A great dilemma for project managers is the missing-sock syndrome. You know that you put three pairs of socks in the dryer, yet only five socks came back out. Is there a fairy in the dryer stealing socks?

You will feel that way with your disappearing resources. It starts with needing Johnny for a quick meeting. Then Carol has to have surgery. Joan is called out to deal with a production issue. This leaves you and your plan. Maybe you have experienced this when several parents have decided to throw a party for the PTA. Ten parents signed up to help. You all agreed to decorate the gym at 8:00 P.M. on Friday. At 9:00 P.M., when you and your streamers are still the only one there, you realize you are on your own.

Disappearing resources is a caveat for project failure. If you have learned nothing else in this book, keep this with you. Report the facts and all of the facts in your project statuses and two things can happen. Nothing, which means nobody really cares, which removes the burden from you. Or, the problem will become visible because someone does care, and you will start finding the missing socks.

How do you report the facts? Following your communication plan, send out your status report moving all project deliverables to red, calling attention to the fact that they are about to fail. Then wait for the reactions. Here are two scenarios:

Scenario 1: Nobody Cares

Problem: You are working on a project and, one by one, your project team has found other, more critical work to be done. You have talked to their managers and find that they are really busy and will get to it when they can. You have reported in your status report for the last two weeks that nothing was being completed. Nobody has responded or has seemed concerned.

Potential Solution: Go ahead and send a project-closure or project-cancellation form to the sponsor. The sponsor will then be forced to make a decision. They can cancel the project, commit resources to finish the project, or put the project on hold until a later date. Whichever they choose, you have your directions. If you want to ensure something gets looked at, ask someone to sign off!

Scenario 2: They Do Care!

Due to the reporting of the status, the sponsor steps in to find out what has been happening. From your standpoint, issue resolved. You have escalated properly and now have the attention of someone who can assist.

These are simple fixes, but the honesty approach tied with reporting what is really happening will get you results.