Project Management is serious business, hard work, and it can be very stressful. A little bit of humor goes a long way to relieving that stress. I thought I’d offer a little of my own humor to try to make you smile and perhaps lighten your stress load a little. Coming up with your own humorous additions to this list probably offers even more stress relief than reading my ideas, so feel free to contribute.

You know your Project is in trouble when…
• Your Scheduler keeps muttering, “Let the healing begin.”
• Your Marketing Representative has red marks all over his body from 10-foot poles.
• Your boss summons you to a “No Subject” meeting at the lobby of your business.
• No matter how cynical you get, you can’t seem to keep up with reality.
• The Managing Director of your critical path Supplier is featured on the “Americas Most Wanted” television show.
• The words “inadvertently” and “inexplicably” have shown up in your last three product acceptance test reports.
• Your customer gave you a “wedgie” (look it up on Wikipedia) during your last Project Review.
• You feel compelled to use the word “Diddly-Squat” in your Monthly Progress Report.
• You receive an urgent request from Human Resources to complete a form showing how long you’ve worked at the company, not counting tomorrow.

Don McAlister
February 2013