Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Communicating Success and Acknowledging Failure


I have been managing projects of various shapes, sizes, and content for over 20 years.  From design and implementation of multi-million dollar pieces of equipment, electro-mechanical controls for appliances, business process redesigns, and ERP tool suites, I’ve participated, managed or  lead hundreds, if not thousands of discrete projects from inception to completion.  Recently, I was reminded how important it is to not just communicate project success, but to, also, acknowledge failure.

It is easy, as a project manager, to be enthralled in the day-to-day execution of a project plan, checking off milestones and deliverables, while you march toward successful on-time, on-budget, and on-scope completion. We often forget how important it is to loudly proclaim the small victories that equate to project nirvana.  Did you complete user acceptance testing for 10 facilities? Great. Send out a note letting management know that you are reducing risk at Go Live because you tested not just the tool, but the business process, and master data in advance.  Purchasing negotiated a savings for a component needed for a new design?  Wonderful.  Perhaps a shout out on the company portal for helping to reduce the new product introduction cost is warranted.  

Success, big or small, should be celebrated.  Taking the time to communicate these victories to stakeholders is important to both the overall success of your project and for helping to build credibility and respect for project managers and their teams. Whether we like it or not, perception is reality. If we “finish” a project or task and have not communicated the complications, herculean efforts, obstacle avoidances, or tactical execution, we have no one to blame but ourselves when management under values the role of a project manager and the importance of employing formal project/program management methodologies.

In contrast, this is, also, our opportunity to acknowledge failures, roadblocks that we did not adequately identify before we started, risks that were not uncovered before they caused delays, or stakeholders that never embraced our call to change. A healthy recognition of breakdowns in our process, methodology, tools, etc…allows us to learn and grow.  It also demonstrates to our peers that while we may have experienced a setback, we have meticulously examined the problem, are committed to improvement, and are cultivating our lessons learned for the betterment of the organization.

Sometimes, we try to frost over failures, redirecting inquiries, deflecting concerns. Personally, I think this almost always backfires. It diminishes the credibility of the project team, adding to a perceived lack of expertise. Perhaps, we did not think this project warranted a professional project manager, as it was a single site implementation and we were working with the software vendor.  In some circumstances, this would be a fair assumption.  We discovered that the interaction between our business processes and the tool created conflicts and moving forward, we really need someone to lead our change management efforts. Excellent. We have now communicated that we had an issue, we have identified a root cause, and an action plan for moving forward. It may still take management some time to determine if they want to relaunch the project, but it supports the notion that we are capable, proficient and skilled.

In closing, I would like to provide my top 3 communication requirements for project managers:

1)    Communicate both within and outside of your team regularly. 

It is not enough for your champion, working team, or project customers to know what is happening. You must remind others in the organization of what you are working on, why it is important, and that it is moving forward.


2)    Highlight your team’s accomplishments and any obstacles that they identified and overcame.
This is your opportunity to give props to the guys and gals that make you and the project look good.  No need to be sugary or over inflate your praise.  A simple proclamation of a job well done goes a long way.

3)    Acknowledge shortcomings and provide corrective actions.
Do not shrug off or make light of a botched job.  Be specific and forthcoming.  ALWAYS highlight what you learned and how you are going to apply the knowledge moving forward. 



No comments: