Twas the night before deadline, and all through the place, Not a stakeholder was stirring, no budgets out of place.
The logframes were crafted with painstaking care, In hopes that approvals soon would be there.
The team leads were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of Gantt charts danced in their heads. With a draft in my inbox and coffee in hand, I’d just settled down to review what was planned.
When out in the office there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter. Away to the laptop, I flew like a flash, Pulled up the dashboard, and prayed it won’t crash.
The moon on the spreadsheets with cells all aglow, Gave a luster of hope to the work down below. When what to my wandering eyes should appear, But a rogue donor comment—"This isn't quite clear!"
As a seasoned PM, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than budgets, his feedback it came, And he whistled and shouted and called teams by name:
"Now Finance! Now Field Ops! Now Monitoring and Learning! Pull up your metrics, our midnight oil’s burning! To the top of the plan, to the edge of the scope, Revise away! Revise away! And Keep up your hope!"
As inputs on draft reports quickly pile high, When emails meet inboxes and make us all cry. So back to our laptops, the teams gave a sigh, With heads full of jargon like "SROI."
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the Slack,The prancing and pinging of last-minute tracks. As I opened my laptop and spun 'round my chair, St. Nick gave a wink with a managerial flair.
He was dressed in all khaki, from his vest to his boots, With a pen in his hand and an outcomes-based route. A bundle of KPIs flung on his back, He looked like a leader, ready to track.
His eyes—how they twinkled! His smile, how merry! His deadlines were tight, but his humor was airy. His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And he pointed to targets we’d all overshot so.
The cap of a marker he held tight in his teeth, As he scribbled revisions on pages beneath. He had a broad plan and a solid logframe,That jiggled with laughter—it was all part of the game.
"Now listen, dear team, to my final advice, Good PMs adjust; they don’t roll the dice. Your indicators shine when the data is tight, And every good budget must balance just right."
He sprang to his Zoom call, to his team gave a cheer, "Happy Impact to all, and a scalable year!" But I heard him exclaim as he logged out that night, "Remember, dear team, keep your scope clear and tight!"
A Christmas-infused project management message from The Grants House (www.thegrantshouse.com). Wishing for peace in the New Year and harmony amongst all people.
Merry Christmas to All!
Dr. Philip A. Tanner
CEO/Founder
The Grants House
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