3. Don’t promise the impossible in a ridiculous time frame

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The third post in the series 10 (un)common mistakes to in Project Management. Promising the impossible in a ridiculous time frame. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Or a month or even a year. Recently the new Doha airport has also opened after a year’s delay. At the time of signing the contract for the project, Business development teams promise the impossible leaving the delivery team to struggle with the difficult schedule.
Bear with me and imagine a scenario wherein a less developed place, isolated from the developed world where even the most basic building material - cement is imported. Prices of commodities are normally three times the world average cost. Skilled labour is not available.  The topography does not favour you either. Steep gradients and a richly undulating landscape with more than 100 inches of rainfall annually. Residents of the place build a house over several years with very rudimentary techniques and methods. The largest building contractor does not build more than a few dozen residential units in a year. In this kind of a scenario would you sign a contract to deliver 1500 building units designed by architects sitting 6000 km away with the best of modern materials and amenities in less than a year? If you answered yes then I’d like to hear from you.
Valuable lessons to learn from such uncommon incidents :

• Acquaint yourselves with the ground realities of a place for which you are going to sign the contract.
• It does not hurt to disagree with the client regarding aggressive (read impossible) time lines. In fact, he should be given correct professional advice at the right time.
• The time frames are not aggressive by themselves alone, they become a constraint when other circumstances are ignored.

I will be posting about a fourth uncommon mistake "Read your contract".
Links to previous posts in this series
2. How (not) to win a contract
1. New Business Areas