Slaughter the sacred cows that drag down your project

Do you have reports, procedures or norms in your projects that are never questioned? Is the format of your status report obscuring it's very purpose of providing status to enable good decision making? How open are you to suggestions for improvement by looking your project's "sacred cows" in the eye, and taking the bull by the horns when needed?

I am currently working on a project where the department heads insist on using a weekly status report format that takes 20% of the project administrative resources each week to produce. This is in addition to the plethora of dashboards and status meetings which have mushroomed on the overstaffed project team. I will call the status report in question a "milestone plan" for easy reference.

This milestone plan has an unknown ROI. No one on the team can explain who uses the milestone plan or quantify the value of this milestone plan. The department head insists that the milestone plan be up to date at all times, and any team member who dares to pose a reasonable question regarding this milestone plan earn demerits on their annual review. Every team member has been subjected to this punishment in an attempt to raise awareness around this irrational waste of shareholder money. This has lead to an unwritten policy of "don't ask questions - keep doing what you are told to do".

Of course, I can't right all wrongs in the world. Despite my efforts, the milestone plan will continue to exist long after I leave this department.

However, the lesson for readers of this blog are:
1. Be aware of sacred cows on your project. Try to find out the unwritten rules that you and your project team operate in. Don't slaughter the sacred cow in your host village - the chief will run you out of town for not observing his rituals.
2. Ask trusted advisors to speak the truth to you. Find a few intelligent advisors such as your professional coach who speak up to help you avoid pitfalls. Do everything you can to not create your own sacred cows which impede project success.
3. Always question the ROI of status reports on projects. Mindless creation of status reports, without frequent evaluation of the ROI, is arguably the largest waste of project resources known to man.

Now, go ahead and ask your project team "What did this report cost to produce, and who is using it?" Would you invest your mother's retirement fund in this project with this ROI?