Managing big ‘oh shit’ moments
is part of managing projects.
So how do you manage
project results
that disappoint key stakeholders?
Brian McCurtis
in the June PM Network magazine
reco’s a four step approach.
1. Act fast – and make it personal.
Follow up within an hour
of that distress call from your key stakeholder.
Follow up in person if possible
2. Don’t walk in with solutions.
That first meeting with the stakeholder
should be about listening
to her issues.
3. Identify issues that can be tackled right away.
Once you have those issues,
pick six key make-or-break issues
and give her a schedule for fixing them.
Under-promise and over-deliver.
4. Define a follow-up schedule and stick to it.
Give them regular updates
so they know you’re working on the issues.
If it is a serious issue
(a business continuity type of issue),
these updates should be at least daily.
You WILL have those ‘oh shit’ moments
so put a process in place
to handle them.