be able to:
Describe what a lost project is and why it is important to uncover lost projects within the
organization.
Explain the behaviors of humans who find themselves lost as well as understand the behaviors of
lost individuals who tend to survive.
Discuss the parallels between individuals lost in the wilderness and individuals lost on project
efforts.
List the signs of a lost project.

Define the necessary components of successfully rescuing lost projects and putting them back on
the right path.
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Chapter 1
Introduction

Chapter 1 Introduction to Project
Search and Rescue
Student Notes
Have You Ever Been Lost?
The
experience of being lost can be a daunting one.
Consider an
experience that you may have had in your lifetime where you have
physically found yourself lost. Perhaps you remember being separated
from your parents as a small child. Perhaps you were driving in a car
without a sense of where you were. Or, maybe you found yourself lost
while hiking along a mountain path.
What feelings did you experience? How did being lost affect your
judgment or your ability to make thoughtful decisions? How were you or
others able to find you again? Consider these questions for a moment
and make some notes for yourself.
This course attempts to analyze the behaviors of lost individuals and
apply this understanding to the project environment. Amazingly, there
are lessons to learn from individuals who find themselves lost in the
wilderness which can be applied to individuals who find themselves lost
within the complexities of projects no longer on the right path.
Because there are many striking parallels between how people behave
when they are lost in the woods and how people behave when they are
lost in their projects, the common body of knowledge around wilderness
Search and Rescue efforts can help both the project manager on the
project that has become lost as well as the rescue team charged with the
recovery of lost project efforts.
This course will begin by exploring
the common body of knowledge
There are many striking parallels
surrounding Search and Rescue
between how people behave when
teams attempting to find individuals
We will
lost in the wilderness and how people lost in the wilderness.
uncover
the
common
stages
of
behave when lost on project efforts.
emotions and behaviors of those
K
who have become lost, and we will
discuss the behaviors of those who
survive through the experience of being lost. We will define what a lost
project is. We will outline the parallels between lost individual behavior
and lost projects. We will also review a set of guidelines to assist a
Project Search and Rescue (PSAR) team charged with searching for lost
projects, and we will discuss recommendations for project rescue efforts.
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7
Chapter 1
Introduction

Project Search and Rescue Is a Critical Skill
Student Notes
It is essential in todays complex project environments that we learn to

identify projects and teams that have become lost. In competitive
environments where budgets are tight and time-to-market is often the
difference between project success and failure, it is important to ensure
that projects are staying on the path to completion, and that this path is
the one that will bring the organization a successful solution.
Many organizations face the challenge of determining which project
efforts are staying the course and which ones are not. All projects can
be susceptible to becoming lost, and most organizations cannot afford
for this to happen. Even the most experienced project member can
become disoriented as to the direction of project work. Just as a person
lost in the forest may panic, a project member who gets lost in the
wilderness of a complex project is susceptible to panic as well. This
panic can lead a project even farther off of the path.
Perhaps the biggest challenge to the recovery effort is the fact that those
in lost projects are often afraid of being found. People who are lost in
the woods generally want to be found though they are often very
apologetic to the rescuers. On the other hand, people on lost projects
often do not want to be discovered lost. Just as lost hikers may feel
foolish when rescued, professional project managers and team members
may also find themselves overly conscious of appearing incompetent to
peers or clients. Although it is a critical project survival skill, this aversion
to signaling for help causes many projects that are on the edge of the
wilderness to walk right off of the marked trails and into the unknown.
The work of putting lost projects back on the path is a challenging but
fulfilling one. It is critical to the long-term health of an organization that
lost projects are recognized and rescued.
Defining The Lost Project

This course defines a lost project as an initiative that has a lack of
strategic direction or that has become stuck in a vicious cycle that keeps
it from achieving its objectives. This is more than projects that may have
experienced schedule slips or budget overruns. Lost projects are
composed of leadership and teams who have no method for recovering
from trouble, or they may not even recognize that they are in trouble.
Some lost projects are easier to detect than others. In your own
organization, you may be aware of where it has become obvious that
there are projects without direction or that seem to be stuck in a pattern
of achieving nothing. These projects have the advantage of easy
discovery; they can begin the recovery process right away. But, there
are other projects that can be out of view. No one is aware of these
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8

projects being lost. For these projects, the route to rescue is much more
treacherous.
Chapter 1
Introduction
Student Notes
Undiscovered lost projects become a drain on an organizations

resources and often create opportunity costs those solutions that can
never be realized because resources are being expended in lost project
efforts.
Lost projects can occur due to a variety of factors. Organizational
politics, ambiguous objectives, lack of planning and the human factor all
can play a role in a project becoming lost. All of these will be discussed
more in depth as you move through this course.
A lost project is an initiative that has
a lack of strategic direction or that has
become stuck in a vicious cycle that
keeps it from achieving its objectives.
K
The search for lost projects and lost

project teams begins with a study of
lost behavior. The behaviors that
are discussed within the next
section of this course will be the
starting point through the maze of
uncertainty for lost projects.
Review Questions
The following review questions will assist you in developing
comprehension of the material contained in this course introduction.
Answer the following questions in a separate notebook.
1. Define a lost project.
2. Why is recovering lost projects a critical skill set?
3. Why is it that lost projects can be difficult to find?
4. What advantage do easily discovered lost projects have that
hidden lost projects do not have?
5. How do lost projects create an opportunity cost for the
organization?
6. What are some of the factors that can create lost projects?
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9

Chapter 2 The Behaviors of Being
Lost
Chapter 2
The Behaviors of
Being Lost
Student Notes
Before we can begin to show the parallels between a lost hiker and
the lost project team member, it is important to understand the
Search and Rescue common body of knowledge around the human
psychology of being lost. These parallels will be discussed later in
this course; however, you are encouraged to make notes in the
margins of this text as comparative themes occur to you between
hikers lost in the wilderness and project stakeholders lost on
projects.
Stress and Stressors

The analysis of lost behavior begins with a discussion of stress and
stressors. Webster defines stress as a state of bodily or mental
tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent
equilibrium. In common language, stress is a feeling we experience
when an unfamiliar situation or condition, a stressor, is placed upon
us.
ss
re
St
Stress
has
many
advantages
for
the
or
individual. Stress forces
ss
re
t
S
an individual to become
more aware of his
Stress?
environment
and
Or
Stressor
Stressor
Distress?
stimulates him to work in
St
re
a
more
thoughtful
ss
or
or
s
s
e
manner. However, too
r
t
S
much stress or too
many stressors placed
upon a person can create a negative type of stress that we
commonly refer to as distress. In this more destructive form of
stress, individuals can find themselves less able to think clearly and
more likely to make mistakes.
or
It is common for soldiers to be put through stress training to help

them learn how they will react to stressors and to resulting stress.
The military understands that hard-skill training alone will not save a
soldier when he is confronted with challenges in a military exercise.
A soldiers well-being will also be drastically influenced by his ability
to understand his stress, and more specifically, how particular
stressors will cause him to act constructively toward his survival or
destructively to his peril.
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11
Chapter 2
The Behaviors of
Being Lost
Student Notes

Most individuals have not had the benefit of stress training. And, this
becomes evident when those individuals who would venture into a
forest or wilderness environment find themselves lost without an
understanding of how stressors can influence their ability to think and
work rationally. There is a common set of emotions and behaviors
that lost individuals will typically display, and in many cases, they will
not understand what is happening to them until it is too late.
Stressors when lost in the wilderness can include a number of things
such as weather and climate, terrain, wild animals, darkness, lack of
experience, limited resources, physical health (or lack thereof), and
mental state. When too many of these factors are added together to
create a situation of distress, then the resulting emotional state of
lost persons can snowball.
Question for your consideration: What behaviors to you think that

a lost person would display? Make a few notes in the Student Notes
margin before moving on in your reading of this section. Compare
your notes with the behaviors that are discussed next.
The Cycle of Behavior

Individuals experience a range of thoughts and behaviors when
confronted with a situation where they are lost. Interestingly, these
behaviors can occur in a linear order, or they can cycle through a lost
individual many times. Understanding this common set of behaviors
is the first step to understanding how human beings think and
behave when in a lost situation where stressors are placed upon
them.
Confusion
The initial sensation of being physically lost is referred to as spatial
disorientation. In actuality, most people operate everyday in some
state of disorientation. The reason for this is simple. A persons
environment is much too complex for him to fully comprehend.
Because this is the case, people build simpler mental models of their
physical location. These models are
generally relational in nature. This can
be demonstrated by asking a person The initial sensation of being
physically lost is referred to
to precisely locate his position on a
map. Most individuals will not be able
as spatial disorientation.
to successfully do this because his
K
manner of moving from one place to
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12

another is relational. Even a trip from home to work has some
amount of ambiguity for the average person. If someone finds
himself off of a common route, he may have difficulty in positioning
himself on a map once lost.
Chapter 2
The Behaviors of
Being Lost
Student Notes
This can be demonstrated further by thinking back to a time when

you have written down a phone number on a note card that later was
misplaced. Your mental model tells you that the note card was
colored red. You begin to search for that phone number based on
the model that you should be searching for a red piece of paper.
When one cannot be found, you search with greater ambition to find
a red piece of paper. You search the same places many times.
Then, someone else finds the phone number in a location you had
searched many times already. The note card was actually colored
blue. But, because your model of reality said red, you didnt consider
that the model was faulty.
How many times have you searched only to find that a lost item was
right in front of you? The reason why you could not locate the item
was not because it was not there but because your model of what
you were looking for was incorrect. Our ability to build these mental
models saves humans time and energy, but it also has a price tag
susceptibility to spatial disorientation. It should be a red flag to each
of us when we begin to believe that our model is more real than the
reality in front of us.
Hikers lost in the wilderness who become spatially disoriented begin
to rationalize things that are deviant to a plan of survival. Spatial
disorientation often begins as a sense of things not being quite right.
Though the realization of being lost may not yet be present, there is
a feeling that something is amiss.
For example, the lost hiker beginning to experience the effects of
spatial disorientation will begin to rationalize that the landmark that
should be there (i.e. rock formation or creek) has changed
somehow. Im in the right spot, a hiker will tell himself. Its the rock
that has moved (or the creek dried up whatever the case).
This is a concept that is often referred to as bending the map. By
this it is meant that people begin to
explain situations that dont conform to
Bending the map
their mental model, and that these
explanations are illogical with reality.
to explain reality
Clearly, a rock cannot move on its own.
is not based in reality
However, a person who is allowing
at all.
spatial disorientation to affect his
K
judgment will bend the map by illogically
arguing why his mental model is reality.
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13
Chapter 2
The Behaviors of
Being Lost
Student Notes

In the latter stages of spatial disorientation, lost individuals can begin
to experience the feelings of vertigo and can even become physically
ill from the experience. Later in this course, we will apply the
concept of spatial disorientation to project stakeholders.
Question for your consideration: Have you ever found yourself

bending the map? Jot down your personal experience of bending
the map in the Student Notes margin before moving on in your
reading of this section.
Fear
Fear is a necessary survival mechanism. Fear causes human
beings to consider the dangers of their environment. It can also
serve to aid an individual in making more mistakes as anxiety sets in.
Anxiety is the result of a persons inability to logically think through
fear. There are many situations - fear
stressors - that may play a part in
creating anxiety for the lost hiker.
Fear is a necessary survival
Common fears that will often be
mechanism.
experienced by the lost hiker who has
K
not been able to find his way include
the following items:
Fear of being alone. Human beings are social creatures

and often do not think clearly when faced with the fear
stressor of isolation. Unfamiliar surroundings serve to
escalate this fear of being alone. This feeling is further
aggravated by the uncertainty of when surroundings will
again become familiar. Again, individuals who are lost in the
woods alone run the risk of allowing this fear to cause
greater levels of panic and poor decision making.
Fear of darkness. For those lost hikers who have found

themselves lost at night, the intensity of fear increases.
Darkness represents a lack of control over the environment.
Without the advantage of vision, hikers will often feel both
more exposed and less in control of the situation. This risk
stressor can place additional anxiety on a lost individual.
Fear of animals. Strange sounds and rustling noises within

the landscape of the terrain become much more of a
stressor on a hiker when he experiences the sensation of
being lost. These fears tend to escalate, and human beings
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14

lost in the wilderness will revert to an instinctual fear of
possible predators.
Chapter 2
The Behaviors of
Being Lost
Student Notes
Fear of suffering. Most lost individuals faced with the

uncertainty of when they will be found again will become
increasingly concerned with their ability to hold their own and
not suffer the physical problems of thirst, hunger, heat &
cold, injury, fatigue, or other impacts of resource limitations.
Fear of dying. The fear of suffering usually leads to the

added fear of dying. Individuals lost in the woods who face
the anticipation of death will often begin to consider those
things in their life left undone, who will take care of their
family, and what will people say.
A Sense of Urgency
As fears begin to create more stress on an
individual, he may begin to experience full The behavior of hurrying
distress.
The usual outcome of these
to find the right place
stressors of confusion and fear is the dire
often results in a hiker
urge to push onward. As the hiker can no
longer deny that he is completely lost there becoming even farther off
of the path.
is a growing sense of urgency to find his
destination.
Interestingly enough, the
K
behavior intended to save the hiker from
being lost will be his undoing. The behavior of hurrying to find the
right place often results in the hiker becoming even farther off of the
right path.
Panic
At this stage of emotion, a hiker can begin to rationalize near
anything. Its just over that next ridge, hell repeat with growing
delirium. Critical details are re-evaluated and deemed less important
or are overlooked entirely. As panic takes its toll on the mind, the
capacity for making thoughtful decisions diminishes greatly. The
number of assumptions begins to build, while risk evaluation and risk
mitigation is all but abandoned. This denial of risks is a consistent
behavior that most lost people exhibit.
Poor Decision Making

Panic leads lost individuals to make poor decisions. Without a point
of reference for where they are and with the stressors of fear
creating panic, individuals will ignore obvious flaws of judgment and
make decisions that will be to the detriment of survival.
There are many cases of hikers who were lost in the woods and
continued to make decisions that were clearly not in their best
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15
Chapter 2
The Behaviors of
Being Lost
Student Notes

interest. For example, failure to make a shelter or fire, failure to stay
put, discarding critical equipment and clothing, and failure to signal
when spotting search aircraft are behaviors of individuals who have
panicked. To the outside observer, these things would obviously
seem irrational. To the lost individual, rational thought is difficult to
maintain.
Believe it or not, remains of people have been found who died of
dehydration yet they still had water in their canteen. This is
evidence of the fact that people do not think clearly nor do they make
sound decisions when in a mode of panic.
Frustration
The lack of results that occurs
from poor decision-making will
Attempting to continue to use a
soon grow into a feeling of
frustration. In searching again mental model as the correct gauge of
location will serve to make the
and again to find the right path
back to a known point, hikers
environment less familiar.
will begin to experience
K
increasing
frustration.
Attempting to continue to use
their mental model as the correct gauge of location will serve to
make the environment less familiar. A lost hiker who has continued
bending the map of reality will find himself in a situation where the
entire landscape is strange and landmarks are completely unfamiliar.
If frustration is allowed to continue unchecked it will often lead to
anger.
Anger
Anger, an escalation of the feelings of frustration, can encourage
impulsive reactions, further irrational behavior, poorly thought-out
decision-making and in some instances, it will cause an individual to
give up.
Depression and Withdrawal

