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What do you do when a planned budget falls short for a project?
You were hired as a project manager to start a project that failed a few years ago. After thorough planning and step by step approach, you were ready to launch the initiative only to be told by your boss, he didn't have money as budgeted. What do you do?
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4 Answers
The big question is why the shortfall? If the project runs over-budget because additional work was completed and value added, then perhaps the over-budget situation is okay.
In this case, your question suggests the project never really got off the ground because the budget was withdrawn at the last minute. At that point, really only three options remain:
1. Cut back the project to fit within the available budget
2. Let the project run over-budget
3. Cancel the project
The solution involves diplomacy as much as project management skill. Nonetheless, the boss must be made to understand that without sufficient resources the project is not sustainable and may not deliver even the most basic expected results.
It's almost always better to kill a project before money is spent than end up with a wasted failure.
The PM should have clarified this at the beginning of the scope development and planning, it's would be very difficult to recalculate and change the schedules based on the budget requirement at the ending of a proper planning. Try to re-plan the triple constraint and assess if the project can still be completed within the available budget if there is any left. If not since the project failed over few years ago, its ideal to let go the project and take the learning for future projects.
So how much money does he have? If the project can be downsized or put into stages then possibly do that. If he can take money from other projects and apply it to this project then do that or a combination of the two. If he has no funds what so ever to do the project then you had better find another job.
Assist in finding the required budget.
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