You're Managing What You Can't See
Weekly project meeting. Engineering reports: “75% complete, on track.” Testing reports: “Equipment ready, Test will start Monday.”
Certification reports: “Working on documentation.”
You ask: “Can you be more specific? What percentage complete? Any blockers?”
Certification: “We're reconciling some requirements. Should be done soon.”
In the past “soon” meant anything between 2 days or 2 weeks.
You're responsible for on-time delivery. But you're blind to 40% of the work.
The Project You Can Only Half See
Week 3: Project Status Meeting
What You Can See:
Engineering: Design 60% complete, installation drawings finalized, brackets in fabrication
Testing: Test plan approved, equipment procurement on schedule, lab booking confirmed
Quality: 12 inspections complete, 3 pending, documentation reviewed
What You Can't See:
Certification: “Working on compliance matrix”
Are they 10% done? 90% done? Blocked? Waiting for something? You don't know.
You report to management: “Project on track.” You hope that's true.
Week 6: Engineering Handoff
Engineering completes ahead of schedule. They hand over to certification. Aircraft is ready for flight test next week.
You ask certification: “How long until we can schedule delivery?”
Certification: “We need to verify everything against the compliance matrix. Probably two weeks.”
Week 8: The Question
Customer calls: “Just confirming delivery next week. We've scheduled the aircraft into service.”
Certification: “We've found some issues. Engineering changed the bracket design in week 5, but the structural analysis wasn't updated. We're working on it.”
Week 5 was THREE WEEKS AGO. Why are you finding out now?
The PM's Dilemma
Engineering stuck? You can see it in the dashboard. You add resources. You reprioritize. You solve it.
Testing delayed? You can see why. Equipment late? Expedite it. Personnel unavailable? Reschedule. You manage it.
Certification stuck? You have no visibility into why. No dashboard. No metrics. No way to help. Just “we're working on it.”
You're responsible for delivery. But you can't manage what you can't see.
Week 10: The Delay
Call the customer: “We need to push delivery to week 11. Technical documentation issue.”
Customer is frustrated. So is management. They ask you: “Why didn't we see this coming?”
Certification was a black box. Problems only become visible when they're critical.
The Revelation: They Can't See It Either
You assumed certification knew their status and just wasn't sharing it. Wrong.
They're managing in Excel. Their “status” is: how many cells have they filled in the compliance matrix. Plus the comments in them. That's not progress. That's activity.
They don't know they have a problem until they discover it. Usually late. Because Excel can't show:
- Which requirements are actually complete vs. "someone wrote something"
- Which documents are waiting for engineering input
- Which compliance showings are blocked on test results
- What's at risk if engineering changes something
- Where the actual bottlenecks are
It's not that certification won't share status. They don't have status to share.
Before and After CIVIRES
Managing Certification Without CIVIRES
PM asks: “What's the certification status?”
Team says: “Working on the compliance matrix.”
PM knows: Nothing actionable
PM can do: Wait and hope
Problems discovered: When they're critical
Result: Late surprises, schedule slips, reactive firefighting
Managing Certification With CIVIRES
PM looks at dashboard:
- 287 requirements complete
- 34 in technical review
- 6 waiting for test data
- 2 blocked on engineering clarification
PM knows: Exact status, actual blockers
PM can do: Unblock the 2 engineering items, prioritize test data for the 6
Problems discovered: When they're manageable
Result: Proactive management, on-time delivery, stakeholder confidence
What Project Management Actually Sees in CIVIRES
Real-time certification visibility. Finally.
Same visibility you have for engineering. Now you have it for certification. You can finally manage the whole project.
What This Means for Your Projects
No More Late Surprises
Problems surface when they're manageable, not when they're critical. You see risks early. You can actually do something about them.
Accurate Reporting
When management asks "when?", you have real data. Not guesses. Not hope. Actual completion percentages and bottleneck identification.
Resource Allocation That Works
See where certification is actually stuck. Add help where it matters. Stop throwing resources at "we're working on it."
Portfolio Management
Managing six projects? See all six certification statuses at once. Know which needs attention. Allocate team capacity based on actual need, not guesswork.
See Your Whole Project. Finally.
Book a demo. We'll show you what certification visibility actually looks like. Real-time status. Actual bottlenecks. Manageable projects.
One hour. No obligation. Just information to help you decide.