Depression and withdrawal often follow when anger has not created
a successful solution to the problem of being lost. Once a person
has reached anger and continued to experience additional
frustrations, the cycle of anger and frustration will lead to depression
which is quickly followed by withdrawal.
Fatigue
The emotions of frustration, anger, and depression usually create
fatigue in most lost individuals. The dangers associated with fatigue
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16
Chapter 2
The Behaviors of
Being Lost

are significant. A fatigued individual will be
even less capable of maintaining himself
until rescue arrives.
The Cycle of Lost Behavior

Confusion
Student Notes
Fear
Forgetfulness
A Sense of Urgency
Many times, all of these behaviors

culminate in forgetfulness.
It is not
unusual in rescue cases that the lost
individual cannot remember the decisions
that were made while lost, nor can they
remember the events that occurred while
being lost. Forgetfulness is the sign that
all of the other emotions have taken their
toll on the lost individual.
Panic
Frustration
Anger
Depression and Withdrawal
Fatigue
Forgetfulness
The Interdependency of Lost Behavior

Each of these stages build, layered one on top of the other. For the
person who is not aware of how these emotions are playing a part on
his ability to survive, these feelings will continue to compound and
escalate creating a dangerous situation for the lost individual.
Question for your consideration: What relationships can you see

between lost person behavior and the behaviors of team members
lost on projects? Make a few notes in the Student Notes margin
before moving on in your reading of this section.
The Behaviors of Survivors

Now that we have considered the typical behaviors of lost
individuals, it is important to consider what behaviors allow
individuals who are lost in the wilderness to survive and either find
their way to a known location or to be rescued by a Search and
Rescue team. What the Search and Rescue common body of
knowledge tells us about survivors is this:
People who are lost often
People who are lost in the wilderness often
survive not because of a particular skill-set
or access to tools, but rather because of
their state of mind.
Though skill set is an important component
to survival, having the tools alone is not
enough.
Individuals who survive lost
situations seem to rely on a simple doctrine
survive not because of a

particular skill-set or
access to tools, but rather
because of their state of
mind.
K
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Chapter 2
The Behaviors of
Being Lost

that we will refer to as the STOP method.
Student Notes
The STOP Method

The STOP method is an acronym for the
following process of survival; stop, think,
top
observe, plan. Those who survive lost situations
hink
recognize, intuitively or through training, that the
moment confusion sets in is not the time to
bserve
continue to forge ahead. Instead, it is time to
consider and assess the current situation. It is
lan
interesting to note that the best survivors in lost
situations are small children. This seems to be because they
intuitively follow the STOP method. For example, the lost child will
often not continue searching for a known point of reference, but
instead will stay put and consider the immediate moment. They will
take cover if shelter is necessary. They will find a log to crawl into if
it is cold. They are intuitively better at conserving resources than lost
adults seem to be.
S
T
O
P
A Presence of Leadership
Survivors also seem to have a better chance of being found when
there is leadership among the lost group. Leadership provides a
sense of purpose for lost individuals. It spurs the group to a common
action. However, for leadership to be effective it also requires that
the purpose be broken down into simple tasks so that survival can be
managed one small step at a time.
The seven-point checklist of needs
that is used by the military as they
train their soldiers in survival
includes the following: a positive
mental attitude, first aid, shelter, fire,
signaling, water, and food.
Elements of Survival
1 A positive mental attitude
2 First aid
3 Shelter
4 Fire
5 Signaling
It is interesting to note that the items

most people would consider to be 6 Water
most critical, food and water, are at 7 Food
the bottom of this list. The priorities
within this list are logical when considered more carefully.
A positive mental attitude allows a lost individual or lost team to stay
committed to the purpose of survival. This is where leadership is
most crucial. Without leadership, it is difficult for lost individuals to
maintain the commitment to rescue.
Next, first aid is critical for injured individuals within the lost group.
Taking care of the immediate business of managing the sick and
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18

injured not only bonds the group together, but it also keeps the team
focused on the purpose survival.
Chapter 2
The Behaviors of
Being Lost
Student Notes
Shelter becomes the next critical component of survival. Shelter is

the safety net for keeping the members of a lost group healthy.
Fire is also an important component of survival. For most individuals
lost in the wilderness, fire represents more than just light and
warmth. It also represents some amount of control over the
environment. This is especially important to the mental stability of
the lost person.
The ability to signal for help is the next component of survival
mechanisms. It keeps the team focused on the goal, to be rescued.
The resources of water and food are last to be considered. By
performing the STOP method, lost groups are able to better utilize
scarce resources instead of wasting them and succumbing to the
emotional stages discussed earlier.
Question for your consideration: What relationships can you see

between the behavior of survivors and the behaviors of team
members who survive on lost project efforts? Make a few notes in
the Student Notes margin before moving on in your reading.
The information in this section serves to establish groundwork for the

student as this course begins the work of uncovering lost project
efforts within an organization as the precursor for rescuing them.
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Chapter 2
The Behaviors of
Being Lost
Student Notes
Review Questions
comprehension of the material contained in this course chapter.
1. Define stress and stressors.
2. Describe the difference between stress and distress.
3. What are some of the common cycles of behavior of lost
individuals?
4. What are the common fears
5.
of lost individuals when lost in the wilderness?
6. What are some of the common behaviors of survivors?

7. Define the STOP method.
8. Why is leadership important for lost individuals?
9. What is the seven-point checklist suggested for leaders of lost
teams?
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Chapter 3 Discovering Lost
Projects
As
Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes
discussed earlier during the introduction to this course, lost
projects can be difficult to find within an organization. For the Project

Search and Rescue (PSAR) team charged with finding lost projects
within an organization, the best place to begin is often by talking to
the people engaged in the work project managers, team members,
and other stakeholders who find themselves tied to delivering a
solution. In this section, we will begin searching for lost project
efforts.
Preparing to Search for Lost Projects

Project Search and Rescue teams are established for many reasons.
For example, a project management office may be charged with
auditing an organizations projects as part of an overall portfolio
status report to the organizations leadership. Other teams who were
originally brought together to evaluate the maturity of project
management processes used in an organization may often find
themselves uncovering projects in trouble, and thus begin to
concentrate on discovering initiatives that are lost. Whatever the
reason, PSAR teams provide a critical
function to a project organization, and
planning thoughtfully to engage in this
Thoughtful planning is
discovery work is important.
It is
critical to a successful
important, however, that the PSAR team
PSAR effort.
membership can be considered objective
K
participants of the review and recovery
process.
Planning for the Search

PSAR teams must take the time to plan just as competent Search
and Rescue teams must plan before executing a search for a lost
person or group. Unlike the Search and Rescue team who seeks to
find a lost hiker, PSAR teams are often not aware of specifically
those project initiatives that are lost. Because this is the case,
planning for PSAR teams is crucial.
Planning a PSAR Review

A PSAR team needs to take the time to build a project plan for the
PSAR review effort. This project plan should include a project
charter identifying the reason for undertaking the effort and the highlevel expectation for objectives and scope. Scope can be further
clarified through a work breakdown structure effort. Scheduling and
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Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes

communications planning should also be of prime importance for this
effort. Additionally, the PSAR team may also want to consider the
risks, especially political risks, which may be experienced as a result
of this effort.
A high-level work breakdown structure for the PSAR Review effort
(Template X.1) is included in the Tools section of this guide. This
work breakdown structure can be modified by a PSAR team to
accommodate most review efforts.
A PSAR team will need to determine project approach. For example,
will multiple review efforts be underway concurrently, or will one
project review occur at a time? This will often be determined based
on the number of reviewer resources that are available to conduct
the effort as well as the time and cost implications of running
concurrent project reviews. Whatever approach is taken, it is
important that the PSAR team document this approach through the
project charter or similar documentation.
Defining a List of Projects to Review

Defining a list of projects for review is a critical one.
For
organizations that have an enterprise solution where project status is
objectively driven from a software tool, this can be a good place to
begin. Projects that demonstrate over-runs, significant scope creep,
and/or schedule slippages can be a good place to begin.
However, for organizations where status reports are provided
through a more manual process of written status, these reports of a
project are not always the best judge of lost projects. For example,
project managers and teams who recognize that they are lost, but
who for reasons of pride or fear do not signal that they are lost, will
often dress up a status report such that it does not always accurately
reflect the condition of the project. Additionally, those on projects
who are lost may not even recognize that their initiatives are lost. If
you will remember from the last section, lost individuals who
experience a state of confusion or spatial disorientation will not know
enough to recognize that they are lost and that they should signal for
rescue. In similar fashion, lost project members will often not
recognize that they should signal through status reporting.
A list of lost projects can begin to be developed by looking for the
obvious signs of trouble. This could include projects who are
regularly seeking project variances, projects who are regularly going
back to the client to obtain more funding, projects who have
continually slipped initial milestones as well as revision dates to
those milestones, and projects where unmanaged scope creep has
occurred.
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In the absence of this information, however, a random audit of
projects may be the solution. When the information exists to do so, a
PSAR team should begin building a list of those projects that are
strategically significant to the organization. Strategically significant
projects may already be known to a project management office and
the organization. If this is the case, the PSAR team will more easily
begin to define appropriate projects to review.
If strategic
significance has not already been defined across a portfolio of
projects, the best place to begin defining them is through the
business leadership of an organization. A PSAR team should begin
with interviews of the leadership to obtain a list of projects that are
strategically significant.
Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes
Initiating Conversation with the Project Manager

A PSAR review effort will be most successfully conducted when
project managers are made aware of the review before interviewing
project participants. It is important to discuss the PSAR Review with
these project managers in person. Included in this discussion should
be a presentation of the purpose of the review. Project managers
should be made aware of the fact that it will be important to interview
team participants. Explain to the project managers whose projects
are under review that they will be informed
of the output of the team participant
interviews and will be asked to provide Honesty is an important
additional input. Honesty is an important
component of the
component of this conversation with
conversation with a
project managers, and so the conditions
project manager.
that put their projects on the list of projects
K
to be reviewed is important to discuss.
Project managers who are contacted may or may not be open
toward having their projects reviewed, and so the level of
cooperation will be different for each project manager. Keep in mind,
however, that a project managers cooperation or lack thereof is not
necessarily an indicator that the effort is lost. A project manager who
begins the effort with less than optimal cooperation will usually begin
to be more open if he can see a benefit to himself and his project.
Keeping the project manager informed and engaged throughout the
effort will increase success. Include project managers on the
communication plan and ensure that they are provided status of the
reviews as well as copies of the PSAR report that will be prepared
later.
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Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects

Interviewing Project Participants
Student Notes
The interviews of project participants, members of the project team

who either are responsible for components of work and/or who are
physically completing the work, will be the first and perhaps the most
significant toward identifying lost projects. It is not necessary that
every project participant be interviewed; however, a sampling of
participants from various areas of the total project scope can be most
beneficial in gaining a project-wide perspective. These interviews
should ideally be conducted one-on-one. The information obtained
from the interview should be anonymous for the purposes of the
PSAR report to prepared later. Inform participants that their
information will be kept confidential and their names will not
specifically be attached to comments or information provided by the
interview. This can be an important component of participants being
willing to discuss the project in more detail.
It is extremely important to begin each interview by discussing with
the participant the objectives of the PSAR Review and why it is being
undertaken. It is important to address that their involvement in the
PSAR Review is an opportunity for them to suggest improvements
as well as to discuss any observations that they would like to
contribute about the project and its staff. This interview is much
more than the opportunity to gain information from a participant. It
provides the opportunity of looking into the project from his or her
perspective.
A PSAR interviewer should be sensitive to the fact that the
participants involvement in this interview can sometimes be
uncomfortable for him. He may view the interview as an intrusion of
his team and the project work. During this interviewing process it is
important for the PSAR team to work respectfully with project
participants understanding that often the PSAR Review will be seen
as a negative and not a positive. The most effective way to gain the
cooperation of project teams is to deal with them in an open, honest,
and respectful manner always. A lack of honesty by a PSAR team
can foster a project teams willingness to stay lost as a method of
ensuring failure of the PSAR effort. The PSAR team should be an
advocate for the project team.
While interviewing, the PSAR interviewers
will want to pay attention to the answers to
questions they ask not only from the
standpoint of content but also from the
standpoint of attitudes and behaviors. In
particular, the PSAR team should look for
behaviors consistent with those discussed
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Have you discussed with

project participants why
the PSAR Review is being
conducted?
K

in the previous section of lost person behavior. This will be
discussed in more depth below. A Project Participant Interview
Outline is provided for you in the Tools section of this course,
Template X.2, and is discussed fully below.
Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes
Participants Understanding of Why the Project Exists

For those individuals that will be interviewed, it is insightful to ask
what is their understanding of the strategic implications of the
solution their project provides. Some individuals will not know an
answer for this question. Others will have one. It is important for
PSAR interviewers to look for consistency between the participants
answers and the documented reason for the project.
Many times, a participants failure to understand the reasons why a
project has been undertaken leads to an inability to make a
connection between the tactical elements of providing deliverables
and the strategic impact of those deliverables on the receiving
organization.
PSAR interviewers who find that the project participants do not know,
do not understand, or who holds an inconsistent view of the project
vision should consider this a sign that the project may be lost.
However, this is not always the case. It will be important to look at
the project participants understanding of the strategic implications of
the project combined with the components discussed next.
Participants Understanding of Scope, Schedule, and

Budget Objectives
Project participants should be asked about the current objectives
around scope, schedule and budget.
Do they have an
understanding of the expectations for these items, and further, do
they have an understanding of why these objectives are what they
are?
For example, if a client has mandated an end date for the solution,
do the project participants understand the need for this date? Is
there, generally speaking, a recognition of why any constraints on
objectives exist as they do? This is important because, just as hikers
need reference points in order to find their way using a map, project
participants must understand the reference points of the projects
map, or project plan. Project participants who either do not know
what project objectives are who do not have a good understanding of
why constraints on these objectives exist may not have a clear
understanding of goals, or reference points of the project map.
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Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes

