I’m sitting here finally about 87% moved into our new house. This is after a full year of fixing up, changing things and making everything work best for the wants and needs of our large family. And this is after finding out the hard way that not all contractors were created equal... or with anywhere near equal integrity or work ethic. But at the end of the day, we are now in the house. And yes, life immediately felt more tranquil. Even though that first night meant staying up till 4am before we were ready to go to bed (and then back up at 6am later that morning….two nights in a row).
Tranquility on our projects is rare and even in those unique circumstances, you start to question when the next shoe is going to drop. But real chaos – utter chaos – is also rare and quite difficult to handle. Some project managers and teams just can’t handle it, but throwing in the towel is going to get you a pretty bad reputation as a service provider. Word travels fast in the creative management industry. Figuring out efficient strategies to wade through the chaos is a much better option. So, with that in mind, I’d like to discuss my three-step process for managing a creative project through a difficult and chaotic period, without being specific about what the issue(s) might be.
Keep the team close knit. In times of chaos it’s pretty easy to get off track, to sway from best practices and “go it alone” or change your mode of thinking. The exact opposite is what should be happening. Don’t rely on your own abilities as a project manager – no project manager can really succeed while acting as an island unto himself. You need your team. Keep them close and keep everyone as tight knit as possible. The team that attacks the problems as a tight unit will have the greatest chance of reaching the light at the end of the tunnel of chaos.
Keep communication strong. During times of project chaos with your creative teams, you should always maintain a high level of communication. When communication wanes, teams can become disjointed and dysfunctional. Effective and efficient communication is always a key ingredient for project success. While problems are being worked through, it is essential to continue frequent communication to keep everyone informed of the latest status and direction as well as to ensure that everyone is on the same track. In addition, frequent communication with your project client keeps their confidence and satisfaction high – especially while you work through the stressful points that often come with chaos and critical issues on the engagement.
Keep client involvement high. Do whatever it takes to keep the client highly involved in the efforts to work through the chaos and issues. The disengaged client will be less informed and therefore more prone to dissatisfaction or loss of confidence in the project and the team’s ability to deliver on success. Look for tasks on the resolution of key issues that can be assigned directly to the project client. Make them a part of the solution; not just a sideline observer. They can help – they want to help because they want to see you succeed. It’s a win-win situation because keeping them engaged and involved helps them to see daily that you and your team are “on it.” They can see that you are doing everything you can to work through the issues and get the project back on track.
Summary
As you can see – without getting specific on what issues we might be encountering – the key to success on any project where the project team is working through critical issues is to keep everyone working tightly together. That doesn’t mean everyone is working side by side in a central location, though that is often the case when extreme measures must be taken. What it really means is that everyone is communicating, working closely together on the same tasks and being assigned key tasks that are directly involved with fixing whatever is broken – even the creative project client.
