I need some serious answers.
A supervisor puts someone in charge as a project manager for a web redesign project. She appears to commit the the project's description (what it is, who will work on it, etc.) but then changes critical parts of the project (like who will work on it) and then denies that she committed to the original plan.
What do you do with a boss who prevents you from moving forward on a project because she will not commit to a plan and keeps changing things? (This is starting to affect meeting deadlines.)
Ideas on how to deal with a boss who keeps changing her mind, creating hold-ups on projects.?
It's difficult. There are some things you can do - some of which you may have already done.
Develop a project charter, which describes the project, but also includes some high-level project assumptions and risks etc. (This at the very start of the project.) Boss, and other key players, should sign document.
Produce a detailed definition of the project scope - ideally a structured Work Breakdown Structure, but at least something that defines the scope in detail. Get agreement that this is scope of the project (signatures are good.)
Any changes to the scope as defined above are required to go through a change process. As part of the process the proposed change is documented, along with the estimated impact of the change. The document is then reviewed, in this case probably with the boss and others, and the discussion is - so here's the proposed change, and if we do it it will delay us 2 weeks and cost $5000. Do we still want to do it ? (and if so where's the money.) Again signatures are good on the approved changes.
Try not to own the hot potato issues. When she takes some-one off the project (which makes it your problem) you then throw her back a new plan showing the impact, including slipped dates (making it her problem again.)
If you really can't get committments, then you have to document all your assumptions, provide them to the boss, and then proceed. You can also have reviews where you explain (as a team) what's going on etc. In the review you can make leading statements like : We need to get everyone's agreement on this before moving onto next phase. Document the meeting.
As you put more structure in place you can blame either %26quot;best practices%26quot; or other stakeholders.
