WHEN THINGS GO WRONG AT WORK - Part Two

In Part One of the series “When Things Go Wrong At Work”, we looked at an example where a deadline was unexpectedly changed, giving the team an unrealistic and unreasonable time frame with which to work. In this article, we’re going to look at what a leader should do if a project drags on and doesn’t meet a mandated deadline. In this instance, the deadline hasn’t been shortened and was a reasonable time frame for the project to be completed, putting the leader, the team, and the organization’s reputation and financial well-being at risk.

This isn’t an unusual situation in many organizations, but, it’s one that needs a different approach to what I advocated in Part One. Let’s take a look at an example:

Example 2:

An organization is growing and running out of space. They decide to build new offices. There are multiple vendors involved, as well as the organization’s designated project manager and support staff. Plans are approved, permits issued and the construction company has committed to a completion date for the project. Based on this completion date, which has been declared achievable by all involved, the organization begins to make plans for the move. These include booking removal experts to move their office furniture and equipment to their new offices, P.R. professionals to schedule press releases announcing the move, space bookings in relevant advertising media, and the sending out of relevant address changes to take effect on their anticipated move-in date.

However, as the date draws nearer, and various project milestone timelines are missed, the project manager realizes that there is no way that their new offices will be ready by the completion date.?

Any delay of the completion date will have serious consequences, both financially, and to the organization’s operations, not to mention the negative impact on their reputation, and the reputation of the construction company.

What does a leader (in this case, the project manager) do? Here’s what I suggest:?

Leader’s Response:?

1. When a project milestone timeline is missed, it’s wise for the leader to meet with their team, including their internal team and the vendor (construction) team immediately, to get to the bottom of the causes of the delays.

Delays could be the result of a number of factors, such as:

• delays in supply from a vendor e.g. unavailability of trades involved in the construction
• delays in approvals from the project manager
• last-minute changes to the parameters by the project manager that aren’t factored into the timelines
• lack of communication from the project manager to their team /? the construction team, or from the CEO to the project manager
• lack of communication from the team / construction team to the leader
• lack of transparency if there is a problem that isn’t quickly communicated to the leader, which then causes ‘hidden’ delays
• misunderstanding of one or more of the team members tasks i.e. lack of clarity
• general lack of clarity regarding the desired outcome and timelines
• lack of respect for the timelines i.e. seeing the timelines / completion date as ‘suggested’ rather than required - resulting in a general lack of urgency on the part of the team / construction team and/or the leader
• lack of discipline in ensuring that communication is properly managed and that timelines are adhered to

2. Dealing with the delays before they happen.

Most of the delay causes mentioned, and, of course this isn’t an exhaustive list, are the result of breakdowns in communication. This is an extremely serious situation and needs to be dealt with urgently, before it causes the organization irreparable damage, or in extreme cases, failure.

There are a few overarching principles that need to be executed immediately, including:

• Clarity: As I’ve mentioned previously in many articles, clarity about the exact goals, parameters, outcomes, deadlines etc is the first requirement. If the leader is not clear on any of these areas, the project cannot successfully be completed. To use one of my previous analogies, we have to know the destination coordinates in order to put them into our GPS and follow the resultant route to the end destination. If we don’t know those, then we are likely to find ourselves taking unnecessary detours along the way, which waste both time, energy and money and add to our frustration and stress.

Leader action:

When the leader is crystal clear on the exact goals, parameters, outcomes, deadlines etc, then these have to be communicated so that the involved teams also have absolute clarity.?

A leader should always double-check that the team understands exactly what is required when and what route is to be taken to the desired outcome.

If the team shows that they fully understand, then the leader is later able to pinpoint any untoward behaviors / actions that may compromise the deadlines and outcome. If this should arise, the leader should take immediate action to hold specific team members accountable, meeting with them to understand, and deal with whatever the issue may be.

• Communication systems and procedures: Following on from ensuring clarity, the next key is communication. We all talk about communication, but do we always communicate clearly and are we always understood exactly as we intend to be? Often this is not the case. Often communication can be altered, or misunderstood during the process of delivering a directive, or during execution.

Leader action:

The first consideration is to standardize communication methods. Because communication can happen by a number of methods, e.g. in meetings, by phone, by direct message, by email etc. it’s important to ensure that everyone involved uses the exact same method for all discussions, meetings and document sharing.