It can also be useful to ask project participants if they believe that the
objectives are achievable. Objectives that are aggressive is one
matter, however, objectives that participants believe to be unrealistic
should be noted. The PSAR interview should query further to
uncover why the participant believes the objectives to be either
achievable or not.
PSAR interviewers should also ask more specifically about the scope
that is being provided within the project. In particular, the PSAR
team should pay particular attention to the discussion of deliverables
versus activities.
Deliverables, as defined within this course,
are the end results of actions.
Are the project
Deliverables are the tangible components
participants suffering
of a project and the representations of
from means-ends
project scope. These components may be
internal to the project effort, such as a
inversion?
signed requirements document, or parts of
K
the final customer solution, such as
hardware. Activities are the actions that
must be taken by the team to achieve these deliverables. A
participant focus that is more toward activities and less toward
deliverables may be an indication that scope is not clarified for the
participant. This focus on activities over deliverables is often
referred to as means-ends inversion. Means-ends inversion is an
indication that project team is at risk of not understanding the course
of the project, the project map.
PSAR interviewers should query these project participants further to
ascertain whether or not the scope of work is clearly understood by
participants. The absence of scope statements, work breakdown
structure or other such scope decomposition tools, and project
schedules which do not hold milestones representing deliverables
are suggestions that scope may not be clearly represented by the
plan and known by the participants. Further, it may also indicate that
the project participants have no point of reference of the project map.
Project schedules should always support the development of
deliverables; project schedules that do not show the achievement of
deliverables is reason to suspect that a project and team is in danger
of being lost.
Not all project participants are privy to the budget components of a
project, however, for those who are it is important to ask if they
understand the budget, how it was arrived at, and do they believe
that the budget is achievable. Participants who were made a part of
the development of budget estimates - hours and/or dollars should
be able to discuss how those estimates were generated and why. If
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there seems to be no formula for how estimates were generated, it
could also be a sign that the projects participants are lost related to
project objectives.
Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes
Participants Understanding of Project Risk

A project participants understanding of the projects risk holds
particular importance for a PSAR interviewer. Does the participant
understand the risks present? Have those risks been communicated
and documented? Are there mitigations in place to correct risks
above a standard threshold of risk tolerance, and are the project
participants regularly reviewing risk plans for changes and updates?
When asked about risk, some participants may begin to discuss
project issues, or current problems that the project is experiencing.
These issues represented risks, or potential problems, that may have
not been dealt with previously. A PSAR interviewer will want to pay
attention to the items that the participants bring up regarding project
issues. Project issues are discussed in more detail on page 41.
A participants lack of
understanding
regarding
project risk as well as his
lack of engagement toward
risk planning could be an
indication that the project
and its participants are
either lost or in danger of
being lost.
Remember the distinction between risk and

issues project participants might not
recognize the difference.
K
Participants View of Project Progress

Adherence to the project plan
PSAR interviewers should query participants about how well the
actual work is adhering to the project plan. Participants who are
either unwilling to discuss project progress or who suggest that the
project is off the path of the plan should be questioned further for
more information. Included in information that the PSAR interviewer
will want to look for are changes occurring on the project, current
issues that the project is experiencing, updates to the plan, the
environment and health of the project team, and the impact that the
organization or other project work has on this project.
Project changes
Change is both a regular and challenging occurrence on project
initiatives. The existence of change itself does not create a lost
project; however, change not managed well is disorienting, causing a
greater risk for a project to become lost.
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Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes

Project participants often have a unique view of project change. For
them, change is often seen as a negative, and there is limited or no
focus on the benefits a change provides for the client and for the
business. This must be considered when interviewing participants
about change since many will hold negative views of change
regardless of the benefits to the business organization.
When discussing project change, the PSAR interviewer should ask
the project participant what his views are of the changes that are
currently happening on a project. But, these views alone are not
enough information to ascertain whether or not the project is
troubled. Further questions are required.
Are changes being managed diligently through a process of change
control? Are changes being added into the project without any
supporting documentation?
Are changes jeopardizing the
participants and teams ability to deliver the originally agreed to
solution for the time and cost objectives that have been set forth?
Have revised objectives been agreed to by the client organization
and the project manager regarding creating revised benchmarks of
project success given new changes that have been implemented?
Project participants may have little understanding of the business
advantages of change, however, they generally have a first-hand
and realistic view of the impacts of changes upon the progress of the
solution and its ability to be successful.
Project issues
For those participants who have not already brought up the topic of
project issues during the discussion of risk, it will be important that
the PSAR interviewer specifically request information about the
current issues the project is experiencing.
The PSAR interviewer should consider not only the issues that the
participant discusses during the interview but also the attitudes and
experiences regarding the discussed issues.
Do the participants believe that the current project issues can be
addressed? What process does the project team use to document
and manage issues?
Is the process working?
Do project
participants believe that the current issues are a threat to the overall
success of the project objectives?
Where an abundance of issues exist and where no process is being
used to address them, the PSAR interviewer should see this as an
indication that the project team is lost.
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Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Project plan updates

A participants view of updates to the plan provides much information
to the PSAR team. A participant who believes that the plan is not
being managed effectively or who is not aware of how the project
plan is being updated as needed may be an indication of serious
problems regarding the health of a project.
Student Notes
In particular, a participant should be asked questions about how

actual work information is logged. For example, does the participant
provide information regarding the work that is completed as well as
provide additional information regarding the work required to
complete the deliverable as an update to the original estimate for
that deliverable? Was the participant provided with a method to
provide actual data to the project manager? Does the project
manager regularly initiate conversations regarding updates to the
risk plan, issues register, project schedule, budget, or other
components of the project plan?
A participant who indicates that there is an absence of regular
interactions with the project manager regarding progress could
indicate a project of lost participants.
Health of the project environment
A project participant often has a very accurate view of the
environment of the project. In particular, he is often aware of
challenges among team members or between departments that
those team members may represent. A PSAR interviewer should
ask participants about how the project team works together. Does
the participant believe that members of the team share a common
goal of what is to be achieved? Does the participant believe that the
team membership is respectful to one another? Does the participant
feel that the working relationships between members are positive?
Some participants may be unwilling to discuss these matters in detail
as it might be considered against the morays of the group. A PSAR
interviewer should be sensitive to this and respect those participants
who are unwilling to discuss matters that they feel could jeopardize
working relationships with other team members.
How do the team members feel about the
influences of the larger organization on
the project effort?
K
However, for those team

members who are willing to
discuss troubles that the
project membership may be
experiencing, it can be
useful information for a
PSAR team.
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Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects

The influence of the larger organization
Student Notes
Participants often have a terrific perspective of the political influences

of the larger organization or other project efforts on the project in
question. Many will be able to articulate very well the challenges that
the wilderness of the organization brings to the effort. Without
leading the topics of conversation here, a PSAR interviewer should
ask participants if they see any challenges the project is
experiencing due to factors outside the work of the project team. For
example, perhaps there are other projects concurrently running that
are competing for time from the same project resources. Or,
perhaps there is a recent change of leadership in the organization
that is creating unique challenges for the team.
A PSAR interviewer should note the challenges that are brought up
as well as ask participants their thoughts on solutions for those
challenges.
Participants should be encouraged to share any
suggestions they have which could assist projects in running more
smoothly.
Participant Behaviors and Responses

During the PSAR interview, the interviewer will receive much
information from the participants. This information will not be content
only. Participants will have feelings, attitudes, and behaviors that will
add context to the content they provide in the interview. The
interviewer should be aware of these throughout the entire interview
and note them.
The information discussed in the previous section suggested
behaviors common to individuals lost in the wilderness. These same
behaviors will be present within participants who do find themselves
lost on project efforts.
Confusion
Does the participant show a sense of confusion over the details of
the project or his role in it? Does the participant seem confused
about the reasons why the project is being undertaken or the goals
of the project? Does the participant seem to be disoriented such that
he cannot quickly respond to questions presented by the PSAR
interviewer?
Frustration
Is there a general sense of frustration as the participant discusses
project status, issues, risk and progress toward objectives?
A Sense of Urgency
Does the participant have a sense that there is not enough time to
suspend work for the PSAR Review? Is there a general sense that
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the participant feels the need to hurry to get the project back on the
path?
Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes
Fear
Does the participant seem
nervous or scared of
Fear may keep project participants from
discussing some details
presenting project information. A PSAR
and not others? Or, does
the participant refuse to interviewer should watch for signs of fear.
K
give
more
in-depth
answers? If the participant
does answer openly, does he also express a fear regarding the
project effort? Earlier in this course, we discussed specific fears that
individuals lost in the wilderness experience. The parallels for lost
project participants are striking. Consider the following list of fears
below and understand that these fears may play a role in how
forthcoming a project participant will be.
Fear of being alone. The project participant may have

fears that he is alone in his feelings of being lost, or the
participant may feel that the project is abandoned or
isolated within the organization.
Fear of darkness. The project participant feels a lack of

control over the environment in which he works. This lack of
control creates a fear suggesting that the effort is lost.
Fear of animals. The project participant fears predatory

team members as well as individuals outside the project
team.
Fear of suffering. The project participant fears that he or

she will be blamed for a lost effort or that his career will be
negatively impacted.
Fear of dying. The project participant fears that he or she

will lose a job.
Panic
Are there signs that the participant is panicked about the project
effort? Does the participant justify the progress of the project
through assumptions that seem risky or without the use of thoughtful
judgment? Does the participant expressly state that the team is
panicked about the condition of the project?
A project participant who is in a state of panic will have a very difficult
time hiding this emotion from a PSAR interviewer. A PSAR
interviewer will see many of the earlier behaviors of confusion,
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Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes

frustration, a sense of urgency, and fear expressed in a panicked
individual.
Anger
Participants may show anger toward the PSAR interviewer. This by
itself does not suggest that the participant is angry about the
condition of the project. Instead, the PSAR interviewer should look
for signs of anger from the participant regarding decisions made
within the project, the status or progress of the project, or the
environment that is impacting the project. Does the participant seem
angry as he is queried about the condition of the project effort?
It is important to differentiate anger regarding the project and anger
resulting from the interview. Look for participant interactions where
anger is present in some answers and not in others. For example, a
participant who shows a calm demeanor when discussing one topic
may display signs of anger when asked about another project topic.
A PSAR interviewer should note anger when shown and the topic
that initiated the anger.
In some cases, the angry participant will refuse to cooperate in the
PSAR interview. The PSAR interviewer should move through the list
of questions as politely and respectfully as possible and note the
participants unwillingness to interact.
Does the participant express concern about poor decision making in
the project? Does he articulate the poor decisions of others and the
impact of those decisions on the project? Does the participant
suggest that he has been encouraged to undertake activities that he
believed to be poor decisions? Why did he believe these decisions
to be poor?
Fatigue
Does the participant seem to be fatigued when queried about the
project? Does the participant indicate that he is tired of the effort and
that it is draining his ability to be productive?
Depression and withdrawal
Does the participant seem to be apathetic to the PSAR Review? Is
there a sense that the project participant has resigned himself to the
current condition of the project effort?
Forgetfulness
Is the participant unable to articulate how decisions on the project
were arrived at? Is the participant able to explain a path of situations
and decisions that have led the team to this point on the project
effort? Does the participant seem to struggle with remembering
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32

conversations or key events of the project to this point? Do the
participants answers to questions regarding project events conflict
with one another?
Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes
Beyond the forgetfulness of certain individuals, the project may have

forgotten key pieces of information due to resource turnover or
changes in project managers over the course of the project. These
changes of talent on a project often lead to a loss of the project body
of knowledge around the effort. A PSAR team should pay particular
attention to projects where turnover has been a constant. It, too, is
a sign of forgetfulness expressed on a project effort.
Words and Phases to Listen For

When interviewing team members listen carefully for the following
words, phrases and emotions:
Inconsistent
Crazy
Failure
Unhappy
Unrealistic
Unachievable
Uncontrollable
Apathetic
Afraid
Scared
Anxious
Impossible
Lost
Frustrated
Angry
Mad
I do not know...
Our problems are insurmountable.
Confused
Disoriented
Untrusting
Stupid
Foolish
Incompetent
Late
Behind
Our deadlines are impossible!

Nobody really knows whats going on!
No one is listening.
I dont understand.
I hope this works. this time!
How can we work with these requirements?!
If we could only find a dedicated resource for the next two
weeks!
I wish this project would just finish up and go away.
No one is on the same page.
The project doesnt seem to be making real progress.
If.then(with no else).
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Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects

Looking for Consistent Themes by Project Participants
Student Notes
The comments of one participant alone may not indicate a lost

initiative; however, consistent themes stated by many participants
can demonstrate that the project is off course.
A PSAR interviewer will need to look for consistent themes when
interviewing participants. These themes can be utilized in querying
the project manager as well as reviewing the project with the PSAR
team.
Summary of Interviewing Project Participants
1
Participants Understanding of Why the Project Exists
Participants Understanding of Scope, Schedule, and Budget Objectives
Participants View of Project Progress
Participant Behaviors and Responses
Words and Phases to Listen For
Looking for Consistent Themes by Project Participants
Interviewing Project Managers

The interview with the project
manager assists the PSAR team in
better understanding the leadership
that exists within a project team. The
analysis of the project managers
responses to questions helps a
PSAR team not only understand
whether or not the initiative is lost but
also whether or not the leadership
exists to bring the effort back on track
if it is lost.
The PSAR interviewer should take a
moment
when
beginning
the
interview to discuss the objectives of
the interview as well as general
themes that were shared by
participants. It is not advisable to
share specific comments by specific
PLEASE NOTE: You will find

common elements in this
section of the course,
Interviewing Project Managers,
and the previous course section,
Interviewing Project Participants.
However read carefully as the
interview with the project
manager also contains unique
differences from the interviews
conducted with project
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34
participants.
K

individuals as it is likely to
create a possible tangent to
The interview with the project manager
the agenda.
Instead, any
serves to establish whether or not the
inquiries to specific project
leadership exists to bring a project back participant comments should
be responded to simply by
on the path if it is determined it is lost.
stating that more specific
K
information will be given later.
Remind the project manager
that he or she will be provided with a copy of the final report and that
nothing will be held from him or her. The reason behind waiting to
provide information in its totality is that the results will have more
value when considered as a whole, and offering up information in
piecemeal will have less value to the project manager who is
attempting to bring a lost effort back on the path to completion
Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes
Again, it is important to remind the project manager that the PSAR

team is an advocate for the project effort and the project team.
Discuss with the project manager that the input he provides will
assist the PSAR team in better understanding the current initiative
and its challenges, if there are any.
In some cases, a project manager may be unwilling to discuss some
or all of the items addressed below. A PSAR interviewer should be
open and respectful during the entire interview and remind the
project manager of the positive benefits of the PSAR Review for him
and for his project. A project manager who is continually unwilling to
cooperate in a PSAR effort is a sign that the project effort could be
lost. Project managers are held to a different level of accountability
than project participants, and the PSAR team should be aware of
project managers who would withhold information as a way to save
themselves over saving the project effort.
There will be project managers who will see the interview as an
opportunity to be heard. They may have already been attempting to
escalate, or signal, that the project was troubled without the signal
being recognized by those who were higher up in the organization.
Project managers who are more interested in the solution being
successful and less concerned about how they will be viewed by the
organization will be more
forthcoming of information.
Can the project manager present
Although
these
project
documentation that details the
managers may be on a lost
project, a PSAR interviewer
business objectives of the project?
should take note that the
K
leadership exists to assist the
effort in survival.
A project
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35
Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes

manager who recognizes the benefits of the PSAR effort has the
greater potential of getting a lost project back on the path. A Project
Manager Interview Outline is provided for you in the Tools section of
this course, Template X.3, and is discussed fully below.
Project Managers Understanding of Why the Project

