Red is Good, Green is Bad

The RAG status

We love RAG statuses, Red, Amber, Green:

• My project is on track
• We are meeting all our SLAs
• We have some minor resourcing issues
• Our cost performance is upper quartile

We manage our businesses with green happy faces.  It gives executives a sense of control.

And if performance is red?

What happens when you report your performance as red?

In my own — admittedly limited experience — red status reports result in:

• Browbeating
• Executive help
• Questions about your incompetence (mine doesn’t need questioning)
• Demands that you bring status back to green
• Threats to replace you as project / operations manager

Reporting status as red is only recommended for masochists or the terminally stupid.

The RAG status rules:

As a guideline, all project reporting should be 70% green, 20% amber and 10% red.

Green demonstrates that you are completely on top of the situation and a capable individual.

Amber should be used judiciously for the issues that you really should — in all honesty and if only for your sanity — highlight, say outbreaks of smallpox or the launch of intercontinental nuclear weapons.  This will give you a professional escape route should the bombs start landing.

Red should be used discretely for critical issues, such as lack of Earl Grey tea in the canteen.  This will prove you are not pulling the wool over your executives’ eyes and prevent any awkward “are you sure this is all green?” questions.

Remember, red is far worse for your career than your project.  Hide the red at all costs, it is a well-known truth that you can fix any issues later without any executive help.  Allegedly.

This is a foolish game…

…driven by those in charge.  Losing your rag (do you see what I did?) every time somebody presents you with a red status is guaranteed — unsurprisingly — to ensure that you are presented with nothing but a sea of green.

The issue is not whether you have big red problems, something is always going wrong, the issue is how you manage them when you find out about them.  Do you demand explanations and scare the life out of your staff or do you support them and help them fix the issue?  Would you rather you knew about the problems or not?

Something to remember next time you are sitting on the other side of the desk at that status report meeting.

Red is good