Are the individual metrics/incentives aligned with progress on the project? Is anyone panicking? Is anyone trying to appease someone else who's panicking, by giving an inaccurate appearance of progress/work? Is anyone stalling for time, while they try to move elsewhere?
Is there a project plan with work breakdown (and interdependencies, and preferably resource allocations) that shows what you've done, and what you still have to do? Are the incomplete tasks broken down to the resolution of 1-2 days, or to hours? Is the plan complete, or is there substantial work to do that doesn't appear in the plan? Is the completion on the plan accurate? How frequently is slippage being checked, and how does that happen? Does anyone have incentive for the plan be inaccurate at this point?
Are people working on unimportant things because they're blocked on important things by dependencies on other people, but don't want to say it?
Is everyone still putting in full effort, and committed to the project success? Or have some given up on the project, and are focused on shielding their careers?
(Even if the project effectively isn't working from a plan, has bad morale and panicking, there are conflicts of interest, etc... it might not be too late for a good manager to rally everyone around an achievable new plan, possibly including revisiting the requirements. Given that the project is in trouble, I suspect it would need believable buy-in from upper management and the "customer" for this project, or people will still feel doomed, rather than focused on making it work.)
Are the individual metrics/incentives aligned with progress on the project? Is anyone panicking? Is anyone trying to appease someone else who's panicking, by giving an inaccurate appearance of progress/work? Is anyone stalling for time, while they try to move elsewhere?
Is there a project plan with work breakdown (and interdependencies, and preferably resource allocations) that shows what you've done, and what you still have to do? Are the incomplete tasks broken down to the resolution of 1-2 days, or to hours? Is the plan complete, or is there substantial work to do that doesn't appear in the plan? Is the completion on the plan accurate? How frequently is slippage being checked, and how does that happen? Does anyone have incentive for the plan be inaccurate at this point?
Are people working on unimportant things because they're blocked on important things by dependencies on other people, but don't want to say it?
Is everyone still putting in full effort, and committed to the project success? Or have some given up on the project, and are focused on shielding their careers?
(Even if the project effectively isn't working from a plan, has bad morale and panicking, there are conflicts of interest, etc... it might not be too late for a good manager to rally everyone around an achievable new plan, possibly including revisiting the requirements. Given that the project is in trouble, I suspect it would need believable buy-in from upper management and the "customer" for this project, or people will still feel doomed, rather than focused on making it work.)