Exists
A project managers understanding of the strategic benefits of the
solution is a critical component in its success for the business. A
project manager without sufficient understanding of the goals of the
solution cannot execute a plan and rally a team behind creating a
successful solution.
In particular, can the project manager present a project charter or
definition document that details the business objectives of the
project? In the absence of a formal charter, can the project manager
present other documentation that would describe the strategic
objectives of the solution for the business? And, does the project
manager articulate the strategic benefits in a way that is consistent
with documentation? Where no such documentation exists, there is
room for ambiguity and a greater likelihood that the project will not
achieve the desired solution for the client.
Project Managers Understanding of Scope, Schedule, and

Budget Objectives
The PSAR interviewer should request that the project manager
articulate his understanding of the project objectives for scope,
schedule, and budget. Further, if these objectives were mandated
by the client, does the project manager understand why these
objectives were set forth? For example, if a mandated end date was
provided by the client, does the project manager understand that the
reason behind this was due to regulatory changes, or some other
such constraint?
A project manager should be able to present documentation
supporting the agreed upon objectives. This information may exist
formally as part of the project charter, business case or definition
document. Or, this information may be less formally outlined in
some other document. Where no documentation exists to outline
project objectives, it is likely that there is not a common
understanding of objectives between a client and the delivering
organization.
Just as project participants were questioned regarding the
component of scope, a project manager should also be questioned.
Does the project manager understand the deliverables that must be
completed as part of the project?
Are these deliverables
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36

documented through a scope statement, work breakdown structure,
or some other manner of scope definition? Further, does the project
manager demonstrate mean-ends inversion? If the project manager
presents a schedule when asked about scope, does the schedule
display deliverable-based milestones? Is the scope achievable?
Was a change control process introduced to the client at the outset
of the project to manage changes to scope?
Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes
It is also important to ask the project manager about how the

schedule was created to support the time objective of the project.
Was the project team an integral component in its development?
How were duration estimates created? Was the schedule driven
from a pre-designated end date without consideration of the
achievability of that end date? Were any unrealistic, mandated dates
communicated as such to the client?
How was the budget arrived at? Did the project team play a role in
defining the budget estimate? Was scope clarified to the point that a
thorough estimate could be completed? If mandated by the client, is
the budget objective achievable? If not, how was this information
communicated to the client?
The absence of information or lack of understanding from the project
manager regarding scope, time, and cost objectives suggests that
the project effort could be lost.
Project Managers Understanding of Project Risk

When discussing risk with the project manager, it is important to see
how risk is planned for, documented, and managed. A lost project
will rarely have a risk plan that is being continually managed and
updated throughout the life of a project. In many cases, a project
which is lost may have started with a risk plan; however, the risk plan
may have been ditched in an effort to fire-fight the compounding
issues that surface. A project that is not regularly addressing the
topic of risk may not have the resource bandwidth to do so and as
such could be a lost effort.
A project manager who presents a risk log to the PSAR interviewer
should be queried as to how risk identification and assessment were
conducted, how were risk thresholds of what would be tolerated set,
and how were response plans built. Additionally, the project
manager should be able to discuss the frequency with which the
team is reviewing the risk plan and revising it.
A project manager may bring up the topic of project issues during
this discussion or may even present an issue register. Recognizing
that risks and issues are different components to be dealt with in a
project effort, the PSAR interviewer will want to listen closely to the
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Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes

information that a project manager provides related to issues as well
as query the project manager as to whether or not those issues had
been identified earlier as risks and were there response plans in
place to manage them. Not all issues will or can be anticipated on a
risk plan; however, a number of issues that were never indicated on
the risk plan suggests that the risk planning was ineffective or
nonexistent for purposes of the project.
It is also important to query a project manager on the assumptions
that were made on the project. For example, a project manager who
made the assumption that resources would be made available when
needed, and who works in an environment where this is a constant
challenge, creates a potential jeopardy when this assumption is
considered a valid one.
Valid project assumptions should carry low risk to the project effort.
Invalid assumptions create a potential of great risk. Assumptions
become dangerous when they are used to plan a project without
considering what happens if the assumption does not prove valid.
This is evidenced by the simple if-then-else scenario. Most
programmers are aware of the dangers of an if-then statement where
no else is defined, known as a dangling else statement. In the same
way, assumptions (if) used to create project plans (then) without
considering risks (else) are also dangerous territory and suggests
that the project is a lost effort. Assumptions that create a dangling
else for the project effort is a sign that the initiative could be lost.
Lost projects will be full of highrisk assumptions and perhaps
even no logical basis given the
organizations they exist in. A
PSAR interviewer should pay
particular attention to the
assumptions that were made,
why they were made, and how
they were or were not managed
as part of the risk plan.
Are project assumptions being made

that are too risky?
Dangling Else Syndrome

K
Project Managers View of Project Progress

Adherence to the project plan
A project manager should be able to present how the effort is
adhering to the project plan. Can the project manager articulate
what is on target and what is not? Does the project manager have
reference points of when the project fell away from the project map,
the project plan?
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The adherence to the plan will be impacted by change, issues, plan
updates, the project environment, and the organization. If the project
effort is not adhering to the plan, the project manager will probably
bring up matters related to these topics.
Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes
Project changes
The project manager should be aware of changes to the project
effort and be able to speak to changes specifically. The PSAR
interviewer should query the project manager as to the changes that
have been brought into the project and how those changes were
managed. In particular, PSAR interviewers will want to see how
those changes were initiated, who initiated them, how were changes
adopted, is a change control process being used, and is the project
plan in need of a re-baseline effort due to the significance of
changes.
Project managers may or may not hold a negative view of change.
Optimally, a project manager should view change as appropriate
when it benefits the clients objectives for the business. Project
managers who recognize that change is a typical and sometimes
necessary component of a successful solution may view changes
differently than the project team. However, regardless of the project
managers personal feeling about project change, it is important that
he is able to articulate the benefit of the change to the client and
strictly manage the introduction of new changes into the effort. A
project that is besieged by change and where the project manager is
not controlling the introduction of change is a sign that the project
may be off of the path.
Project issues
Whether or not the project manager has already discussed issues as
part of the earlier discussion of risk, the PSAR interviewer will want
to take the time to discuss the matter of issues management. It is
important to consider not only the content of the project managers
responses toward issues but also his attitudes and feelings about
them. Does the project manager believe that the issues can be
addressed? Can the project manager present a current issue
register? Can the project manager describe the teams process for
resolving issues? And, is the process working? Does the project
manager believe that the current issues are a threat to the success
of the project?
As stated previously, where an abundance of issues exist and where
no process is being used to address them, the PSAR interviewer
should see this as an indication of a lost project effort.
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Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects

Project plan updates
Student Notes
A project manager should be able to provide information to the

PSAR interviewer as to how actuals are reported to him regarding
the project effort. The manner in which a project manager receives
this information tells a lot about how the team is managing to the
project plan.
A project manager who is queried about how project actuals are
received from the team should be able to explain exactly what the
expectations are for reporting and how reporting is expected to
occur. A project manager who does not have a proscribed method
for how actuals should be reported requires more questioning from a
PSAR interviewer. Is the team membership reporting in a consistent
manner? For example, is
one team member reporting
Has a project manager laid out a plan for progress as a percent of
completion whereas another
how the project plan is updated with
team member is reporting
actual data?
actual hours spent toward a
Was this communicated to the project
deliverable? If the project
team?
manager is using percent
K
complete as a method of
tracking actuals, how is
percent complete calculated? Does each team member calculate it
in the same manner? Additionally, is the project manager regularly
initiating conversations with the team about updates to work
completed as well as the revised estimates for the work remaining?
Does he regularly ask if milestone dates are still achievable? Does
he regularly initiate conversations regarding updates to other project
plan elements including risk, issues, budget, and change?
A project manager who does not have a consistent method of
receiving actual data from the project team may be an indication of
trouble.
Health of the project environment
A project manager often has a unique view of the health of
interactions of various team members and departments engaged in
project work. A project managers perspective allows an overall view
of the health of the relationships of project stakeholders. Does the
project manager believe that the project membership shares a
common vision for the project? Does he believe that the project
membership displays respect for one another and the roles that each
member plays toward the success of the project? If there are
challenges, has he considered ways to improve interactions among
the team?
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A project managers open and honest relationship with sponsors and
with clients is critical to keeping a project on the path. The project
manager often serves as a communication bridge between a client
and the delivering organization. Because this is the case, his
relationship with those on both sides as well as his ability to respect
the interests of both sides is of paramount importance.
Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes
A project manager should be able to describe the relationship

between himself and the sponsor of the project as well as his
relationship with the client. Does he believe that the relationship is a
productive one? If he suggests that there are challenges, what are
they and why does he believe those challenges have occurred?
Does he have a plan to improve those relationships? A project
manager who generally displays a lack of respect for the internal
team or the sponsors and client of a project effort is a sign that his
leadership may not be capable of protecting the effort from being
lost.
The influence of the larger organization
A project manager often has a realistic view of the impact that the
larger organization has on the success of the solution, and most will
be more than willing to discuss the challenges this places on the
effort. A PSAR interviewer should pay close attention to those items
that a project manager discusses and note them. Again, it is
important that the PSAR interviewer not lead the topic of
conversation here and instead allow the project manager to openly
initiate those things that he sees as problems or potential problems
to the effort. These items may have already been discussed during
the subject of risk or issues. If not, the PSAR interviewer should
specifically ask about the project managers thoughts regarding the
influence of those things that are outside of his control. Specifically,
what are his concerns, and does he have a plan to assist in
escalating those concerns if he has not done so already? Further,
does the project manager have recommendations for how these
concerns can be positively addressed?
Where the PSAR interviewer sees signs that the project manager
has resigned himself to possible negative influences without a
method for communicating and documenting them, this could be an
indication that a project is lost.
Project Managers Behaviors and Responses

During the PSAR interview, project managers will generally have
feelings, attitudes, and behaviors that will add context to the content
they provide in the interview. The interviewer should be aware of
these throughout the entire interview and note them.
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Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes

As with the discussion of project participants, project managers may
experience the same lost behaviors. Lets take a look at these
behaviors once again from the perspective of the project manager.
Confusion
Does the project manager show a sense of confusion about the
details of the project or his role in it? Does he seem confused about
the reasons why the project is being undertaken or the goals of the
project? Does he seem to be disoriented such that he cannot quickly
respond to questions presented by the PSAR interviewer?
Frustration
Is there a general sense of frustration as the project manager
discusses project status, issues, risk and progress toward
objectives?
A Sense of Urgency
Is there a sense that there
Does the project manager have a sense that

there is not enough time to suspend work
for the PSAR Review? Is there a general
sense that he feels the need to hurry to get
the project back on the path?
is not enough time to

suspend project work for
the PSAR Review?
K
Fear
Does the project manager seem nervous or scared of discussing
some details and not others? Or, does he refuse to give more in
depth answers? If he does answer openly, does he also express a
fear regarding the project effort?
Specific fears related to those we discussed previously that the
project manager might also experience:
Fear of being alone. The project manager may have fears

that he is alone in his feelings of being lost, or he may feel
that the project is abandoned or isolated within the
organization.
Fear of darkness. The project manager feels a lack of

control over the environment in which he works. This lack of
control creates a fear around suggesting that the effort is
lost.
Fear of animals. The project manager fears predatory team

members as well as individuals outside the project team.
Fear of suffering. The project manager fears that he or she

will be blamed for a lost effort or his or her career will be
adversely affected.
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Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Fear of dying. The project manager fears that he or she will

Student Notes
lose a job.
Panic
Are there signs that the project manager is panicked about the
project effort? Does he justify the progress of the project through
assumptions that seem risky or without the use of thoughtful
judgment? Does he expressly state that the team is panicked about
the condition of the project?
Again, panic is a difficult emotion to hide. A PSAR interviewer will
see many of the earlier behaviors of confusion, frustration, a sense
of urgency, and fear expressed in a panicked individual.
Anger
Project managers also may show anger toward the PSAR
interviewer. This by itself does not suggest that he is angry about
the condition of the project. Instead, the PSAR interviewer should
look for signs of anger regarding decisions made for the project, the
status or progress of the project, or the environment that is impacting
the project. Does he seem angry as he is queried about the
condition of the project effort?
It is important to differentiate anger resulting from the project and
anger resulting from the interview. Look for interactions where anger
is present in some answers and not in others. A PSAR interviewer
should note anger when shown and the topic that initiates the anger.
In some cases, the angry project manager will refuse to cooperate in
the PSAR interview. The PSAR interviewer should move through the
list of questions as politely and
respectfully as possible and note
the
project
managers
It is important to differentiate
unwillingness to interact. If an
anger resulting from the project
angry project manager refuses to
and anger resulting from the
engage in any dialogue around a
interview.
project effort, it is a sign that the
K
project is lost and that it lacks
leadership.
Does the project manager express concern of poor decision-making
in the project? Does he articulate the poor decisions of others and
the impact of those decisions on the project? Does he suggest that
the team has been encouraged to undertake activities that he
believes to be poor decisions? Why did he or she believe these
decisions to be poor? Has the project manager demonstrated poor
decision-making through actions he has taken or has not taken
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Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes

related to the progress of the project? For example, did he have a
risk plan early on only to ditch the plan later in the life-cycle of the
project?
Fatigue
Does the project manager seem to be fatigued when queried about
the project? Does he indicate that he is tired of the effort and that it
is draining his ability to be productive?
Depression and withdrawal
Does the project manager seem to be apathetic to the PSAR
Review? Is there a sense that the project manager has resigned
himself to the current condition of the project effort?
Forgetfulness
Is the project manager unable to articulate how
decisions on the project were arrived at? Is he
able to explain a path of situations and decisions
that have led the team to this point in the project
effort?
Does he seem to struggle with
remembering conversations or key events of the
project to this point? Do his answers to questions
regarding project events conflict with one
another?
Does the project

manager seem to be
apathetic to the PSAR
Review?
K
Further, has the project manager experienced turnover that would

have created a loss of the projects body of knowledge? Does he
also believe that his team has experienced a state of forgetfulness?
Words and Phrases to Listen For

The same words and phrases that were part of the participant
interviews should also be listened for during the project managers
interview.
As a review, they are:
Afraid
Inconsistent
Confused
Scared
Crazy
Disoriented
Anxious
Failure
Untrusting
Impossible
Unhappy
Stupid
Lost
Unrealistic
Foolish
Frustrated
Unachievable
Incompetent
Angry
Uncontrollable
Late
Mad
Apathetic
Behind
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44

I do not know...
Our deadlines are impossible!
Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes
Nobody really knows whats going on!

