It seems like every IT organization requires project managers, team leads, and program managers to produce status reports and dashboards displaying the successes and failures of current initiatives. Almost without exception, the focal point of the status report is the indicator colors of “Red”, “Yellow”, and “Green”.
As stated in a previous blog posting, I often question the usefulness of this color coding strategy. However, forgoing the color indication entirely would leave most reviewers at a complete loss. So how do we make the Red, Yellow, Green status more effective? Here are three suggestions:
1 – Define Red, Yellow, Green in terms of its most common perceived use (timeline).
2 – Expand the color coded status paradigm to report on more than just tracking to plan.
3 – Pull the emotion out of the color coding.
We’ll talk about this first concept in this blog. The remaining two points will be discussed in following postings.
The biggest problem with Red, Yellow, Green, is that it is usually not well defined. It’s often implied to be indicative of how an initiative is tracking to a socialized plan (or date). However, this point is usually not explicitly stated, and furthermore, what does Red, Yellow, or Green really say about how a project is tracking to plan. Without defining this, based on clear metrics, it should not mean much to anyone.
When this is not defined, it usually leads the status creators and recipients to fall into very poor behavioral habits. We’ll discuss some of this later.
However, let’s say we do define what the color coding means. Let’s say that the status color coding pertains to adherence to a stated schedule. Furthermore, let’s announce that Red means we are tracking 25% or more behind plan. Green means that we are tracking within 5% or less behind plan.
Finally, and most importantly, yellow is used for two purposes. First, from the point a project is first baselined up to about 15% into the project timeline, the color coded status for timeline can be no better than yellow. It could be red, but it can’t be green. The reason for this is that early into the execution of a plan, especially one that lasts for long periods of time, it is impossible to tell if the plan is realistic until proper metric tracking is conducted. This cannot be done until there is enough timeline based data, which takes time to collect. Therefore, yellow should be used during this period of time.
And of course the second purpose for using yellow is if the actual project is tracking in between 5% and 25% behind plan.
Stating this up front in a clear and concise way will inhibit poor behavior from both the status report creator, and the report recipients. Basing color coded status on timeline is only useful if there are clear metrics used for defining the methodology behind the color coding.
Doing it this way takes the emotion out of the equation. Reporting using color coded status without metrics is usually done through the emotions of the project manager or the team at whole. In fact, without metrics, emotion is the only way to do it. Furthermore, if the color coding is scrutinized from the recipients of the report, there is often a tendency to report things as green through the majority of the project, then yellow for the last 25% of the timeline, and then red a few days prior to a delivery. How many times have we all seen that? This is one thing I mean by poor behavior.
On the flip side, not stating what the color coding means to the recipients of the report causes them to very often misconstrue what is being conveyed. When it goes yellow, they often freak because they have been provided no context to what yellow means when all it should mean is that the stated date, based on a plan is not guaranteed. Since very little in life is guaranteed, this should not be that big of a deal.
However, since most projects start out as green and stay that way far longer than they should (lack of metrics), when the status changes to yellow towards the end of a project, it simply tells the report reviewers that all is not well. Stating the metrics/conditions for why the color is the way it is will help prevent this reaction from status report reviewers. Starting off as yellow helps enforce what a baselined plan really is; an estimated, not guaranteed, plan of record.
In my next post, we’ll discuss the importance on reporting status on other areas of a projects health. Because it’s not all about timeline!
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