Dear Bob ... I have a situation that I am at a loss to deal with. I was asked to participate on a major project in our IT department. The project is falling behind schedule. Tthe budget is ok, and almost all of the consulting work has been done and is ok, but internally we are missing deadlines. Even that is not the issue -- it is almost expected of the IT department. My role in this project Dear Bob …I have a situation that I am at a loss to deal with. I was asked to participate on a major project in our IT department. The project is falling behind schedule. Tthe budget is ok, and almost all of the consulting work has been done and is ok, but internally we are missing deadlines. Even that is not the issue — it is almost expected of the IT department.My role in this project is in the support area. The group I work in, we are the plumbers that keep the infrastructure running (servers/network/software installation/workstations…) During this project, I have not attended any project meetings (actually, not even invited), given any project schedules, or any real deadlines. When I have asked about this, I am told that there is no set project plan. With the dollars involved (a lot!) I find this hard to believe. It is too late for this project, but I would like to know who I should bring this up with — my boss, the project leader (in a different dept) or someone else I haven’t thought of at all. I am not trying to get anyone into trouble. I am not looking to lay blame. I just want this silliness fixed so that we don’t face these issues again on the next project.Any ideas you have would be greatly appreciated.– Spectator to the train wreck Dear Spectator …I’ve been in similar situations. I’m not sure I ever handled any of them correctly. Heck, I’m not even sure what “correctly” means.I think the right answer depends on a few factors specific to your organization. * Does the culture support organizational problem-solving, or does it tend to fix blame and leave it at that?* Is a business sponsor attached to the project? A real business sponsor, that is, not the CIO filling in because nobody would step up to the plate?* Is the company well-focused on business success, or is it more of an “ecosystem” in which everyone strives for personal advantage? * How good is your rapport with your boss?If you have good rapport with your boss, that’s the place to start. Tell him or her exactly what you told me and ask the logical next step. The most likely avenue is for your boss to take it up quietly with the CIO, but a lot depends on the specifics of the situation.If you don’t have that kind of rapport and don’t have enough trust in your boss to take this route, strongly consider covering your keister and calling it a day. Send an e-mail that documents your need to participate in the project sufficiently to properly anticipate the project’s impact on the technical infrastructure and the lead time you need so as to build a suitable test environment and to bring sufficient capacity on-line prior to deployment. Send it to the project manager, cc: your boss. Keep the tone friendly and un-alarming – you’re looking for information, not raising red flags about the project. “I’m sending this to make sure infrastructure stays off the critical path.” If your company has an “open door policy” and you feel like sticking your neck out, make use of it. But if your company had such a policy you wouldn’t have written me, would you?If you know the business sponsor personally and have good rapport there, consider a private, off-the-record meeting so you can give a warning. Be careful here – in many companies you won’t be thanked for helping avert a mess, just blamed for violating the chain of command.Beyond that … here’s the reality of just about every organization: If those in a position to deal with problem situations want to know what’s really going on, they’ll have established listening channels and publicized them to employees. If these channels don’t exist or you don’t know about them (same thing) then there’s only one conclusion to draw, and that’s that they don’t want to hear about problems from people like you.Which means there’s no way you can help, and lots of ways you yourself some damage.Tread lightly. – Bob ——– Technology Industry