What do you do if your project progress is slipping out of control?

Having a tracking process from the get go will go a long way here So once you have that, you can easily figure out which piece is not where it needs to be... And then from there, dig deep and undertand whats happening and how you can fix it.

Destination or the journey?Outcome or the process? Future or the present moment?In this VUCA world, we could use the case study method to work on a problem- Define your case^What is the situation? ^Who is involved? ^What do you hope to accomplish? ^What barriers exist to obtaining a positive outcome? ^What are some of the solutions to the problem that you have been considering? ^When we are working on the case study method, there could be a vast difference between one person's resolution technique vis-a-vis another! Where is this difference coming from? It is because of the values, attitudes, beliefs, behaviours, mindset, skills & abilities that varies from one individual to the other! Remember victory belongs to the most tenacious! Go Win!

Reassess the project plan, identify bottlenecks, allocate additional resources if possible, communicate with stakeholders about the situation, and adjust timelines or priorities as needed to regain control.

Look again at your goals and how you measure success. Make sure your objectives are clear, possible to achieve, important, and set with a deadline. Change how you measure progress to focus on small wins and the most important signs of success. This way, you can keep a closer eye on how things are going, spot problems early, and make smart choices to get your project moving in the right direction again.

If your project progress starts slipping, it's essential to have a fluid strategic plan in place, complete with impactful metrics. This approach ensures any issues are identified immediately, allowing for real-time pivoting as necessary.

Communication is the cause of many issues. Especially if the project at hand is slipping. When such instances happen the blame is completely on the manager handling the task. If you fail to be held responsible for the downfalls then you are not a manager. It is your duty to communicate and have roles and responsibilities distributed accordingly. So at least going forward after finding the issues and causes, make sure there is transparency in communication and own up to any mistakes made. Work with milestones which will allow you to have check points in between to understand and solve problems when they occur before it is too late. Make changes on sprint levels, focus on having things clear and concise with your team members.

After communication, empowering the team is the 2nd most important part of a recovery process. Your team should feel that they have what it takes to do the work and get the problems rectified. That is where it is imperative for the managers to own up to any miscommunications and lack of communication. If communication was there the team would have already felt heard. So make way for working alongside the team and work with the team to work on their strengths. A team means everyone works together. So let them work on their ideas and provide inputs for any improvements too.

If your project starts slipping out of control, don't panic! Take a moment to breathe and assess the situation. Maybe it's unexpected challenges, resource constraints, or even miscommunication. Once you've pinpointed the issues, prioritize them based on their impact and urgency. Then, collaborate with your team to come up with a plan to address them. This might involve adjusting deadlines, reallocating resources, or breaking tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks. Keep everyone in the loop about the changes and rally their support to get back on track. Remember, setbacks are a normal part of any project. What matters most is how you respond and work together to overcome them.