No one is listening.
I dont understand.
I hope this works. this time!
How can we work with these requirements?!
If we could only find a dedicated resource for the next two
weeks!
Our problems are insurmountable.

I wish this project would just finish up and go away.
No one is on the same page.
The project doesnt seem to be making real progress.
If.then(with no else).
Reviewing Project Processes
During the interview process the PSAR interviewer will want to
ensure that he has requested to see the following items from the
project manager.
Project Charter Review
Has the project manager presented a project charter, definition
document, or some documentation that would define the agreed
upon objectives for the project effort? Has this charter been rebaselined when significant change is introduced?
Scope Review
Has the project manager presented a detail of scope through such
tools as a scope statement, work breakdown structure, or other
scope decomposition tool?
Schedule Review
Has the project manager presented a schedule detailing the work
that has been accomplished by the project team as well as the work
yet to be complete? Are milestones deliverable-based in the
schedule? Does he understand the way duration estimates were
arrived at?
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Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects

Budget Review
Student Notes
Has the project manager presented a detailed budget along with

information supporting how estimates were obtained? Can the
project manager articulate variances between actuals and estimates
and why they have occurred?
Risk Plan Review
Has the project manager presented an up-todate risk plan that addresses not only identified
risk, but also an assessment of risk and
response plans for those risks which are above
an acceptable threshold?
An interview with the

project manager
should always end by
thanking him,
assuring him he will
Issue Review
Has the project manager presented an up-todate issues register that shows the current open
and closed issues of the project as well as a
status of issues currently in process of
resolution?
receive a copy of the

PSAR Report, and he
will play an integral
part in the PSAR
Change Review
effort.
K
Has the project manager presented a process

for change control? Has he presented specific change request
documentation and change registers? Has he reviewed the change
process with the client?
Summary of Interviewing the Project Manager
1
Project Managers Understanding of Why the Project Exists
Project Managers Understanding of Scope, Schedule, and Budget Objectives
Project Managers Understanding of Project Risk
Project Managers View of Project Progress
Project Managers Behaviors and Responses
Words and Phrases to Listen For
Project Process Review
Closing the Interview

An interview with the project manager should always end by thanking
him for the time and information that he has provided. Assure him
that he will be given a copy of the PSAR Discovery Report and that
he will play an integral part in the continuing review of the project.
Once the interview process is complete, it is now time for the PSAR
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46

team to begin to review the information provided. The next section
will discuss this in more depth.
Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes
Review Questions
1. What are the planning elements that a PSAR team must
consider before beginning a PSAR Review?
2. How should a PSAR list of projects be established?
3. What information should be provided to the project
manager before interviewing project participants?
4. How should each interview with a project participant
begin?
5. How can a PSAR team most effectively gain the
cooperation of a project team in the PSAR review?
6. What specific elements should be discussed with the
project participant regarding the project effort?
7. Explain why the PSAR interviewer should ask a project
participant about his understanding of the strategic
implications of the solution provided by the project?
8. When discussing the project objective, scope, what
should a PSAR interviewer pay particular attention to?
9. Define means-ends inversion.
10. What is the critical difference between project risk and
project issues?
11. Why is a participants negative view of change to a
solution less important than his understanding of project
impacts created by the change?
12. Why is it important that the PSAR interviewer discuss
with the project participant how actual work is reported?
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Chapter 3
Discovering Lost
Projects
Student Notes

13. Explain what is meant when it is said that a project
participant often has an accurate view of the health of
the project environment.
14. Define what is meant by the influences of the larger
organization on a project effort.
15. What common behaviors are signals that a project
participant may feel lost in a project?
16. What common fears may project participants have that
can affect how forthcoming they will be in a PSAR
Review?
17. Define why a project participants anger towards the
PSAR Review may not always indicate anger toward the
project effort.
18. Why is it important to look for consistent themes among
interviews with many project participants?
19. How should a PSAR interviewer begin the interview with
the project manager?
20. How should a PSAR interviewer respond to a project
manager when asked for specific feedback from the
project participants during his interview?
21. Explain the statement that project managers who
welcome the PSAR review are demonstrating that they
have leadership ability to rescue the project effort.
22. Define what is meant by the Dangling Else Syndrome,
and why it is important for PSAR interviewers to listen for
it?
23. What items of project process will the PSAR interviewer
want to make sure are requested from the project
manager during the interview?
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Chapter 4 Evaluating Project
Review Results
Once
Chapter 4
Evaluating Project
Review Results
Student Notes
PSAR Reviews are complete, the PSAR team will want to
establish a meeting to evaluate the results of the reviews. Most

importantly, the PSAR team will want to uncover the consistent
themes shared by participants and the project manager as well as
inconsistencies between participant responses and project manager
responses.
Common Themes from PSAR Interviews

Common themes from the PSAR interviews will usually be found
upon careful review of the information collected. The PSAR team
should begin by drafting a listing of all project participant and project
manager comments and insights as well as note the number of
interviewees who shared the same insights. In particular, PSAR
teams are looking for themes that would suggest troubles on the
project or ambiguities that have not been resolved by the team. A
PSAR team should document these findings in descending order
from greatest number of consistent views to least. For example, if all
interviewees share the opinion that risk is not
being evaluated on the project, this would be
It is important to also
the first finding to document. Next, if all but
note those things that
one interviewee share the opinion that issues
seem to be running
were not being resolved effectively, then this
successfully on the
finding would be documented next. The
documentation of consistencies will continue
project effort.
in this manner to the point where two or more
K
individuals share a similar opinion of the
projects current state of affairs.
Inconsistencies between the Responses of Project

Participants
The PSAR team will also want to note inconsistencies between
responses of project participants. For example, one or more
participants may feel that scope was well defined at the outset of the
project whereas one or more other participants feel that scope was
not well defined. These inconsistencies may suggest troubles on the
project and should be noted when discovered.
Inconsistencies
between
Project
Participant
Responses and Project Manager Responses
It will also be important to note inconsistencies between the
interviews of project participants and the interview of the project
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Chapter 4
Evaluating Project
Review Results
Student Notes

manager. For example, if there is a consistent theme among
participants that there are troubles within the team and the project
managers interview suggested that the team was working in
harmony, then this might suggest that the project is troubled.
An Interviewees Response That Was Unique to the

Responses of Other Interviewees
It may also be useful to look at the dissenting opinion of
interviewees. In some cases, this dissenting opinion may be an
early indication that the project may experience trouble. Though
these findings should not always be taken at face value, they may
provide useful information to the PSAR team who feels it necessary
to investigate further.
Positive Findings
Though the goal of a PSAR team is to discover projects that are lost,
it is important to also note those things that seem to be running
successfully on the project effort. In some cases, projects that made
the review list will have many more positive outcomes than negative
ones, and this information can be useful to assess the health of the
project as a whole.
Preparing a PSAR Discovery Report

The PSAR Report, Template X.4, is a useful tool to document
findings. It is described in more detail below.
Executive Summary
The PSAR Discovery Report should begin with a high-level summary
of the detail that will be covered specifically within the body of the
report. This summary should be a concise explanation in four to six
sentences that describes the current state of the project.
Assessment
Considering the information in its totality, the team will need to
provide its assessment as to whether the project is on the path or if it
is a lost effort. The assessment provided within the template is a
qualitative assessment by the PSAR team after consideration of all
elements that were uncovered during the review. The scale provided
within the template is defined as follows:
1 - This project effort is a lost effort and the PSAR team

recommends that this project undergo an immediate, full
Rescue & Recovery Effort as defined within Template
X.5.
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Chapter 4
Evaluating Project
Review Results
2 - This project is in danger of being a lost effort. The

PSAR team recommends that this project undergo a
Rescue & Recovery Effort as soon as resources can be
made available to conduct this effort. The PSAR team
recommends the following deliverables of Template X.5.
(Recommendations are documented within the PSAR
Report).
Student Notes
3 - It is not clear that this project is a lost effort. The PSAR

team recommends further review of the project.
4 - This project effort seems to be on the path with minimal

concerns. The PSAR team recommends that findings
be shared with the team along with suggested
recommendations.
5 - This project effort is on the path.
The PSAR team

recommends no further action at this time.
This scale can be modified to fit the particular needs of an

organization; however, clear follow up actions must be specifically
defined within each element of a customized scale.
Findings
The PSAR Discovery Report should finally include specific findings
by the PSAR team. The findings discussed beginning on page 71,
Evaluating Project Review Results, should be documented within the
report such that the reader can read in more detail, if desired.
Sharing the Report

The PSAR Discovery Report should be shared with upper-tier
stakeholders. This will include the project manager and could also
include the management within the delivery organization, and
perhaps the client sponsorship. The PSAR team will want to share
the PSAR Discovery Report as appropriate for the specific
organization and organizational structure.
A project manager should always have the first opportunity to
evaluate the report before it is shared with other identified audiences.
A project manager deserves the opportunity to understand those
items that are related to his project effort so that he may address
additional questions when other upper-tier stakeholders present
questions to the project manager.
The report should be regarded as an opportunity for the project to be
improved, and the PSAR team should be particularly careful not to
allow these results to be used as a way for blame to be assigned.
Again, the PSAR team is an advocate for the project effort. As such,
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Chapter 4
Evaluating Project
Review Results
Student Notes

the PSAR team should share the report in such a way that
contributes to the best interest of the project effort.
The PSAR Discovery Report will not always
be well-received, especially in cases where
the findings of the report are not favorable.
A PSAR team should ensure that the
integrity of the information in the report
should always supersede any political
challenges that might arise. It is clear that
political pressures are always a challenge to
those who find themselves having to begin
difficult
conversations
with
project
stakeholders. A PSAR team should always
present itself as a cohesive group
committed to the overall success of an
organization when faced with political
pressure.
A project manager
deserves the
opportunity to
understand those items
that are related to his
project effort so that he
may address additional
questions when asked
about the project.
K
One way that a PSAR team can demonstrate their commitment to

the success of the project effort is to begin the process of Rescue &
Recovery together with the project manager and team. How this
occurs is explained in the next section of this course.
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Chapter 4
Evaluating Project
Review Results
Student Notes
Review Questions
1. What are the five components of a PSAR Review
results?
2. How should common themes be documented?
3. When considering dissenting opinions within the
findings, what value can this information provide a PSAR
team?
4. What are the three elements of a PSAR Discovery
Report?
5. What should be included in the Executive Summary?
6. According to the scale provided in this course, what
should occur if the PSAR team assesses a project effort
a score of 3?
7. With whom should a PSAR Discovery Report be
shared?
8. Why is it important that the project manager see a PSAR
Discovery Report first?
9. When considering how a PSAR Discovery Report should
be shared, what must a PSAR team always consider
first?
10. How should a PSAR team present itself in the face of
political pressures when a report is not well-received?
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Chapter 5
Rescuing Lost
Projects

Once a lost project and team has been identified, the success of the
Student Notes
PSAR Rescue & Recovery (R&R) effort will depend upon several
factors: project leadership, the project plan, defined roles and
responsibilities, risk assessment and mitigation, scope definition, reestimating time and cost, and perhaps the development of a steering
committee combined with project review meetings. What will be
required will be specific for each project. As discussed in the last
section, a project that is assessed with a score of 2 may not require
all of these deliverables. Below is a discussion of each deliverable in
more detail.
Planning the PSAR Rescue & Recovery Effort

PSAR teams will begin the R&R effort by clarifying the content of
deliverables. The R&R effort should not be executed without a plan;
otherwise it may become yet another project
in danger of being lost. The PSAR team
The R&R effort should
should consider incorporating similar
not be executed without components within the internal R&R project
plan as would be proscribed for any project
a plan; otherwise, it
such as scope, time, cost, risk, and
may become yet another
communications, for example. A high-level
project in danger of
work breakdown structure of deliverables
being lost.
provided in Template X.5 shows the end
K
deliverables and is a beginning point for the
R&R project plan.
Defining and Documenting Objectives

For those projects where objectives have not been documented or
clarified, the PSAR team will want to ensure that the project conducts
a project charter development exercise. If a project charter is
already in place, the project charter may require a revision. The
PSAR team should assist the project manager and team in putting
into place a valid project charter that represents achievable
objectives.
Evaluating Risk and Current Issues

For the project where risk has either been undefined or where a risk
plan has not been updated, the PSAR team should assist the project
manager and team in developing a risk plan as well as formalizing
internal project reviews of risk. The PSAR team can also assist the
project manager in documenting issues as well as facilitating the
resolution of issues. It is possible that after looking at the risks and
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Chapter 5
Rescuing Lost
Projects
Student Notes

issues of a project that a project may be considered unachievable or
no longer a benefit to the business.
If it is the recommendation of the team that the project be terminated
then the PSAR team should be an advocate for assisting a project
manager and team in communicating this message. Perhaps the
project is too much of a drain on the organizations resources. Or, it
could be that the project should be terminated such that the idea can
go back to initiation of a business case. Whatever the reason, the
PSAR team is an advocate for what is in the best interest of the effort
and its impact on the business.
Clarifying Scope
For those projects where scope is not clearly decomposed, or
defined, the PSAR team should work with the project manager,
team, and client to re-scope the project or to further clarify present
scope. If the scope is ambiguous due to poor requirements
gathering, the PSAR team should assist in ensuring that the
necessary conversations are occurring to clearly define what the
deliverables of the project are. Again, this definition of deliverables
will drive the activity lists that will later be added to the schedule.
Additionally, for those projects plagued by scope change problems,
the PSAR team should assist a project manager in implementing a
process for change control and possibly even assist him in
discussing the process with the client.
Considering Time and Cost

Some projects will require a new round of estimates around time and
cost. Where these items have been demonstrated to be a problem
by the review, the PSAR team should assist a project manager and
team in determining updated cost and time estimates as well as
possible risk reserves for time and cost.
If it is determined that the revised estimates are outside the
objectives set forth by the client, the PSAR team can also assist the
project manager in holding conversations with the client to reestablish expectations.
Developing a Communication Plan for the Project

For those project teams who identified poor group dynamics in the
project environment, the PSAR team should assist a project
manager and team in developing a communication plan to define
roles and responsibilities, reporting structure, escalation procedures,
and issues management procedures. These will serve to establish
ground rules for the team.
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In cases where severe conflicts may exist between team members, a
PSAR team may also choose to assist a project manager in
facilitating the resolution of these conflicts. In many cases, conflict
successfully addressed can serve to create a foundation for stronger
project teams.
Chapter 5
Rescuing Lost
Projects
Student Notes
Creating a Steering Committee

