Project managers expect uncertainty in their work. Still, the recent drop in oil prices, political elections and other shifts are leaving some to face the most dramatic change of all: project cancellation.
The Australian state of Victoria had planned an AU$8 billion tollway project called the East West Link—until the November 2014 state election, when a new government came to power and killed the project. Economic shifts can scrap projects, too. In response to falling oil prices, Qatar Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell PLC spiked plans in January for a US$6.5 billion petrochemical plant.
Although project managers lack control over the economic and strategic conditions that force cancellations, they can make smart career choices in the aftermath. That includes finding effective ways to share the difficult news with the project team.
This is familiar terrain for Mattias Hallberg, PMP, section manager in the project management section at e-commerce firm Rakuten Inc., Tokyo, Japan. He oversees more than 30 project managers and has observed what works—and what doesn’t—when breaking the cancellation news. After inviting the team to an urgent all-hands project meeting and sharing the bad news, schedule a lessons-learned session, says Mr. Hallberg, and do it quickly. “The team should get a chance within two business days to get things off their chest and refocus,” he says.
During that session, don’t drag team members through a painful postmortem. When Mr. Hallberg’s project managers summarize lessons-learned documentation, they avoid attaching employees’ names to comments because that can lead to finger-pointing. “They should avoid asking, ‘Who said what?’ and ‘Who did what?’ It’s better to focus on ‘what’ and ‘how,’” says Mr. Hallberg. “Don’t make it personal.”
“With today’s fast-moving market cycles, the ability to learn from mistakes and quickly adjust is an extremely valuable and critical capability.”
—Raul Castro, CDI Corp., Irvine, California, USA
Beyond the lessons-learned session, project managers’ attitudes about cancellation can help—or hurt—their careers. Unless the project manager was negligent, he or she should avoid looking at the cancellation as a personal failure.
“There is no shame in participating in a canceled project,” says Raul Castro, a recruiter for the Irvine, California, USA location of CDI Corp., which provides IT and engineering recruiting services. “It is important for the project manager to understand that project cancellation is not necessarily a reflection of project execution performance, but rather an indication of project goal alignment with corporate and market objectives.”
Whether the reasons for the project cancellation stem from market and competitive forces, changes in corporate strategy or execution challenges, there are valuable lessons the project manager—and team members—can learn to drive improvement. Employers prize that mindset. “With today’s fast-moving market cycles, the ability to learn from mistakes and quickly adjust is an extremely valuable and critical capability,” Mr. Castro says.
Updating Your CV
When a project is canceled, project managers’ biggest concern might be their jobs.
While many project managers are reassigned within the organization, they shouldn’t count on it, says Kevin Celia, a Milton Keynes, England-based director at Hays Information Technology, part of the global recruiting firm Hays PLC. The state government agency behind Australia’s canceled East West Link project laid off up to 14 senior executives, despite the government’s earlier pledge that workers would be offered redeployment. “You should update your CV quickly and start making contact with recruiters to discuss your next steps as soon as possible,” he says. For job candidates who have cancellations in their work history, Mr. Celia has two words of advice: Be honest. “That’s the most important thing,” he says. “A future employer may already be aware of the details of the project. Be honest about why the project was canceled and your role within the project.” Also, be prepared to talk positively about contributions to the project—key achievements and milestones achieved before the cancellation. Says Mr. Celia: “If you successfully managed a specific phase of the project which was completed, then highlight that.” —Sandra Swanson