Let Them See RED!

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During my career as a management consultant, I have witnessed many areas of corporate management practices that could be improved upon. One of the most important areas is along the lines of "transparency". All too often I have encountered managers who are reluctant to report an accurate status out of fear. There is a general fear that upper management does not want to see or hear bad news. In fact, at a previous client of mine I was told not to report a RED status on anything (no matter how dire the situation) because it would get too much attention from upper management. So it strikes me as funny that although many corporate cultures embrace the traditional RAG (RED/AMBER/GREEN) Status, the only colors they want on a report are GREEN and AMBER. This is not only a bad management practice, it contributes to many failed projects.

In my experience, it is my strong belief that you should Let Them See RED! Notice the dashboard sample posted with this blog. The RED gets attention! Long after something has remained a solid AMBER with no movement toward success, a RED just may be warranted. It is my strong suggestion that you have solid supporting metrics when showing a RED status.

Here are five reasons why you should't fear reporting a justified RED status:

1) It draws a clear focus to assist in alleviating the items that are jeopardizing the project.

2) It gives senior management a view into real areas of concern and gets them involved where other areas of management may be ineffective. Senior management would rather get involved than deal with unpleasant surprises covered by a false GREEN or AMBER status.

3) It gets all team members more focused on their own areas which in turn may help avoid major issues they would need to explain.

4) It helps foster a higher level of discipline in communication of an initiative's planning, tracking and status/metrics reporting.

5) It provides transparency that will create more confidence in the overall status reporting on an ongoing basis.

Although reporting a RED status can be uncomfortable, it can be the difference between a successful project vs. one that got away. Remember, reporting a little RED now may lead to alot of GREEN later!

All the best in your management endeavors,

Ron

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