Client Question: “My project was implemented, but we have a few issues that we need to address. I feel like it isn’t being perceived as a success.”
Although there is a ton of planning that goes into launching a new product, system or project, there are still some things that could go wrong. You do what you can to proactively prepare for those things, but you may not be able to prevent all issues from occurring. Big implementations have risks that can occur and you just need to be prepared with mitigation plans to address them. Communicate as much as possible to prevent any surprises to your management and your clients. Address the issues quickly and move forward. Celebrate the work that you and your team have implemented.
Remember that you set the tone. You have the opportunity to lead your team through the good things and the bad things. You show that you have faith in them no matter what is happening and you motivate them to move forward. Show them how to make the tough decisions and stand up for the great work that all of you did. Ensure that you are managing the messages to your management so that everyone understands what you just implemented and how great it really is. This is called setting the example, managing the perception and owning the situation.
Encountering a few issues does not mean the that what you implemented did not go well. Unfortunately, it can be easy to focus only on what has gone wrong and ignore all the things that have gone right. Doing a post mortem with the team is a good way to review what went well and what could have gone better. You can gather everyone’s input since the leader isn’t involved in all of the details and may miss out on some learnings. This is really important so that you can do things differently the next time and share the learnings with other teams.
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