Some projects that are far off of the path in many areas may require
a formal steering committee to be established. The purpose of the
steering committee is to serve as a sounding board and escalation
committee for the problems that a project is experiencing. A steering
committee assists not only in getting a project back on a successful
path, but also keeping it on that successful path. The project
manager should always be actively involved with a steering
committee and should be the primary driver of information to the
committee. A PSAR team may play a facilitative role in this
relationship. The PSAR team may assist in engaging membership
for the committee as well as helping to send the message of the
benefits of having a committee to the membership.
Establishing Regular Project Reviews

Regular project reviews need to be established between the project
manager and the steering committee. A PSAR team can help to
define, with the project manager, the content and the frequency of
these meetings. The content of these meetings should at a minimum
be those areas defined as challenges for the project. Frequency
requirements will vary from project to project; however, the PSAR
team and project manager will want to consider the priority of the
solution to the business, the severity of
current problems, and the skill level of the
project manager as drivers of the decision
The project manager
regarding of frequency. These reviews
should always be the
should be considered deliverables within the
primary driver of
project managers project plan and should
information to a
be scoped and scheduled.
steering committee.
K
A PSAR team may play a more active role

in early reviews and then later play a role
only on an as-needed basis.
Key Considerations for the PSAR Team Engaged in

Rescue & Recovery Efforts
R&R efforts are usually very challenging ones. Not only will the
project be suffering from content problems, but there also may be
many emotions that a project manager, project team, high-tier
stakeholders, and perhaps even the PSAR team itself will have.
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Chapter 5
Rescuing Lost
Projects
Student Notes

A PSAR team will want to stay aware of the current emotional
landscape on a project effort and gauge their level of involvement. A
PSAR teams first commitment is to the project effort and the
business, but they must also consider possible negative impacts that
their involvement may bring to an R&R effort. For example, an upper
level executive in the delivering organization may see a PSAR team
as an intrusion on his department. It is important to be aware of the
personal landscape of those invested in a project effort. It can be
difficult for a PSAR team to be objectively committed to the best
solution and still navigate through the interactions of personal
feelings of project stakeholders.
A PSAR team should consider that it is in the best interest of the
project effort and business to actively build good working
relationships with all of those individuals who are impacted, positively
and negatively. A PSAR team should stay committed to continuing
to build rapport and to sell their role as being supportive of project
stakeholders success. A PSAR team must make it a priority to
engage with all project stakeholders in an honest and respectful
manner on all occasions.
One way for a PSAR team to build this
relationship is through providing positive
feedback of successes the project
experiences as a result of the R&R
process. Provide recognition to individuals
on the project efforts for their achievements
and serve as a broadcaster of those
achievements to those above them.
A
PSAR team that takes the time to
advertise the successes of a project
manager and team putting a project back
on the path will find that they will be
rewarded with more trusting relationships
from those in the project membership.
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A PSAR team that takes

the time to advertise the
successes of a project
manager and team
putting a project back
on the path will find
they will be rewarded
with more trusting
relationships.
K
Chapter 5
Rescuing Lost
Projects
Review Questions
Student Notes
1. Why is it important for the PSAR team to have a project
plan for the R&R effort?
2. What is a PSAR teams role in defining and documenting
objectives?
3. What is a PSAR teams role in risk?
4. What is a PSAR teams role in clarifying scope?
5. What is a PSAR teams role in re-estimating time and
cost on the project?
6. What should a PSAR team assist a project manager in
implementing when there is trouble within the project
team environment?
7. What is the purpose of the steering committee in the
R&R effort?
8. What is a PSAR teams role in establishing a steering
committee?
9. Who should be the primary driver of information to the
steering committee?
10. What two items do a PSAR team and project manager
determine for project reviews with the steering
committee?
11. How does a PSAR team prevent becoming a negative
influence on the project and its stakeholders?
12. What is a suggested method for building trust among
project stakeholders during the R&R effort?
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Chapter 6 Recognizing if You are
Lost
Chapter 6
Recognizing if You
are Lost
Student Notes
For those project managers who do not have the benefit of a PSAR
team to find them, it is important to be able to recognize if their
projects and teams are lost. And, once identified as lost, how does a
project manager get a project back on the path?
Self-discovering that your project is lost is a difficult challenge. As
demonstrated in the section entitled The Behaviors of Being Lost, its
sometimes difficult for lost individuals to recognize that they are lost.
Thus the familiar quote, It is hard to see the forest for the trees."
Considering the common body of knowledge around Search and
Rescue as well as the sections discussing a PSAR teams route to
discovering and rescuing projects, individual project managers can
learn how to both see the forest and the trees, or recognize they are
lost and make corrections.
The STOP Method Revisited

Earlier in this course, the STOP method was
suggested as a common way for lost individuals
to survive. For a project manager concerned that
his effort may be lost or in danger of falling off of
the path, the STOP method is equally beneficial.
Lets consider this method more carefully.
1. Stop
Stop
Think
Observe
Plan
In a challenged project, it is very easy for a project manager and

team to become so caught up in the churn of project efforts that it is
difficult to stop long enough to evaluate it. The tendency of a lost
team to hurry up to arrive is one of the strongest pulls that a project
manager will experience causing him not to stop for evaluation. To
avoid this tendency, a project manager should plan on stop points,
or review points, throughout the project. These stop points serve to
allow the project manager as well as the project team to conduct a
lessons learned as well as evaluate the current condition of the
effort. These pre-subscribed stop points will keep a team and project
If no stop points
manager disciplined to do regular check ups of the project effort. If
currently
existpoints
in yourcurrently exist in your project effort, prepare to
no
such stop
do
one effort,
as soon
as possible
as well as establish future stop points for
prepare
to
project
the do
remainder
of
the
project
effort. Stop points typically begin with a
one as soon as
project managers individual evaluation and can end in his involving
possible.
the team in a stop point, if necessary.
K
The frequency of stop points will be unique
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Chapter 6
Recognizing if You
are Lost
Student Notes

for each project; however they should be conducted at the end of
each phase at a minimum. A regular use of issues and risk
management can alert a project manager of ad hoc stop points that
may need to occur for the effort. For example, an issues register
that is growing and where items are not closing based on the defined
resolution dates is an indication that an ad hoc stop point would be
appropriate.
Stop points can be informal or can be formal meetings that are preplanned within a project schedule. Projects that are of higher priority
to the business should address stop points more formally.
2. Think
Once a stop point has been reached or determined as necessary,
the next step is to think about the current situations that the project is
under. If there are challenges, what are they? Are there ambiguities
that have not been resolved or which have no plan of action for
resolution?
For a project manager who feels strained by the current project, it
may be appropriate to discuss conditions with an objective person,
such as another project manager. Going though the projects current
situation with another individual serves to add perspective to a
situation and can allow a project manager to hear a voice that will
often be more objective toward an effort than his own will be.
A project manager can begin the process of evaluating his project for
signs of being lost through the use of the information contained in the
Discovering Lost Projects section of this text as well as utilizing the
interview templates in the Tools section at the end of this text. A
project manager may request anonymous feedback from the team.
It is important that the project manager ensures that this information
will not come back to harm individual team members otherwise it
could backfire on him.
3. Observe
A project manager should also observe the environment of the
project and review the health of interactions among the team,
himself, and other project stakeholders. Are interactions open and
honest, or are they mistrusting?
Additionally, are there any
environmental impacts that are being placed upon the project that
seem outside of your control as a project manager? For example,
are there pressures upon your project becoming lost because it is
effectively competing with another project who is lost and who in a
panic to hurry up requires more and more of a shared resources
time?
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Chapter 6
Recognizing if You
are Lost
4. Plan
A project manager must consider what must be done once he has
concluded that his effort is a lost project. A project manager who
wishes for his team and the project to survive a challenged condition
must put first things first as he undertakes to get a project back on
track. Important to the success of planning will be to actively involve
the team as well as being honest with the team without specifically
laying blame on any one person or persons.
Student Notes
In the section, The Behaviors of Being Lost, a seven-point checklist

of items were discussed as critical to survival. Below, we make the
parallels to the project manager who finds his team lost and how it is
through his leadership that the project can survive.
A positive mental attitude
Any experienced project manager understands that the ability to
inspire and encourage those in a lost project effort is critical to a
projects survival. For those team members and resources who have
found themselves in states of confusion, frustration, panic, and
perhaps withdrawal, it takes a strong project manager to re-instill a
sense of faith in the effort.
This positive mental attitude goes
beyond the effort itself; however, to also include the positives that will
come from a project that has found itself in a lost state. Clearly,
there are opportunities for lessons learned and team growth within
the struggle, and a project manager must focus his team upon this
fact as he seeks to re-engage the interest of team members who are
close to giving up. One way that a project manager can begin to
instill a positive attitude in the team is through doing his best to
address the teams immediate concerns as they complete project
activities.
First aid
A positive mental attitude alone will not ensure a projects survival.
The next survival step of critical importance is that of first aid. Here,
the context of first aid is applied to the project and its wounds. What
are the immediate showstoppers, issues, and high risks that keep
the effort in jeopardy? And, how can these items be addressed for
the long-term health of the project effort and the business?
Shelter
Managers of lost projects will find a form of shelter within the delivery
organization. Invoke whatever organizational resources are at your
disposal to protect the lost project team and the effort. This could
include asking your manager to get involved during a crisis to assure
the client that their investment is receiving the appropriate level of
resource to overcome project obstacles.
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Chapter 6
Recognizing if You
are Lost

Fire
Student Notes
Fire represents as control measures on the project effort. Project

controls are articulated through a robust project plan. A project plan
that removes ambiguities from scope, schedule, budget, risk,
communications including status controls, and change management
presents a level of control over the project investment.
Signaling
Project communications are an important way for lost projects to
signal for rescue. The individual lost in the wilderness builds a large
signaling fire or spreads clothing out in a field. A project manager
signals via the project and organization communication structure.
Effective and continuous signaling is crucial to the detection of lost
projects.
The manager of a lost project should never be averse to signaling for
assistance. Once lost, any delay or hesitation to signal for help
could make the difference between being a survivor and a statistic.
Escalations to senior management are the most successful form of
project signaling; either on the client or delivery side of the project
effort. Remember, those responsible for the organizational goals
and resources can only help those who they understand to need
help. It is very important that a project manager not fall victim to
pride and the potential embarrassment associated with being lost
and ask for help when the project is off course.
Food & Water
The project resources are the sustenance required to complete the
project effort. These resources may be represented by individuals,
machines, the project budget or anything that that may be utilized to
advance the project to success. The manager of a lost project must
be frugal with current project resources just as a lost person must try
to make food and water last as long as possible. The efficient
allocation of project resources is an important component of survival.
However, an abundance of this food and water resource will not
save a lost project. The manager of a lost project should make sure
the project team has enough resource to survive. Oftentimes, this
means the procurement of additional project resources to recover a
project that has drifted from the path. If a project manager finds that
additional resources cannot be allocated to the effort he must
continually escalate the message regarding the jeopardy this
presents to a project effort.
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Chapter 6
Recognizing if You
are Lost
Conclusion
The search and recovery of lost project efforts is a difficult journey,
but one that is rewarded with successful solutions and the ability for
a delivering organization to learn to operate more efficiently. A
PSAR effort holds advantages for all project stakeholders from the
resources building a solution to the highest tier of stakeholders who
are charged with the success of a solution. The PSAR effort, when
executed thoughtfully and completely provides the opportunity for
everyone to find success through the challenge of recovering a lost
effort.
Student Notes
Review Questions
1. What should a project manager do to execute the Stop
activity of the STOP Method?
2. What items should a project manager consider in the Think
3. Why can an objective person be an advantage to the project
manager reviewing his project?
4. What should a project manager consider in the Observe
5. What items should the project manager include in the Plan
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PSAR
Crossword
PSAR Crossword Puzzle

The following puzzle will assist you in developing comprehension of the material in this course. The
answer key to the crossword puzzle is available in the Suggested Answer Key at the end of this text.
1
4
5
6
7
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Across
2 A project participant suffering from depression and withdrawal will often appear _____ to the PSAR
Review and the project.
3 A project participant that suffers from means-ends inversion will often concentrate on activities opposed
to _____.
4 The first person that the PSAR team should share a PSAR Discovery Report with.
7 An unfamiliar situation or condition that creates stress.
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PSAR
Crossword
Across (continued)
11 Hikers and lost project teams often experience a sense of _____ and will hurry up to get back on the
right path.
12 The ______ Method creates survivors from lost individuals.
13 The project manager should always be a primary driver of information to a ______ _______.
14 This emotion is difficult for a project participant to hide from a PSAR interviewer.
16 In addition to finding the challenges, a PSAR team should also note the ______ findings.
17 Projects that are _____ are defined as initiatives that have no strategic direction or have become stuck
in a cycle that keeps it from achieving its objectives.
19 A lost project requires _______ in order to find its way to rescue.
20 The most important thing a leader can provide a lost team is a positive _____ _____.
Down
1 It is important that a PSAR interviewer always remember the difference between the discussion of
_____ and issues.
2 The PSAR report includes an executive summary, ________, and documented findings.
4 A PSAR Review can become lost itself without a solid _____.
5 ______ is a sign that the other emotions of being lost have taken its toll.
6 A PSAR interviewer should remember that a project participant's view of ______ is almost always
negative regardless of its benefit to the client.
8 Those solutions that can never be realized because resources are being expended in lost project
efforts.
9 Assumptions become dangerous when a project team has not considered what happens if the
assumption proves invalid, also known as the ______ _____ Syndrome.
10 Explaining situations that do not conform to one's mental model of reality.
15 Lost project teams who are afraid of being found incompetent to peers or clients will often fail to ____.
18______ is an important part of a conversation with a project manager and project team.
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Tools
Tools
High-Level Work Breakdown Structure for PSAR Review
Template X.1
PSAR Review Project
1.0
The PSAR
Project Plan
2.0
Listing of Projects
To Review
3.0
Interviews
4.0
Process
Review
3.1
Project Manager
Communication
3.2
Project Participant
Interviews
3.3
Project Manager
Interview
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5.0
Project
Evaluation
6.0
PSAR Report
Tools
Project Participant Interview Outline

Template X.2
Project Participant Questionnaire
Interview Questions
Emotions, Attitudes,
and Behaviors
Participant's Understanding of Why the Project Exists

What is your understanding of the client's strategic vision for this project?
Participant's Understanding of Project Objectives

What is your understanding of the current objectives around scope, time,
and budget?
What is your understanding of why these objectives have been set as they
are?
What constraints were imposed on the team by the client or by
sponsorship? Do you understand why?
Do you believe objectives are achievable? If not, why?
What is your understanding of the scope of the project? (Note to

interviewer - watch for signs of means-ends inversion)
Are you aware of the current schedule for the project? Is it achievable? If
not, why?
What is your understanding of the budget components of the project? How

was the budget arrived at? Do you believe it is achievable? If not, why?
(Note to interviewer - not all participants may be privy to budget
information. Skip this section when appropriate)
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Interview Questions
Do you believe that the project team understands the risk present? If not,
why?
Are risks being communicated and documented? If not, why?
Do you believe that the risks have been given appropriate response plans?
If not, why?
Project Participant's View of Project Progress

Adherence to the Plan
How well is work on the project effort adhering to the original plan? If
challenged, why?
Project Changes
What are your views on any changes that are occurring within the project
effort?
Is a change control process being used to manage change in the project?

