Adventures of an IT Leader

CHAPTER SIX

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Wednesday, April 11, 2:35 p.m.…

Barton’s headache worsened. Sitting back in his seat, hands folded in his lap, he’d ceased trying to get into the conversation. What had begun as a project status review had deteriorated into open conflict. The combatants represented the company’s two major IT subgroups, Loan Operations Systems and Customer Support Systems. At first the meeting had been orderly and polite; each person took turns walking through his or her list of projects in progress, explaining the reasons for “red,” “yellow,” or “green” status indicators beside each project. The lists showed a lot of green, some yellow, and a small amount of red. Oddly, Barton noticed, both departments seemed to have exactly the ...