The Spaces in Project Management: Crawling Out of The Woodwork

To describe a person as “crawling out of the woodwork” is actually quite derogatory if you go back to the original definition of the term. Some time in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the idiom was first used to describe insects that would literally crawl out of the wood-worked sections of a home, most often out of the crown and base molding. This was usually due to poorly built homes where hidden spaces could be accessed and used by bugs to nest in. Then, when food was left out or the house shifted, the insects would crawl out and cause an infestation.

In project management, it is similarly the poorly managed projects that leave “spaces” for problems to surface. As a simple example, skipping management processes and trying to cover them up with more tasks will only last for moment. In the end, the project may appear complete and successful, but the smallest deficiencies can turn into a big mess. When building a house, it is important to eliminate those hidden spaces in which insects can find access.

So, how do we eliminate the “spaces” in project management?

In my mind, the first area where problems can start to form is in the planning stage. If the plan is well devised, a project can stay on track throughout its execution; on the other hand, an improper plan will leave spaces where work should have been done. For example, a website design project with a plan that does not take into account the user functionality but instead focuses on intensive graphics will inevitably leave users frustrated. Regardless of the aesthetics, after one experiences the site, out of the woodwork crawls a long list of errors.

Now, during the planning stage, you can’t anticipate all the problems of course. The best plan is one that will adjust to change, one that sees the gaps and takes care of them before the problems creep in. The plan should make sure that the project’s final touches are added only after everything else has been properly completed.

Using new work to hide the inefficiencies of the old work is one of the worst things to do in project management. Do it right from the beginning. Just like the base molding that haphazardly covers gaps, covering mistakes with what appears to be a final touch only makes a breeding pit for further problems. It may look good at first, but give it time. The customer may be satisfied with the aesthetics of a product or with quick, cheap services, but if something is fundamentally wrong, all problems will eventually “crawl out of the woodwork.”