Arrange for a peer review

D E F I N I T I O N

A peer review is an informal audit that looks at the project so far through a pair of external eyes. Peer reviews are a useful tool to check the project is on track and give you confidence that you are doing the best possible job. They can be run by an external company, the internal audit or quality function of your company, or the project management department, with project managers carrying out peer reviews on each others’

projects.

If you are offered the chance of a peer review, take it. If not, think about organizing one for yourself at key points during the project: insights from an unbiased evaluation really will be worth it.

C O N S T R U C T I N G A S O L I D P R O J E C T

Multiplex, an Australian property company involved with the building of the Wembley National Stadium in London, carried out a detailed review of the costs of the project in February 2005. Since that review, the company has put a number of new measures in place to mitigate risks on their portfolio for any contract exceeding A$100 million. One of these measures is a regular internal review.

The company carried out a peer review of the stadium project, which highlighted that the productivity levels previously assumed were not actu­

ally being achieved. The review also pointed out potential financial short­

falls, as the predicted project costs were more than planned. The internal review procedure concluded that the project would make a loss, leading senior management to implement strategies to tackle the project’s financial challenges.¹⁷

A peer review is:

• an unbiased, friendly estimation of the project activity;

• supposed to point out areas where you could improve;

• going to offer suggestions to make things run more smoothly.

A peer review isn’t:

• meant to identify mistakes;

• going to parcel out blame;

• intended to reduce your team to a quivering wreck.

Project Management in the Real World

Continuous improvement is part of the project manager’s role, so where is the value in a peer review? Dan Bradbary and David Garrett answer this question in their book Herding Chickens: Innovative Techniques for Project Management:

After all, at the start of your project you established a set of metrics and other milestones to measure your progress and judge your own attitudes, no? True, but those are metrics that you’ve set, and set in your favour – otherwise put, they are biased towards you to begin with. [A peer review] brings a truly outside perspective to your project; it rids you of internal bias completely.¹⁸

A peer review will normally look at the project holistically, but if you have specific concerns or doubts, ask the reviewer to pay particular attention to those areas. This is especially useful for budgets, where a second opinion will either reinforce your methods or identify ways in which you can improve. A review of your project budget can also give your sponsor confidence that the money is being handled appropriately while at the same time pointing out future shortfalls. ‘If, for example, you’ve been pushing for a third network printer for two months but your pleas have fallen on deaf ears,’ Bradbary and Garrett continue, ‘a recommendation from an outside party may be just the ammo you need to get heard.’¹⁹

H I N T

Expect to hand over copies of your monthly reports, your budget spreadsheet, plans and other project documentation during a peer review. Free up some time so you can talk to the reviewer and make your team available too if necessary.

The reviewer should produce a final report including their forecasts for the total expenditure and predicted finish date. These will either support yours or give you an alternative to consider. Any alternative view of your project forecasts should be backed up with some well thought-out reasons that will make it easier for you to decide whether you want to make changes to your plan based on the reviewer’s report.

H E L P ! I ’ V E B E E N A S K E D T O B E A P E E R R E V I E W E R

If you are asked to be a peer reviewer, be flattered. Someone thinks you are a good enough project manager to pass judgement about another project, objective enough to present your findings in a clear and blame-free way and detailed enough to uncover things that they might have missed themselves.

Being a reviewer is not a daunting task. Find out whether there are stand­

ard templates for carrying out peer reviews already in use by other project

Arrange for a peer review

managers. Even if your search doesn’t turn up anything official, speak to someone who has done it before. Think about what you would want to know if it was your project: is the budget on track, is the schedule realistic, how are risks and issues managed? You do not need to be an expert in the technical subject matter of the project to carry out a successful peer review, but there is an obligation to give your feedback in a constructive way. Focus on con­

structive criticism and suggestions for improvement rather than highlighting errors the team can now do nothing about.

Having a final report from a peer reviewer is a great start. To make the whole review exercise worthwhile though, you really need to put those recommend­

ations into practice. Read through the recommendations carefully and work out how and when they can be implemented: obviously, the sooner the better.

Ask the reviewer’s advice if you cannot see how to turn the recommendations into reality. They will have suggestions for a successful implementation that might help you see the problems in a different light.

G O L D E N R U L E S

Schedule peer reviews at regular intervals during your project, and be sure to act on the reviewers’ recommendations.