Share the Good and the Bad with Project Teams and Stakeholders

For many drivers, the most difficult lesson they have to learn is how to share the road with others. Unfortunately many project managers face the same challenge when it comes to sharing important information and effectively managing expectations.

They are OK with sharing good news but keep the bad news (or potential bad news) under wraps. Not only do they increase their own stress level but also they miss opportunities to get help from their team to solve emerging problems and to manage expectations before it is too late.

Project post mortems bring this situation to light again and again. “If only we’d known earlier,” say project co-workers and stakeholders. Then they might have been able to avoid disaster or at least lessen the impact of the bad news and plan accordingly.

If you are in charge of a project, be sure your share all updates—both good and bad—with your team early and often. Your team members deserve to know project progress all along the way. Hold regular meetings where milestones, timing, issues and actions are presented and discussed. Your short-term discomfort will be far less upsetting than later-term failure.

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