When you look back and evaluate how well your team dealt with a difficult project, consider this: what if you had said “no” more often? Would things have gone more efficiently or more smoothly? A recent client lamented during their project post mortem session that a simple “NO” 6 weeks into the project would have saved them two years, $18 million and at least five careers.
There’s never enough time to satisfy every internal and external project stakeholder. There is never enough time to “do everything.” So what do you do? You prioritize. This makes sense. You want to get the urgent/important tasks taken care of first. But what if you had taken an additional step and crossed some items off the list entirely? What if you had ignored those tasks that did not reach a reasonable level of importance, implementability or relevance?
Think carefully about what you would have gained in time, resources and team morale if you had done some triage upfront and eliminated extraneous steps and requirements. Just because they were on your project plan doesn’t mean they deserve equal time and attention. Before you slavishly struggle to complete every single one of the tasks on your list, make sure there’s a darn good reason not to ignore it. Make sure you know when a “no” would make your life easier, your efforts more productive, and the project a greater success.
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