This prevents silos from forming. Silos, spread out over the dozens of possible platforms and methods available, mean that important conversations and documents can end up being one-off communications, almost impossible to track down, causing miscommunication and wasting an incredible amount of time and money.

The second consideration is ensuring that content of what is communicated is clearly and accurately understood. The easiest way to do this is to ask the person being communicated with to explain exactly what they heard the other person say. This can avoid countless hours lost in following an incorrect assumption.

It’s also best to follow up any verbal communication in writing, citing the specifics of what was discussed. This avoids the possibility of miscommunication.?

This rule applies to both communication to, and from, internal and external teams.? It allows team members to read carefully, and then advise the leader of anything they do not understand, or agree with, for whatever reason. A statement to the effect that anyone who does not fully understand the instructions should immediately contact their leader must always be included in both verbal and written communication.

As you may already know, Optevo helps with all of the above. It makes it simple for the leader, and team members, to reference original agreements, cite the specifics, and locate pertinent documents.

• Setting realistic timelines and outcome deadlines: Ideally timelines and outcome deadlines should be set in discussion with the teams involved to ensure that everyone understands what has to be completed by which date and agrees on the practicality of this. This is always of the utmost importance, but especially in construction, or other projects, where delays have enormous financial and physical consequences.

Leader action:

Do this prior to the execution of the project. Not only does it cement deadlines in everyone’s minds, it also helps everyone to understand how, and why, the specific timelines have been set, and allows discussion if there is any feeling that the timeline may not be adequate for the work required. In a construction project like our example, this would usually involve some kind of penalty for cost overruns and delays to completion.

• Accountability: Once clarity and communication are sorted out, it’s time for assigning accountability.? In this particular instance, ‘accountability’ refers to who is responsible for each aspect of the project.

Leader action:

Leaders need to check in with their teams frequently. While micromanaging is not advisable, regular progress checks are essential. A leader may initially feel that their team should be given the freedom to execute when, and how, they see fit. However, this approach should first be tested on small, non-essential projects to build confidence and trust.

When it comes to large, important, time-sensitive projects, leaders have to on top of what their internal and external teams are doing, and the progress being made, at all times. It’s best if a system of checking in is set up prior to the start of the project, whether it’s daily, weekly or monthly. That way everyone knows that the leader is ‘present’ and available.

This allows the leader to deal with any problems the team may experience, and any problems the leader may see within the team, or specific team members. This is critical. Allowing a bad situation to continue unchecked for any amount of time can spell disaster for the project, the team, the leader and the organization.

These check-in’s do not need to be inquisitions, but the leader cannot afford to let things slide. While maintaining an empathetic approach, preserving dignity and relationships is essential. However, being firm in expectations regarding execution of tasks, and meeting of deadlines, is also essential. It’s an important part of what leadership is about, and should never be avoided.

• Workflow management and audit trail: If there is no system to monitor workflow, there will be no audit trail to establish who has done what, or who has not done something. It keeps record of what discussions have been had, agreements reached, and the real-time status of the project. These facets of the project are vital and their importance cannot be over emphasized.? This system assists leaders to stay on top of progress in-between the check-in’s.

Leader Action:

Immediately put in place a workflow monitoring system that provides the insights and real-time status of the project. Require all project participants, both leader and team members (internal and external), to use this system exclusively for all project communications, updates, and documents.

• Eradication of any avoidable delay causes: Leaders have to have the ability to ‘see around corners’ to anticipate potential glitches and other causes of delays. This comes with experience, but, also comes with understanding the proper execution of the myriad tasks that comprise the project build-out.

Leader Action:

• If it is a vendor delay, it’s up to the leader to deal with this so that internal and external teams are not delayed in their work.
• If it is a team member, or the team as a whole, who are not performing as required, and as agreed upon, once again, it is up to the leader to deal with the situation quickly and decisively.
• If meeting with team members to discuss the reasons for their inability to meet deadlines, reveals that they are unable to do so due to whatever reason, it then falls on the leader to either reassign them or to consider replacing them if the reason is not something that can be fixed at that time.
• This is not an easy task, but is one that a leader needs to handle with empathy, compassion and humility. I am still a staunch advocate of human-centric leadership, and this is another facet of being a leader who not only cares for their team, but also is committed to their organization delivering excellence in all areas.

(A reminder: Optevo helps leaders with all the actions I’ve mentioned here. If you’d like to know more about how to use Optevo in your organization, check out our website and feel free to contact us for more information.)

#Leadership #Management