If not, why do you think this is?
Do you find that changes are being implemented without supporting

documentation?
Do you believe that project change is jeopardizing the team's ability to

deliver the solution? Explain why you believe this to be true.
Project Issues
What are some of the project issues that you are concerned about? Why?
Do you believe that the current issues can be addressed?
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and Behaviors
Interview Questions
Tools
and Behaviors
Project Issues (continued)

What is the process that the team is using to document and manage
project issues? Do you believe the process is working?
Do you believe that the current issues are an overall threat to the success
of the project? Why?
Project Plan Updates

How is your actual work being logged and provided to the project
manager?
Are you providing revised estimates to complete work that is in progress?
Did the project manager provide you a method for reporting data to him or
her?
Does the project manager regularly initiate conversations around risk,

issues, change, schedule, budget, and scope?
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Tools
Interview Questions
Health of the Project Environment
How does the team work together?
Do you believe that the team shares a common goal of what is to be

achieved? If not, why do you think this is the case?
Do you believe that the membership of the team is respectful toward one
another? If not, what specific problems do you see?
The Influence of the Larger Organization

Do you see challenges on the project that are created by factors outside of
the project team's control? If so, what are they?
PSAR Discovery Report version 1.0

Project Name, Dated
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Tools
Project Manager Interview Outline

Template X.3
Project Manager Questionnaire
Interview Questions
and Behaviors
Project Manager's Understanding of Why the Project Exists

What is your understanding of the client's strategic vision for this project?
Project Manager's Understanding of Project Objectives

What is your understanding of the current objectives around scope, time,
and budget? Is there project documentation that defines these objectives?
What is your understanding of why these objectives have been set as they
are?
What constraints were imposed on the team by the client or by
sponsorship? Do you understand why?
Do you believe objectives are achievable? If not, why?
How is scope defined for the project? (Note to interviewer - watch for signs
of means-ends inversion)
What is the current schedule for the project? How were estimates
generated? Is it achievable? If not, why?
Do you have a documented budget of the project? How was the budget
arrived at? Do you believe it is achievable? If not, why?
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Tools
Interview Questions
Project Manager's Understanding Project Risk
Do you have a risk plan? How is risk being conducted on the project?
How were response plans built? Do you believe that the project team
understands the risk present? If not, why?
Are risks being communicated? If not, why?
What are the current assumptions that your project makes? Are there risk
plans backing up assumptions that create high risk? (Note to PSAR
Interviewer Look for Dangling Else Syndrome).
Project Manager's View of Project Progress

Adherence to the Plan
How well is work on the project effort adhering to the original plan? If
challenged, why?
Project Changes
What are your views on any changes that are occurring within the project
effort? Can you present recent documented changes?
Is a change control process being used to manage change in the project?

If not, why do you think this is?
Do you find that changes are regularly being implemented without

supporting documentation?
Do you believe that project change is jeopardizing the team's ability to

deliver the solution? Explain why you believe this to be true.
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and Behaviors
Interview Questions
Tools
and Behaviors
Project Issues
What are some of the project issues that you are concerned about? Why?
Do you believe that the current issues can be addressed?
What is the process that you are using to document and manage project
issues? Do you believe the process is working?
Do you believe that the current issues are an overall threat to the success
of the project? Why?
Project Plan Updates

How is the teams actual work being logged and provided to you?
Is the team providing revised estimates to complete work that is in

progress?
Did you provide the team a method for reporting data?
Do you regularly initiate conversations with the team around risk, issues,
change, schedule, budget, and scope?
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Tools
Interview Questions
Health of the Project Environment
How does the team work together?
Do you believe that the team shares a common goal of what is to be

achieved? If not, why do you think this is the case?
Do you believe that the membership of the team is respectful toward one
another? If not, what specific problems do you see?
The Influence of the Larger Organization

Do you see challenges on the project that are created by factors outside of
your control? If so, what are they?
Project Processes Review

Project charter
Scope documentation
Schedule
Budget
Risk plan
Issues management
Change management

Project Name, Dated
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and Behaviors
Tools
PSAR Discovery Report Template

Template X.4
PSAR Discovery Report
Project Manager:
Date:
Project:
PSAR Team Members:
Executive Summary
<insert executive summary here>
PSAR Team Assessment
1. This project effort is a lost effort and the PSAR team recommends that
this project undergo an immediate, full Rescue & Recovery Effort as
discussed below in the recommendations section of this report.
2. This project is in danger of being a lost effort. The PSAR team

recommends that this project undergo a Rescue & Recovery Effort as
soon as resources can be made available to conduct this effort. The
PSAR team recommends the following deliverables as discussed below
in the recommendations section of this report.
<insert score here>
3. It is not clear that this project is a lost effort. The PSAR team
recommends further review of the project.
4. This project effort seems to be on the path with minimal concerns. The
PSAR team recommends that findings be shared with the team along
with suggested recommendations.
5. This project effort is on the path. The PSAR team recommends no

further action at this time.
PSAR Team Recommendations
<insert recommendations here>

Project Name, Dated
Page 1
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Tools
PSAR Team Findings

Consistent Themes (listed in descending order from highest number of consistent responses
received)
Inconsistent Themes
Positive Findings

Project Name, Dated
Page 2
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Tools
High-Level Work Breakdown Structure for PSAR Rescue & Recovery Project
Template X.5
PSAR
Rescue & Recovery
Project
1.0
The R&R
Project Plan
2.0
Objectives
Identification
3.0
Evaluations
4.0
Scope Clarification
5.0
Communication Plan
3.1
Risk
Evaluation
3.2
Time and Cost
Evaluation
6.0
Steering Committee
Created
7.0
Project Review
7.1
Review
Schedule
Established
7.2
Project
Reviews
Conducted
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Answer Key
Suggested Answer Key

The review questions from each chapter are presented below along with suggested answers. Please
review and compare your own answers to these.
Chapter 1 Introduction to Project Search and Rescue

1. Define a lost project. A lost project as an initiative that has lost a sense of strategic direction or that
has become stuck in a vicious cycle that keeps it from achieving its objectives. Lost projects are
composed of leadership and teams who have no method for recovering from trouble, or they may not
even recognize that they are in trouble.
2. Why is recovering lost projects a critical skill set? In competitive environments where budgets
are tight and time-to-market is often the difference between project success and failure, it is important
to ensure that projects are staying on the path to completion, and that this path is the one that will
bring the organization a successful solution.
3. Why is it that lost projects can be difficult to find? People on lost projects often do not want to be
discovered lost. Just as lost hikers may feel foolish when rescued, professional project managers
and team members may also find themselves overly conscious of appearing incompetent to peers or
clients.
4. What advantage do easily discovered lost projects have that hidden lost projects do not have?
They can begin the recovery process right away.
5. How do lost projects create an opportunity cost for the organization? Undiscovered lost
projects become a drain on an organizations resources and often create opportunity costs those
solutions that can never be realized because resources are being expended in lost project efforts.
6. What are some of the factors that can create lost projects? Organizational politics, ambiguous
objectives, lack of planning and the human factor all can play a role in a project becoming lost.
Chapter 2 The Behaviors of Being Lost

1. Define stress and stressors. Stress is a state of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that
tend to alter an existent equilibrium. Stress is a feeling we experience when an unfamiliar situation or
condition, a stressor, is placed upon us.
2. Describe the difference between stress and distress. Stress forces an individual to become more
aware of his environment and stimulates him to work in a more thoughtful manner. However, too
much stress or too many stressors placed upon a person can create a negative type of stress that
we commonly refer to as distress. In this more destructive form of stress, individuals can find
themselves less able to think clearly and more likely to make mistakes.
3. What are some of the common cycles of behavior of lost individuals? Confusion, Fear, A
Sense of Urgency, Panic, Poor Decision Making, Frustration, Anger, Depression and Withdrawal,
Fatigue, and Forgetfulness.
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Answer Key
4. What are the common fears of lost individuals when lost in the wilderness? Fear of being
alone. Fear of darkness. Fear of animals. Fear of suffering. Fear of dying.
5. What are some of the common behaviors of survivors? The STOP Method and a presence of
leadership.
6. Define the STOP method. Stop, think, observe, plan.
7. Why is leadership important for lost individuals? Leadership provides a sense of purpose for lost
individuals. It spurs the group to a common action.
8. What is the seven-point checklist suggested for leaders of lost teams? A positive mental
attitude, first aid, shelter, fire, signaling, water, and food.
Chapter 3 Discovering Lost Projects

1. What are the planning elements that a PSAR team must consider before beginning a PSAR
Review? A project charter identifying the reason for undertaking the effort and the high-level
expectation for objectives and scope. Scope clarified through a work breakdown structure effort.
Scheduling and communications planning should also be of prime importance for this effort.
Additionally, the PSAR team may also want to consider the risks, especially political risks, which may
be experienced as a result of this effort.
2. How should a PSAR list of projects be established? For organizations that have an enterprise
solution where project status is objectively driven from a software tool, this can be a good place to
begin. A list of lost projects can begin to be developed by looking for the obvious signs of trouble.
This could include projects who are regularly seeking project variances, projects who are regularly
going back to the client to obtain more funding, projects who have continually slipped initial
milestones as well as revision dates to those milestones, and projects where unmanaged scope
creep has occurred. In the absence of this information, however, a random audit of projects may be
the solution. When the information exists to do so, a PSAR team should begin building a list of those
projects that are strategically significant to the organization. Strategically significant projects may
already be known to a project management office and the organization. If this is the case, the PSAR
team will more easily begin to define appropriate projects to review. If strategic significance has not
already been defined across a portfolio of projects, the best place to begin defining them is through
the business leadership of an organization. A PSAR team should begin with interviews of the
leadership to obtain a list of projects that are strategically significant.
3. What information should be provided to the project manager before interviewing project
participants? Included in this discussion should be a presentation of the purpose of the review.
Project managers should be made aware of the fact that it will be important to interview team
participants. Explain to the project managers whose projects are under review that they will be
informed of the output of the team participant interviews and will be asked to provide additional input.
Honesty is an important component of this conversation with project managers, and so the conditions
that put their projects on the list of projects to be reviewed is important to discuss.
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Answer Key
4. How should each interview with a project participant begin? It is extremely important to begin
each interview by discussing with the participant the objectives of the PSAR Review and why it is
being undertaken. It is important to address that their involvement in the PSAR Review is an
opportunity for them to suggest improvements as well as to discuss any observations that they would
like to contribute about the project and its staff.
5. How can a PSAR team most effectively gain the cooperation of a project team in the PSAR
review? The most effective way to gain the cooperation of project teams is to deal with them in an
open, honest, and respectful manner always. A lack of honesty by a PSAR team can foster a
project teams willingness to stay lost as a method of ensuring failure of the PSAR effort.
6. What specific elements should be discussed with the project participant regarding the project
effort? Participants understanding of why the project exists, understanding of project objectives
(scope, schedule, budget), understanding of project risk, and view of the projects progress.
7. Explain why the PSAR interviewer should ask a project participant about his understanding of
the strategic implications of the solution provided by the project? PSAR interviewers who find
that the project participants do not know, do not understand, or who holds an inconsistent view of the
project vision should consider this a sign that the project may be lost. However, this is not always the
case. It will be important to look at the project participants understanding of the strategic implications
of the project combined with the other interview components.
8. When discussing the project objective, scope, what should a PSAR interviewer pay particular
attention to? The PSAR interviewer should look for signs of mean-ends inversion.
9. Define means-ends inversion. Means-ends inversion states that there is a heavier focus on
activities than deliverables within the project participants reference point.
10. What is the critical difference between project risk and project issues? Risks are potential
problems that have not yet occurred. Issues are current challenges that must be reacted to.
11. Why is a participants negative view of change to a solution less important than his
understanding of project impacts created by the change? Most project participants do not see
the strategic advantages of a change for the business and a client. They focus on how change will
interrupt their work. It is more important to ask them about the impacts of change to the project as
they see it.
12. Why is it important that the PSAR interviewer discuss with the project participant how actual
work is reported? The PSAR interviewer will want to uncover if there is consistency in terms of
team reporting as well as uncover if the participant understands how they are reporting status.
13. Explain what is meant when it is said that a project participant often has an accurate view of
the health of the project environment. A project participant is often aware of challenges among
team members or between departments that those team members may represent.
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Answer Key
14. Define what is meant by the influences of the larger organization on a project effort. These
influences are outside of the project teams control and are usually those things that the organization
or other projects will bring to bear on the project effort.
15. What common behaviors are signals that a project participant may feel lost in a project?
Confusion, Fear, A Sense of Urgency, Panic, Poor Decision Making, Frustration, Anger, Depression
and Withdrawal, Fatigue, and Forgetfulness.
16. What common fears may project participants have that can affect how forthcoming they will
be in a PSAR Review? Fear of isolation, fear of the lack of control he has on his environment, fear
of predatory team members or other individuals, fear of injuring career or reputation, fear of losing a
job.
17. Define why a project participants anger towards the PSAR Review may not always indicate
anger toward the project effort. A project participant may be angry about having to be pulled away
for the PSAR interview; however, this is anger does not necessarily indicate that he is angry about
the project effort. More information from the participant is needed before a PSAR interviewer can
determine if anger is toward them or toward the project effort.
18. Why is it important to look for consistent themes among interviews with many project
participants? The comments of one participant alone may not indicate a lost initiative; however,
consistent themes stated by many participants can demonstrate that the project is off course.
19. How should a PSAR interviewer begin the interview with the project manager? The PSAR
interviewer should take a moment when beginning the interview to discuss the objectives of the
interview as well as general themes that were shared by participants. Again, it is important to remind
the project manager that the PSAR team is an advocate for the project effort and the project team.
Discuss with the project manager that the input he provides will assist the PSAR team in better
understanding the current initiative and its challenges, if there are any.
20. How should a PSAR interviewer respond to a project manager when asked for specific
feedback from the project participants during his interview? It is not advisable to share specific
comments by specific individuals as it is likely to create a possible tangent to the agenda. Remind
the project manager that he or she will be provided with a copy of the final report and that nothing will
be held from him or her. The information provides more value when considered in its totality.
21. Explain the statement that project managers who welcome the PSAR review are
demonstrating that they have leadership ability to rescue the project effort. Project managers
who are more interested in the solution being successful and less concerned about how they will be
viewed by the organization will be more forthcoming of information and are more likely to be
concerned about the health of the project effort.
22. Define what is meant by the Dangling Else Syndrome, and why it is important for PSAR
interviewers to listen for it? Assumptions (if) used to create project plans (then) without
considering risks (else) are also dangerous territory and suggests that the project is a lost effort.
Assumptions that create a dangling else for the project effort is a sign that the initiative could be lost.
Lost projects will be full of high-risk assumptions and perhaps even no logical basis given the
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Answer Key
organizations they exist in. A PSAR interviewer should pay particular attention to the assumptions
that were made, why they were made, and how they were or were not managed as part of the risk
plan.
23. What items of project process will the PSAR interviewer want to make sure is requested from
the project manager during the interview? Project charter review, scope review, schedule review,
budget review, risk plan review, issue review, change review.
Chapter 4 Evaluating Project Review Results

