Dropped Baton in Project Management

"Dropped Baton" is a metaphor borrowed from relay racing - if one athlete fails to pass the baton to the next one at the right moment, the whole team loses valuable time, and sometimes even gets disqualified. In project management, this expression describes a similar situation: disruption of work continuity between tasks.
 

⛔ What does "dropped baton" mean in a project?

In the context of predictive project management (e.g. in the waterfall approach), "dropped baton" means:

• ❗ Task not completed on time, preventing the start of the next one.

• ⚠️ Lack of smooth flow in work transition between teams or responsible individuals.

• 📉 Risk of domino effect - one delay affects subsequent project stages.

🔍 Main causes
 

• 📆 Inadequate consideration of task dependencies in the schedule.

• 👥 Issues in communication and coordination within the team.

• 🧑‍💻 Lack of available resources at a critical moment.

• 📑 Unclearly defined responsibilities and task handovers.

🔁 How does the project manager react?

A good Project Manager seeing a "dropped baton":

• Reorganizes the schedule to minimize the delay impact.

• Analyzes task dependencies and identifies the critical path.

• Increases supervision over task handover moments.

• Implements time buffer or reserves if the risk occurs frequently.

✅ How to avoid such situations?
 

• 🔄 Introduce milestone progress reviews and checkpoints.

• 🧭 Establish clear task handover moments and responsibilities.

• 📣 Ensure inter-team communication at each key change.

• 🛠️ Use tools for tracking dependencies and alerts on delay risks.

📌 Summary

"Dropped baton" is a situation that disrupts workflow in a project - often seemingly minor, but can have serious consequences for the entire schedule. The key to avoiding it is good planning, communication, and prompt reaction from the project manager.

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