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Tips for Coping with Troubled Projects
Claudia Alex Morris, MBA, PMP
Tough days are common for project managers. Team members can miss deadlines. Slow decision making can hold up project progress. Breakdowns in communication can cause conflicts and confusion.
As the project manager, what could you have done to avoid these problems? Did you miss the warning signs of a looming issue? By the time the project is impacted, it’s too late. You must now prepare for a difficult status meeting with the sponsor.
However, when a project gets tough, you can learn from observation and introspection.
Uncover Hidden Assumptions
Hidden assumptions are common and dangerous during project planning and execution. Yes, assumptions are usually identified at the beginning of the project. But what about the assumptions made on a daily basis?
People base their actions or inactions on what they believe to be true. If the believed truth is incorrect, their action or inaction can cause negative results.
The challenge is identifying all assumptions early before the impacts are set in motion. You can identify assumptions by mastering perception and listening skills and having regular conversations with team members in addition to status updates.
Let’s take, for example, Laura. Laura is a team member who complains about a missed deadline. Laura blames Mark, another team member, for causing the delay. Laura assumes that once a request is sent by e-mail, that request will be acknowledged and completed on time. Because of this assumption, Laura never followed up with Mark on the task’s progress.
There was no communication until the deadline date, which was too late. Unfortunately Mark never noticed the request. To Laura’s dismay, the delay resulted in cost overruns.
If you are perceptive, the issue can be prevented. To achieve such perception, listen for assumptions during regular conversations with team members. Early detection in this case could have allowed improvements to the internal team communication process.
Accept Accountability
It’s easier to transfer blame than to accept ownership. However, when you take responsibility for issues or problems in your projects, it could turn into a learning opportunity that will ultimately benefit you.
Accountability reinforces personal ownership of your contribution to a problem. Once you take ownership, the natural next step is avoidance, as no one wants to repeat the same mistake.
Think about the last time your project status changed from green to yellow to red. What process could have been managed differently? What roadblock or risk was badly managed or ignored? You should address these types of questions.
There can be an infinite number of reasons for a project to change status. For each reason, project management played at least a small role; it could have been communication, risk management, vendor or stakeholder management. The slightest breakdown in any of these areas will cause a negative ripple throughout the project.
Accepting accountability for that ripple demonstrates professional maturity and leadership. Striving to never repeat that ripple leads to personal growth and more successful projects.
Adjust Your Attitude
Because the project manager “owns” the responsibility for the project’s success or failure, your role is judged the most harshly when things go wrong. So when problems arise and your reputation is in jeopardy, a defensive attitude is common. Unfortunately, this type of reaction can create obstacles.
When you have a counterproductive attitude, it can hinder problem resolution. Defensiveness can block your ability to understand what went wrong. Refusing to accept feedback is a good example. Humans cannot learn without feedback. Disconnecting the mechanism to learn suffocates the ability to make improvements.
There are several opportunities during a project when you can collect feedback. Gate reviews, one-on-ones with team members and sponsors, and lessons learned are good examples. Be receptive to making changes that will help create a positive and productive project environment.
Remember: as the leader, how you are perceived weighs heavily on your next project assignment or next promotion.
Claudia Alex Morris, MBA, PMP, is a senior IT project manager for a large credit union in the state of Washington, USA. She has more than 15 years of project management, organizational effectiveness and change management experience.
