Here's how you can navigate the potential consequences of poor decision making in project leadership.

Embrace the opportunity to learn from the experience and incorporate insights gained into future decision-making processes. Fostering a culture of continuous improvement is essential for project resilience. Use the lessons learned to drive improvements in project processes, procedures, and decision-making practices. This might involve updating project management methodologies, providing training or coaching to team members, or instituting new protocols for evaluating and approving decisions.

Navigating poor decision consequences in project leadership involves acknowledging, assessing impacts, and taking responsibility transparently. Communicate openly with teams and stakeholders, learning from mistakes through post-mortem analysis. Adjust course, manage expectations, and implement corrective actions to prevent recurrence. Monitor progress and focus on moving forward to maintain project momentum and achieve goals effectively.

I believe in building and maintaining trust. When errors occur, promptly identify and acknowledge the mistake, then communicate transparently with stakeholders to maintain that trust. Take charge by developing and implementing corrective measures, and continually review and learn from the experience to prevent future errors.

We are all human. Accepting and taking ownership of a mistake as soon as possible, clearly communicating how and why it happened as well as a solution to cure ensures you are seen as honest, professional and problem resolution based. It’s sometimes difficult to put our ego aside but taking responsibility is key to any successful project and professional relationship.

Nobody knows everything. That's why there are multiple people involved in running a project. If a decision backfires and causes problems, the best thing you can do is announce the problem, address the issues, and find ways to mitigate the damages. Stakeholders will be more inclined to work with you to fix the problem if you're upfront and honest about it. Remember that you are the one in charge, and that regardless of where the issue(s) derived, it is ultimately on your shoulders. Throwing blame at team members is a good way to drive wedges and create problems. Take the responsibility, make the fixes, and move on with the project. The team needs to see you as their leader, not just their boss.

I had to once deal with a crucial decision made on a project when I was not on the project. The team had opted to proceed with a vendor for the restoration of the local Library. The contractor had promised to deliver within a tight timeframe and at a competitive cost, which seemed ideal. But as work progressed, delays began happening - Delays in the deliveries, technical challenges, and communication breakdowns. I convened an emergency meeting to conduct a thorough analysis and figured that the decision had been based primarily on cost and perceived capability, without sufficient consideration of the contractor’s track record with similar projects or their capacity to manage unforeseen challenges.

As stated in my previous instance, my team had to renegotiate terms with the contractor, emphasizing clearer communication protocols, and revising the project timeline to accommodate realistic delivery expectations. Additionally, we strengthened our procurement processes to incorporate more rigorous vetting criteria for future subcontractors and suppliers. This was one big lesson learnt since we could have potentially lost a lot of business in the area and could have been back-charged by the Client (which thankfully we were not because of the good relationships the team had with the Client).

Effective communication solves more problems than stakeholders on a project can create. Yes, that is indeed, true! There are stakeholders in your project who can one day and wake up in the morning and decide to debate a decision made early on in the project which was not communicated to them (not all of them, but some, for sure!). And then you think to yourself, "Had I only hit send on the bulk communication that I had planned to issue?!!" Do it! Communicate and over communicate. On any kind of a project that includes stakeholders, please go out and let them know of decisions that you might think not affect them. One extra email never hurt anyone. It does save you from being "feeling stuck" in the end, for sure!

Communication is key to keeping the managers, stakeholders, and other key members up-to-date on the project and the current and upcoming tasks. Above all else, do not believe yourself to be the one with all the solutions and answers. Regardless how much experience you have, others have their experiences as well. Take notes, take recommendations, make joint decisions. There will indefinitely be circumstances where different voices will be at odds, you just need to make sure that you're taking heed and making the best choices possible. If that choice leads to issues, it's up to you to continue communications to mitigate the damages and get back on track.

You can't let issues in one project affect your ability to conduct the next projects. I had conducted a site survey and assisted in developing the installation plan for a project to upgrade a US organization's communications network in an African country. During the installation process, I caught e. coli and lost about two weeks of the installation. Also, the stakeholders continuously requested changes to the plan and my coworker was new to the position and unfamiliar with a lot of the practices. Due to these factors, the time frame for the installation was not met and another team was needed to be sent out a few months later. It was a major lesson learned, and I put methods into play to mitigate the chance of this happening again.

Highlight potential issues to project sponsor(s). Where attention in right time can mitigate unintended confusions and conflicts, clear understanding of the project goals and alignment to those in a timely manner.

When we say poor decision in project leadership, need to understand if decision was poor at time of taking it. Why a poor decision was taken? Was that only option or did not think about other options? Sometimes situation drives these decision because no one wants a poor decision on the project. Once realised the decision was poor, if project is already in not expected situation, important to understand the root cause of situation, brainstorm with SMEs, note down the potential option for resolution. If confidence is low in potential options and not sure of which one would work, do a test with options to see what fits best. Keep all relevant stakeholder in loop of all steps. if decision has not yet impacted, reverse the decision if it can be.