Sometimes things just get out of hand. Often it just a series of mishaps or new and unexpected deadlines; at other times it appears that evil forces are at hand in the workplace. If you get really unlucky, some personal issues will add themselves in to the mix, a broken car, accident at home, or needy relative.
We are often defined by how we react to these situations, our skills as a project manager are to balance and control issues, but also how we deal with increasing pressures and limited time to solve them.
Here are a few pointers that help me when chaos comes visiting:
- Take a few minutes out of the schedule to take a breadth and think things through
- Don’t kill the messenger of the last crisis item
- Prioritize items
- Seek additional help and guidance from those you trust in your team and network
- Make a new Plan and start executing immediately
- Offer it up (if you are so inclined)
