A Lesson in Project Management from the Airport

A Lesson in Project Management

I was gasping for breath, sprinting through the terminal at Austin airport (thanks, SXSW) when it hit me.

I need to do way more cardio, and this shitshow of an experience was a real-life manifestation of why some projects suck even when you achieve your objectives and hit the deadline.

Project Planning

We checked in for our flights the night before, picked our premium seats near the front of the plane, and scheduled our Uber in advance. The coffee brewed itself. 4:00 a.m. came early, but we had our act together, and we were ready to go. This was not our first rodeo. Secretly, I might have even felt a little smug at how well-prepared we were.

Project Execution

We were out the door exactly on time. We arrived an hour and fifteen minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave, boarding passes in-hand, with no bags to check. The security line right by the check-in counter for our airline looked relatively short, and I could almost taste the Starbucks latte on the other side of security.

We were about 45 minutes in when we realized there was trouble afoot. The line was progressing at a snail’s pace. With only one scanner open, the line was not optimized for efficiency. People were voicing concerns that their flights were already boarding and trying to jockey in front of other irritated passengers who were also late.

Just when it looked like we were going to squeak into the gate in time for boarding, one of our bags was selected for extra screening. We had wrapped a block of cheese inside a down jacket for insulation. In retrospect, it probably looked suspiciously like a brick of cocaine or C4 on the x-ray machine.

Once the cheese was identified as legal, we gathered our things and broke out into a full-on sprint. Our gate was all the way at the other end of the terminal, and we rushed past several coffee shops and three other security checkpoints that looked like they were flowing smoothly as we heard our names announced disapprovingly over the loudspeaker.

The airline staffer scolded us for not leaving ourselves enough time as we slid into the gate seconds before the doors were closing. We were annoyed.

Project Completion

We took leftover overhead bin space, 19 rows behind our actual seats. We were “unchecked in” for the premium seats on our connecting flight. The drink service only had Dunkin coffee. I use the term ‘coffee’ loosely here; I’m from New England and I don’t care what you think.

Did we make it to our final destination on time? Yes. 

Was it a smooth travel experience worthy of case study? Hell no.

The universe threw us some curveballs, but could we have done better? Absolutely. 

Project Retrospective

It would not have been helpful to play the blame game or shake our fists at the TSA or gate agents. As with any project, it’s important to celebrate the things you did right and evaluate where you fell short so you can do better in the next round. 

Here’s what we came up with:

• We thought an hour and 15 minutes gave us plenty of extra time at 5:00 a.m., but we were wrong because AUS has different benchmarks. Their peak travel periods are actually 3:30 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.
• We thought it didn’t matter which security checkpoint we used, and in our complacency, we picked the checkpoint furthest away from our departure gate.
• Also, too much cheese and not enough cardio. 

Lessons Learned For Future Trips

My Dad always said, “It’s a sad day when you don’t learn something.” Here are the lessons we’ll apply for the future:

• We will research the average wait times for the airport we are flying out of to ensure we budget enough time to make it through security instead of relying on benchmarks from other airports.
• We will validate the gate number and ensure we pick the most appropriate security checkpoint (regardless of how much “extra time” we think we have.
• We will make sure our carry-on luggage does not appear to have contraband (rookie mistake). 
• We will do more running outside of the airport so we’re better prepared to haul ass to the gate if some new unanticipated delay pops up before our next flight. Maybe.

Parallels to Draw with “Real” Projects

This is kind of a funny example, but it has some real-world implications. We’ll be taking these with us to our next meeting.

• Study the environment you’ll be operating in to identify any important external factors you’ll need to consider between your upcoming project and your past projects.
• Don’t get complacent just because you think you have slack built into your timeline.
• Follow checklists from past projects and consistently implement your best practices.
• Take the time to sharpen your skills and focus on professional development outside of project work.