How to Recover a Delayed Project

When a project slips, panic and blame make it worse. Recover it methodically instead.

For the full concept, see Recovery Schedule.

Steps

1. Establish the true status honestly — measure, don’t guess (use EVM if you can).
2. Find the root cause of the delay, not just the symptom.
3. Re-baseline options: reduce scope, add resources (crashing), or parallelise (fast-tracking).
4. Model the trade-offs — crashing costs money; fast-tracking adds risk.
5. Agree a recovery schedule with the sponsor and communicate it clearly.
6. Track the recovery tightly with short feedback loops until back on track.