Sometime in your PM career you will be asked to take over a project already underway. This week's tweets looked at how to do this effectively.

There are many reasons why a PM is being replaced. Be sure you know why for the project you are taking on to understand what you are getting.

• One of the first tasks for taking over a project is to introduce yourself to the team. Do this both individually and in a team meeting.
• The next task is to conduct an assessment of the project. This is important regardless of the status of the project.
• The project assessment has 2 purposes. 1) confirms or disporoves stated status 2) Gives you a detailed view of the project.
• The project assessment includes a review of the project plan, schedule, risks, issues, budget, and resource plan.
• If the assessment indicates the project status is not green you need to create a plan to remediate the issues. Leverage the team on this.
• As soon as possible after you take over the project, schedule a meeting with the sponsor and business owner to review their expectations.
• If possible meet with the previous project manager to discuss the project and review project artifacts.
• If the previous project manager is staying with the project for a transition period work with him/her and create a formal transition plan.
• If the previous project manager is staying with the project for a transition period work with him/her and create a formal transition plan.

Next week we will take the scenario of taking over an in-flight project to the extreme, taking over a project at high risk to fai