I believe that some of the methods a project manager can utilize would be to install smaller milestones/goals at various parts throughout the project. This would serve to give his/her employees a better understanding of what needs to be done by what date and would serve as an early warning if the project were to start lagging behind schedule. These smaller milestones/goals would best be illustrated and presented to the employees though a Gantt chart or some other visual organizational method of the project manager’s preference. In addition, the project managers past experience would also serve him/her well in this instance so that they would know how much slack time to build into the project.

In my own experience, I had unexpected delays directly affect my ability to complete one of my parts in a project for a pharmaceutical company. I was tasked with validating the best way to separate a drug compound from its precursors when my assigned analytical machine (HPLC) broke. It was about 4 days until the repair company was able to schedule an appointment, arrive, and fix the issue. Luckily, my project manager knew from experience that HPLC’s are prone to breaking down due to the high pressures and delicate instrumentation utilized and he allotted ample slack time within my project. In the end, I was able to finish my part in the project on time due to the foresight of an experienced PM.