When I first demo pmPoint to project managers, stakeholders and project team members, they are almost always excited by the status indicators.   It’s so cool, they think, at the touch of a button to color in cute little circles with red, yellow and green, showing whether the project is going well, or maybe whether there are problems with quality, costs, or the timeline.   And then they find other indicators!  Oooh, project and task status!  On Schedule, In Danger, and Late.  Great, more ways to let everyone know what’s going on!!

What I suspect many of these early “indicator enthusiasts” don’t realize is that these indicators are like hockey fights.  I love a good hockey fight!  But I would never want to be “in” one.  I’m just not that tough.  I don’t mind watching other people get beat up, but I’d prefer to be on the other side of the plexiglass if you don’t mind…

So here’s my little piece of advice:  Before you start using dashboards and other cool features of pmPoint that roll up project and program status using red, yellow and green indicators, make sure all your stakeholders, project managers and project team members all agree on some ground rules about what it means when a task, issue or project is yellow or red.  And whether you’re planning to use it to blame project teams for things that aren’t going well, or as a simple method of communication to focus everyone’s attention on areas that need help, without judgment.

If you don’t take that step and someday you find yourself in the penalty box with a black eye and a few missing teeth, don’t “blame” me…