1. What are the five components of a PSAR Review results?
Common themes from PSAR
interviews, inconsistencies between the responses of project participants, inconsistencies between
project participant responses and project manager responses, dissenting opinions of interviewees,
and positive findings.
2. How should common themes be documented? A PSAR team should document these findings in
descending order from greatest number of consistent views to least.
3. When considering dissenting opinions within the findings, what value can this information
provide a PSAR team? Though these findings should not always be taken at face value, they may
provide useful information to the PSAR team who feels it necessary to investigate further.
4. What are the three elements of a PSAR Discovery Report? Executive summary, assessment
including recommendations, and findings.
5. What should be included in the Executive Summary? A high-level summary of the detail that will
be covered specifically within the body of the report four to six sentences in length.
6. According to the scale provided in this course, what should occur if the PSAR team assesses
a project effort a score of 3? PSAR team should recommend further review of the project.
7. With whom should a PSAR Discovery Report be shared? The PSAR Discovery Report should be
shared with upper-tier stakeholders. This will include the project manager and could also include the
management within the delivery organization, and perhaps the client sponsorship. The PSAR team
will want to share the PSAR Discovery Report as appropriate for the specific organization and
organizational structure.
8. Why is it important that the project manager see a PSAR Discovery Report first? A project
manager deserves the opportunity to understand those items that are related to his project effort so
that he may address additional questions when other upper-tier stakeholders present those to the
project manager.
9. When considering how a PSAR Discovery Report should be shared, what must a PSAR team
always consider first? The PSAR team should share the report in such a way that contributes to
the best interest of the project effort.
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Answer Key
10. How should a PSAR team present itself in the face of political pressures when a report is not
well-received? A PSAR team should always present itself as a cohesive group committed to the
overall success of an organization when faced with political pressure.

1. Why is it important for the PSAR team to have a project plan for the R&R effort? The R&R
effort should not be executed without a plan; otherwise it may become yet another project in danger
of being lost.
2. What is a PSAR teams role in defining and documenting objectives? The PSAR team should
assist the project manager and team in putting into place a valid project charter that represents
achievable objectives.
3. What is a PSAR teams role in risk? The PSAR team should assist the project manager and team
in developing a risk plan as well as formalize internal project reviews of risk.
4. What is a PSAR teams role in clarifying scope? The PSAR team should work with the project
manager, team, and client to re-scope the project or to further clarify present scope. If the scope is
ambiguous due to poor requirements gathering, the PSAR team should assist in ensuring that the
necessary conversations are occurring to clearly define what the deliverables of the project are.
Additionally, for those projects plagued by scope change problems, the PSAR team should assist a
project manager in implementing a process for change control and possibly even assist him in
discussing the process with the client.
5. What is a PSAR teams role in re-estimating time and cost on the project? The PSAR team
should assist a project manager and team in determining updated cost and time estimates as well as
possible risk reserves for time and cost.
6. What should a PSAR team assist a project manager in implementing when there is trouble
within the project team environment? A communication plan and conflict resolution activities.
7. What is the purpose of the steering committee in the R&R effort? The purpose of the steering
committee is to serve as a sounding board and escalation committee for the problems that a project is
experiencing. A steering committee assists not only in getting a project back on a successful path,
but also keeping it on a successful path.
8. What is a PSAR teams role in establishing a steering committee? The PSAR team may assist
in engaging membership to the committee as well as help to send the message of the benefits of
having a committee to the membership.
9. Who should be the primary driver of information to the steering committee? The project
manager.
10. What two items do a PSAR team and project manager determine for project reviews with the
steering committee? Content of the meetings and frequency of meetings.
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Answer Key
11. How does a PSAR team prevent becoming a negative influence on the project and its
stakeholders? A PSAR team should consider that it is in the best interest of the project effort and
business to actively build good working relationships with all of those individuals who are impacted,
positively and negatively. A PSAR team should stay committed to continuing to build rapport and to
sell their role as supportive of project stakeholders being successful. A PSAR team must make it a
priority to engage with all project stakeholders in an honest and respectful manner at all occasions.
12. What is a suggested method for building trust among project stakeholders during the R&R
effort? One way for a PSAR team to build this relationship is through providing positive feedback of
successes a project experiences as a result of the R&R process. Provide recognition to individuals
on the project efforts for their achievements and serve as a broadcaster of those achievements to
those above them. A PSAR team that takes the time to advertise the successes of a project
manager and team putting a project back on the path will find that they will be rewarded with more
trusting relationships from those in the project membership.
Chapter 6 Recognizing if You Are Lost

1. What should a project manager do to execute the Stop activity of the STOP Method? A project
manager should develop stop points for the project such that a review can be conducted.
2. What items should a project manager consider in the Think activity of the STOP Method? The
project manager should think about the current situations that the project is under. If there are
challenges, what are they? Are there ambiguities that have not been resolved or which have no plan
of action for resolution?
3. Why can an objective person be an advantage to the project manager reviewing his project?
An objective person, such as another project manager, can add perspective and can allow a project
manager to hear a voice that will be more objective than his own will be.
4. What should a project manager consider in the Observe activity of the STOP Method? A
project manager should observe the environment the project exists within as well as review the health
of interactions between himself, the team, and other project stakeholders.
5. What items should the project manager include in the Plan activity of the STOP Method? A
project manager should consider how he will begin to develop a positive mental attitude for himself
and among his team, he must consider how to address the projects wounds, he must find shelter for
the project and the team within the organization, he must build a fire of controls through a robust
project plan, he must signal for help, and he must efficiently use scare resources while attempting to
obtain additional resources that might be needed.
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Answer Key
PSAR Crossword Puzzle Answer Key
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Bibliography
Bibliography
Department of the Army. U.S. Army Survival Handbook. Guilford: The Lyons Press, 2002.
Gonzales, Laurence. Land of the Lost. National Geographic Adventure, Dec. 2001, p. 82 90, 92,
94, 96, 155 156.
Syrotuck, Wiliam G. Analysis of Lost Person Behavior. Mechanicsburg: Barkleigh Productions, Inc.,
1976.
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Thank You for Trusting Prodevia Learning

Thank you for choosing us and for completing Project Search and Rescue.
We hope you enjoyed Project Search and Rescue. This course is one of many available titles designed
to grow the project management skills of the advanced professional. Prodevia Learning is committed to
bringing together the best names in our industry to provide professional development training that is
useful and efficient for our working professional students.
Please, be sure to contact us if we can be of service to you; we are always happy to help!
Ken Mauldin, President
Prodevia Learning
www.prodevia.com
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Suggested Courses
We look forward to continuing our relationship with you for your future professional
development needs.
Prodevia Learning is proud to offer courses from the best names in our profession. Here are some
suggestions that are a nice compliment to broadening concepts that were covered in Project Search and
Rescue:
Neal Whitten's No-Nonsense Guide to Leading Successful Projects
Successful projects dont just happenthey are made to happen. With this
course, Neal Whitten takes leadership and project management to a personal
level to reveal leading-edge best practices that make the difference between
leading consistently successful projects and playing the victim with troubled
projects.
This course focuses mostly on leadership and soft skills but also includes hard
skills and life skills. The course also reveals behaviors to adopt that are invaluable
in helping a person become a more successful project manager and leader. No
theories herethis stuff works!
Project Management Professionals (PMP) earn 35 Category A PDUs upon
course completion. Learn more.
The Project Management Client Oriented Results Model - PM/COR
You know client relationship management is a crucial component of successful
projects. Finally, there is a model that will teach you how to achieve client
relations excellence. Let PM/COR challenge you to have a different perspective,
and teach you how to successfully become the project manager clients ask for by
name.
The PM/COR model establishes the 5 Client-Relations Competencies that a
project manager must consistently demonstrate when interacting with clients: as
well as the 5 Client Focus Areas, which explore the components of the project
life-cycle that most concern and motivate the client.
Mastering Project Scope Definition
Your projects success depends upon your ability to successfully identify and gain
stakeholder agreement on project scope. This course provides a proven method
to work through the challenges of scope development and properly define the
project deliverables.
Mastering Project Scope Definition will show you a real-world formula for
successfully developing scope together with your project team and other key
project stakeholders. The course advances the concept of Work Breakdown
Structure from theory to everyday application, covering not only practical
guidelines for its development but also how to facilitate the needs of all project
stakeholders.
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91
Suggested Courses
Mastering Project Communication
Great project communication is nothing short of critical for project
success. Mastering Project Communication will provide an effective method for
implementing a project communication plan that will balance efficiency for your
stakeholders while also facilitating proper information sharing and decisionmaking.
This course will cover the more structured, planned for components of
communication such as reporting, documentation, and meetings. It will also cover
many of the extemporaneous components of communication such as ad-hoc
stakeholder interactions, your own ability to listen and craft a message to others,
and ensuring that conflicts are constructively dealt with.
Mastering Project Requirements
The failure of properly documenting our clients' requirements is one of the most
common project management problems. Because this problem occurs at the
outset of the project, these are the costliest of errors to make.
This course uncovers how to effectively develop requirements saving the
headaches of rework, delays, cost overruns, client satisfaction issues, and
possibly even project shutdown.
This course establishes solid process and procedures, as well as methods for
managing stakeholder involvement.
Mastering Project Risk

Risk management is required to identify potential risks and opportunities to
ensure stakeholder satisfaction and project success. Mastering Project Risk, by
Kelly Mauldin, MPM, PMP, CPM provides the most efficient, practical methods for
incorporating risk management into your project initiatives.
Mastering Project Risk includes a comprehensive methodology that is scalable to
both the size and complexity of any project. Mastering Project Risk builds a focus
on the incorporation of quantitative risk analysis and management methods that
will ensure the client and their project investment is successful.
Project Management Professionals (PMP) and PMI Risk Management
Professionals (PMI-RMP) earn 15 Category A PDUs upon course completion.
Learn more.
www.prodevia.com
92
Suggested Courses
Mastering Project Change
Project managers know project change is a real and present threat to their
projects. It could be said; however, that project management itself is about the
management of change.
Project managers must manage planned change (the project as initially defined)
as well as unplanned changes (change management) that occur. This
course will provide you better tools and understanding to facilitate those
unplanned project changes. Learn how change management is really an
opportunity for greater project success.
Neal Whitten's Twenty Best Practices for Projects

Neal Whitten's Twenty Best Practices for Projects explores in detail
the twenty best behavioral practices in a number of workplace settings within
which we most find ourselves.
Targeted to project managers and all project stakeholders, this course is
presented in a case study format and represents the most frequently experienced
challenges and situations that people encounter in their professional life.
The answers Neal provides for these challenges will provide a compelling set of
building blocks for you as you grow to become a more successful professional.
Mastering Project Schedules and Deadlines

Project management expert Kelly Mauldin addresses the typical challenges of
time management in the new course, Mastering Project Schedules and
Deadlines.
This course provides you with a simple but effective methodology for developing a
project schedule that will fit the needs of the project as well as tools to make the
process as easy as possible for stakeholders.
Through Mastering Project Schedules and Deadlines you will be a more effective
manager of your time management responsibilities as a project manager.
Project Management Professionals (PMP) and PMI Schedule Professionals
(PMI-SP) earn 10 Category A PDUs upon course completion. Learn more.
For a complete list of courses, please visit the COURSE CATALOG page on our website at
www.prodevia.com.
www.prodevia.com
93

The Survival Guide To Identifying and Recovering Lost Projects

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Welcome to Prodevia Learning

Advanced Professional Development for Experienced Project Managers.

The Professional Project Executive (PPE)

The Survival Guide

Copyright 2003 - 2013

Project Search and Rescue

Course Objectives ...................................................................................................5

Chapter 2 The Behaviors of Being Lost............................................................... 11

Chapter 3 Discovering Lost Projects .................................................................. 21

Project Search and Rescue

Reviewing Project Processes ................................................................................................................. 45

Chapter 4 Evaluating Project Review Results .................................................... 49

Chapter 5 Rescuing Lost Projects .......................................................................55

Chapter 6 Recognizing if You are Lost................................................................ 61

PSAR Crossword Puzzle ....................................................................................... 66

Suggested Answer Key ......................................................................................... 80

Project Search and Rescue

How to Complete this Course

Read the chapter for comprehension.

Check off assignments on the Completion Checklist, page 4.

How to Submit Course Completion and Report PDUs

Project Search and Rescue

Chapter 1 Introduction to the Project Search and Rescue

Project Search and Rescue

List the signs of a lost project.

Project Search and Rescue

Have You Ever Been Lost?

experience of being lost can be a daunting one.

Project Search and Rescue

It is essential in todays complex project environments that we learn to

Defining The Lost Project

Project Search and Rescue

Undiscovered lost projects become a drain on an organizations

The search for lost projects and lost

Project Search and Rescue

Stress and Stressors

It is common for soldiers to be put through stress training to help

Project Search and Rescue

Question for your consideration: What behaviors to you think that

The Cycle of Behavior

Project Search and Rescue

This can be demonstrated further by thinking back to a time when

Project Search and Rescue

Question for your consideration: Have you ever found yourself

Fear of being alone. Human beings are social creatures

Fear of darkness. For those lost hikers who have found

Fear of animals. Strange sounds and rustling noises within

Project Search and Rescue

Fear of suffering. Most lost individuals faced with the

Fear of dying. The fear of suffering usually leads to the

Poor Decision Making

Project Search and Rescue

Depression and Withdrawal

Project Search and Rescue

The Cycle of Lost Behavior

Many times, all of these behaviors

The Interdependency of Lost Behavior

Question for your consideration: What relationships can you see

The Behaviors of Survivors

survive not because of a

Project Search and Rescue

The STOP Method

It is interesting to note that the items