Leadership When the

Project Crashes

David L. Davis PMP, PgMP. PBA

Crash

• The Project has “gone live” and

problems occur.

• The Customer is negatively impacted

• Normal operations have been

severely hampered

• Executive attention

– Internal

– External

• Crisis mode

Dave’s View of a Gap

1. We need to build difficult situation Leadership Skills

2. Abundance of Leadership Advice within sunny-day

scenarios

3. Leadership is a characteristic that emphasizes it’s

importance during a crisis

4. Leading through a crisis is a career catalyst

5. Leadership can occur anywhere in an organization

6. Leading is also very much a team effort

Can’t Forget the Emotional

Intelligence 1. Understanding people’s

motivation system is important

during a situation

2. You cannot change behaviors,

you can work within what you

know

3. People’s approach to situations

changes during crisis

Chaos????

Emotions Replace Logic

The Blame Game

No Ownership

No

Decisions

Accentuate Your Leadership

1. Establish an aura of control – Take ownership

– Identify a possible root cause and POA

– Provide team hope

2. Utilize your Emotional (Trust) Account

3. Filter noise and focus – Task completers

– Major stakeholders

– Others

4. Plan, Communicate, Status – Owners of work

– Frequent Check Points

A Matter of Energy

• Project problems require

significant energy to

resolve

• Get the energy in positive

action to solve the problem

– Avoid finger pointing

– Allow venting (safe room)

• Keep behavior focused on

solutions.

Establish an Aura of Control

1. Confidence

2. Trust

3. “On Top of It” / Under Control

4. Transparency

5. Focus

6. Thinking skills

7. Decision Making

8. Prioritization

9. Timely and relevant status

10.Contingency

11.Resourcefulness

12.Hope

Dave Perspective

• Most stakeholders do not expect

all problems will be eliminated.

• The expectation is if a problem

arises, a good project manager will

fix it and get things back on track

with the lowest amount of pain to

the business.

• If you don’t take charge of the

crisis, you reduce your influence.

Ownership

• I will see the activity through

resolution

• I will coordinate with stakeholders to

authorize activities

– It is my project

– It is my responsibility to make it right.

• I am the source/author of status and

information.

• I will run the status reports.

Possible Root Cause and

Plan of Attack (POA)

• Decision on what is the root

cause and fix it

– Prioritization

– Cause and Effect

• Create the plan (set of tasks)

to address the problems.

• Emotional Intelligence to sell

and implement.

Dave Perspective

• No blame

• Do not use an individual’s

name unless it is in direct

relation to an activity that is

being preformed as part of the

POA.

• No, so-and-so should have

done…

Hope

• The emotional assurance that things will be ok.

• A problem exists and we are doing the right

things to correct it.

• I am a partner in solving the problem.

Dave Perspective

• Hopeful thinking - not intelligence or skill -

has the greatest effect on people's

success.

– Positive psychologist, Charles Snyder

– Hope is an energy enabler

• Forbes - Ways Leaders Keep Hope Alive

– Hope Promotes Empowerment & Clarity

– Hope Helps Increase Productivity and

Underscores a Positive Work Ethic

– Hope Instills Family Pride and Togetherness

Utilize Your Emotional Trust

Account • During the project, you have been

building a trust account with all

stakeholders.

• You are probably making

withdraws at this time.

• If you didn’t build trust in the past,

you are most likely to fail now.

• Trust reinforces Hope and

conserves energy

Dave Perspective

• Trust is able to change the ability

to influence behavior from “WIFM”

to “How can I help?”

• Don’t be too proud to use your

trust accounts.

• Show gratitude.

• Trust is one of the most powerful

components of a project

manager’s effectiveness.

Dave Perspective

• Crisis brings out the best and

worst in people

– Encourage involvement

– Beware of the opportunist

• You might have to be harsh, but

most people will focus

• You might sacrifice some sanity to

allow the team to function.

• Values will be the foundation of

your success

Task Completers

Adapted from Human Resource Skills for Project Managers: Project Management Institute: Sylva, NC; Verma, Vijay K.

pp. 216–223

Forcing (Dictating)

Collaborating (Consensus)

Avoiding (Withdrawing)

Accommodating (Smoothing)

Concern for Others Low High

Conce

rn for

Onese

lf

Low

H

igh

Compromising (Bargaining)

Assert

iveness

Cooperativeness

• During a crisis the project

manager will most likely be

dictating work activity.

• Negotiation will be

lessened.

• You need to keep a

relationship and respect

the value of the people

completing tasks.

• Don’t underestimate the

power of “Thank You”

Dave Perspectives

• You must make sure the task

completers understand what they

are to do.

• Ask questions / Listen for Answers

– Do you understand what you’re

expected to do

• Paraphrase it back

• How do we know we’re done?

– Do you have what you need to do it?

– What do you see as the risk?

Good Listening

People are attracted to it!

• Engage Active Listening...not just with your ears, but also

with your eyes and heart...

• Use a Powerful Body Language...Look in your folk’s

eyes, and lean their way, to show connection.

• Provide a Caring Focus...listening starts with the heart.

• Provide Content Focus...listen for the content, not just the

intent...;

• Deliver an Empowering Attitude...encourage and edify all

that has been said, show gratitude for them thinking

enough of you to share...

• When you listen, you are...;

Leveraging & Increasing Success That Empowers Now

Doug Firebaugh is Chairman/ CEO of PassionFire Int

Major Stakeholders

• One of the reasons to establish the aura of

control

• They want to help

– Be prepared to answer how can I help?

– And give honest answers – send out an email

endorsing POA

• They want status

– Who is doing what?

– Organizational involvement

• You may want to ask them for coaching.

Status

• Establish status report structure

– Written

– Verbal

• Timed with open bridge

• Send out quick notes

• Next status

• Develop minor intrusions for task completers.

• Status MUST be action/results/time focused

– What has been done

– What is currently being done

– What will be done after this

– How we will know when we are done !

Do Others Help or Hinder?

• People start to accentuate their “remarkableness” – Cliché’s replace normal

communication

– Sports analogies become metaphors for real action.

• People turn Hollywood – “Failure is not an option” is not

Leadership

– Dramatize

• Your Emotional Intelligence and Soft skills will be crucial to overcome these human faculties

Dealing with Behavior Disorders

• You cannot pretend there aren’t

politics working in the background

• The Embellisher

– Remarkability

– Cognitive dissidence

• The Squeaky Wheel

• The expert

– Assign them a task

– You may have to absorb their advice

to shelter the task completers.

Crisis Prevention / Contingency

• Plan for backout

• Critical signs of acceptance

• Real World Examples

– Nixon and letter to astronauts families

– OSU vs. Michigan

• You should be documenting for a

Lessons Learned

Filter Noise and Focus

• Mentally create three domains

– The people doing tasks to fix the problem

– Major stakeholders

• Influencers

• True pain recipients

– Others

• Create a mini-WBS and treat the

activity to the crash like a project.

– Defined beginning and end.

– Tasks (dependency, quality, timing)

David L. Davis

Speaker, Storyteller, Santa

PMP, PgMP, PMI-PBA, MBA

Senior Program Manager OhioHealth

dldavispmp@gmail.com