Avoid the 'Danger Zone': Use the 3R Strategy to Start Projects with Confidence

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A question I'm often asked by my clients is: “How do I work out where to start on a project?   I’m super excited to be working on something new, and I want to do an outstanding job, but I’m not sure how to get clear on what I need to do first.  What’s a simple and reliable way to help me make a great start?”  In this article I’ll share my 3R strategy, a three-step process that helps you find a clear focus, avoid the danger zone, and make the right start to your project, every time.

You enter the danger zone whenever you start a project

Starting a project is exciting.  We all love doing something new.  It has the allure and novelty of stepping out of your usual routine, the promise of learning new skills and the satisfaction and recognition of solving a problem or creating something new that makes a big difference to how your organisation works. 

New things flood us with happy hormones which makes us feel fabulous.  Dopamine, the pleasure hormone, is released fuelling motivation and enthusiasm. Adrenaline and norepinephrine rushes through your body preparing you for action, increasing heart rate, boosting energy levels, and sharpening focus preparing you to take on the new challenge.  Endorphins are released adding to our excitement when starting something new.

These happy hormones are great, but can also cause us to make dumb decisions when starting projects.  As humans we have a bias for action and seek to avoid feeling the discomfort of not knowing what to do and not feeling in control.  

The start of a project, when we are filled with excitement, I call the danger zone because these happy hormones can drive us to take action before we’ve fully understood the real reason for the project, the results we need to achieve and the best response to achieve it.  

Often, we move straight to the response, defining what we will do and hoping it will work because this makes us feel good to take action.  Action is therapy for feeling discomfort.    You’ve likely heard of the term ‘solution in search of a problem’ which is what this is.

Projects without the right focus often fail

A study by the Project Management Institute found a lack of clear focus and goals was the highest contributor to failure causing 1 in every 3 projects to not be considered successful. 

3R Strategy helps you be clear on your project focus every time

Having a clear project focus means combining the reason (why you need to act), the result you need (what needs to be done) and the response (how you will make it work).   It helps align people towards an ambition for the future, gives those working on the project the motivation to sustain working on it and provides the means to select and engage the right capability needed to make it happen.

Using the 3R Strategy will help you avoid the project danger zone and get you off to a great start every time.   

The 3R Strategy helps you find answers to the following three questions:

1.     What is the real REASON we need this project? 

2.     What RESULTS do we need to achieve?

3.     What REPONSE is best to achieve the results we need?

Start by finding the real REASON to take action

It sounds simple right?  Just ask why you need to take action from the person who’s asking you to undertake the project.  What is the problem?   Often the real problem lies hidden and takes a bit of searching.  Here is where you channel the happy hormones to seek answers that make it clear what problem needs to be solved.  

A useful strategy to find the real reason is asking the 5 WHY’s.  Asking WHY at least five times will help you arrive at the real cause of a problem. 

Using the 5 WHY approach might go something like this for a customer support call centre, facing a high rate of customer complaints about long wait times.  Here's how the conversation might unfold:

Problem:  High rate of customer complaints about long wait times.

1. Why are customers experiencing long wait times?
   Because there are not enough customer service representatives available to handle the incoming calls

2. Why aren't there enough customer service representatives? 
   Because the call centre is not adequately staffed to meet the demand.

3. Why is the call centre not adequately staffed?
   Because the staffing levels are based on historical call volumes, which have increased over time. 

4. Why haven't the staffing levels been adjusted to match the increased call volumes?
   Because there is no mechanism in place to regularly review and adjust staffing requirements based on changing call volumes.

5. Why is there no mechanism to review and adjust staffing requirements?
   Because the call centre does not have real-time data and analytics to accurately forecast call volumes and adjust staffing accordingly.

By asking "Why?" repeatedly, the real root cause of long wait times for call centre callers was found.  This root cause is not going to improve without a solution.

The real REASON to act for this project is to provide real-time data and analytics to accurately forecast call volumes and adjust staffing to meet demand which will reliably reduce customer complaints in the future.  

Show a performance gap to clarify the RESULTS you need to achieve

The best projects clearly demonstrate how they will add value.  To do this you need to show how you will close a performance gap.  A performance gap is simply a measure of where you are today (a baseline) and how much it will change by the time you complete the project (the benchmark).  

Athletes do this really well.  A sprinter uses time to cover a distance as their key measure of performance.  Their training is focused on how to close the gap between their performance today (baseline) and their goal (benchmark).  

A further factor in clarifying results is WHEN the performance needs to be achieved by.  For the athlete it might be their performance needs to hit the new benchmark in time for their next big competition, say six months from now. 

For your project, find a measurement that is directly connected to your problem and will demonstrate success if it improves, and when this improvement is needed by.  The extent of the performance gap and when to achieve it gives you a clear focus for what your project will need to deliver to be successful. 

For our call centre project, Average Speed of Answer (ASA) might be an appropriate measure.  The baseline would be the performance today (eg. 180 seconds to answer a call) and the benchmark you set might be say 30 seconds (industry benchmark) within four months’ time.  The performance gap the project needs to deliver then is a reduction of 130 seconds in the Average Speed of Answer rate within four months.  

What is the best RESPONSE to deliver results?

Now you know the real problem, its cause and what results you need and by when, your focus can turn to finding the best option to deliver.  

A helpful approach to work out how to deliver project results is to follow the CLEAR solution framework.  

C – Components and Constraints

L – List Potential Solutions

E – Evaluate Options

A – Analyse Trade-Offs

R – Reach a Decision or Recommendation

C – Components and Constraints:

Start by breaking the problem into smaller pieces.  Like a mechanic taking apart an engine to see what’s broken and needs to be fixed.   For the sprinter that needs to record faster times, it would be examining their technique, their physical abilities, diet and mindset.

In our call centre example, it would be listing the data needed, systems used, algorithms to forecast demand, number of call centre operators, and the people needed to interpret and make rostering decisions.

For many problems, there will also be constraints or ‘must haves’ your project will need to work with.  For instance, the mechanic may not have new parts to repair the engine so needs to refurbish old ones that are broken.  Our athlete can only train two days a week for the next month due to an injury.  Or our call centre may have system that must be used to provide the data as replacing it would be too expensive.  

Once you have all the components and constraints it’s time to move onto listing potential solutions.

L - List Potential Solutions:

Brainstorm how to improve each part or component of the problem.  Use a white board or create a table on a page listing all the components to the problem at the top and write all the ways you can think of to solve them.  It helps to have a variety of views to create fresh ideas and connections between them.  So, use this as a chance to invite others to help you.

I find having people with expertise in the various components to the problem in the room at the same time the best way to do this.  Its quick, efficient and creates energy that sparks creative ideas.  You may need to speak directly with people within the business to generate ideas or conduct surveys to gather a wide range of views.  

Don’t worry too much about the constraints at this stage, you can apply them as a filter to evaluate your options in the next step.

E - Evaluate Options:

Arrange the ideas to solve each component of the problem in order of best fit to least.  Remove ones that will not work based on constraints you have to avoid getting side tracked.

This stage helps you define the requirements for your project.  

Evaluate each part of the solution based on its alignment with desired outcomes, ease of implementation, time to deliver and cost.   The goal here is to have at least two options that you then analyse further to arrive at a preferred option. 

For the call centre project, options need to show how they will deliver the 130 second improvement in Average Speed of Answer within four months.

A - Analyse Trade-Offs:

Analyse the trade-offs associated with each solution.  Consider the potential benefits and drawbacks of implementing each option.  Make sure your analysis considers how each option addresses the constraints you identified earlier to achieve the results you need.

Assess the short-term and long-term implications, consider any unintended consequences, or impacts on other parts of the business.   This helps in identifying the solutions that provide the most favourable balance between benefits and drawbacks.

Most important to be clear on here is how reliable each part of the solution is or how much risk needs to be overcome to achieve your target results.  

For the athlete that needs to improve their track times, it may be the improving starting technique and the first 10 metres will deliver the most time gains with the least risk of reinjury. 

R - Reach a Decision or Recommendation:

Consider the insights gathered in the previous steps and weigh the pros and cons of each option.  Select the solution(s) that best balances the results that will be achieved with the risk, cost and time of achieving them.

For our call centre project, a low-cost solution that has a great deal of uncertainty of whether it will work may not be a better option than a higher cost and lower risk option that is more certain to achieve the result within the time you need it.   

Based on the evaluation and analysis, make an informed decision, or develop a recommendation for others to decide on the best solution(s) to pursue.   I find that providing a range of choices for others to consider with a clear recommendation is the best approach as people like to see what their options are before deciding.  

Conclusion

If you’re starting work on a project, the 3R strategy will make it easier to develop your projects’ focus and get you off to a great start, avoiding the danger zone of acting too quickly.

The 3R Strategy helps you develop a clear project focus by answering three questions:

1. What is the real REASON we need this project? Use the 5 Why’s to get to the root of the problem to solve.

2. What RESULTS do we need to achieve? Select a compelling benchmark and determine a performance gap to close.

3. What RESPONSE is best to achieve the results we need? Use the CLEAR solution framework to select the right approach.

At ThinkClearGroup we help people in corporate roles excel at delivering projects. 

Getting off to a great start is what we teach in our Project Excelerator Masterclass.  If you’re looking to level up your project delivery skills and fast track your career, book a free discovery session today.