How many times have you been working away and suddenly you’re told that you have to lead a big, important initiative out of the blue…and you have to jump right on it.
It’s a big change that has to happen quickly and effectively. There is going to be a lot of disruption and people are going to be resistant to the change.
You have to scramble to understand what exactly you are dealing with and how the heck you are going to pull this off. You are already overloaded and under-sourced and now they throw this at you.
You go from overloaded to overwhelmed!
Not only that, but they don’t want you to stop the work on the previous high-importance projects. They just want you to be able to do all of them, without sacrificing one’s importance for the other.
Whether this is unreasonable or not, you have to get it done.
I had a client recently tell me that he had just finished his first full year in a very different role for him. It was his first time leading a team and it was in a function that was new for him.
He was happy that he had his first year of learning under him and he was excited to be more strategic and intentional in developing his team in the new year.
Out of the blue, his company, reacting to some economic predictions, threw several big initiatives at him that he felt had scopes that were too big to achieve in such short time frames.
Needless to say he was frustrated and a tad resentful.
But in our next session he had made a complete mind shift where he had determined that he would do his absolute best, but not obsess about it and focus only on controlling what he could control. He was determined to not be resentful and let it affect his work and home life.
He did this by applying the approaches described below.
What do You Do When a Sudden Big Change Comes Down from Leadership?
First, Get Your Mind Right:
- Approach this as an opportunity. No matter how much it might not feel that way and how unreasonable and unfair it feels. This is a chance to grow, build new skillsets and network
- Realize that change leadership abilities are highly desired for leaders in this business era and will be for years to come. Leaders have to be flexible and adaptable and need to make sure their teams are as well
- Show your high EQ and resiliency. Respond with a calm and focused approach so you can get right to work on setting a good foundation for the project
- Don’t whine or complain to anyone at work. Even if you feel it is unfair. The “why me” and this is “unfair and unreasonable” mentality will just drain you and other’s around you
- Expect constant challenges. Expect risks, hurdles, bumps and resistance. Don’t act surprised or frustrated
- Model the behavior you want your team to have
Second, Control What You Can Control. Set Yourself and Your Project Up for Success:
- Do not be afraid to do your due diligence first. Don’t panic and make rash decisions. Don’t be afraid to go slow at first so you can faster later
- Try to understand the business case for this sudden decision to take on these initiatives. You may never find out where it started from top leadership, but it can give you some context as to the “why” and the level of urgency leaders may have
- Start crafting your initial communications right away. You need to create the right messaging to begin building a positive narrative right away. Don’t let water-cooler talk build a negative narrative. It’s human nature for people to immediately start worrying
- Understand what actual final deliverables are expected
- Break the project into smaller chunks to reduce overwhelm and identify how you can build small successes to get a good start
- Be assertive in getting true alignment among the different levels of leadership on the expectations and value, so you can have consistent support, prioritization and resource allowance. Conflicting priorities and misaligned leaders doom a project before it starts
- Don’t be afraid to manage-up. Meaning, make sure leadership knows the capacity challenges, the risks time and resources needed. Don’t just accept unreasonable expectations and irrational projections. Try to set a methodical and manageable tone
- Learn the scope and time table. Hint…always push for a longer time table and more resources at the beginning. It’s always better to under-promise and over-deliver
- Identify resources needed to have a realistic chance for success
- Identify key stakeholders and the impact this initiative will have on them
- Identify key learnings (new skillsets, new technology, new processes) you and your team will need to undertake
- Identify and list key risks/challenges and list them in project status reports so everyone is completely aware
- Build a vision and high level roadmap to give you and your team something to wrap your heads around as this fast moving project is forming
Anytime you get hit with even more work and responsibility, when you are already overloaded…you need to respond. Not React!
Respond by jumping into preparation and research mode right away. Worry about setting the project up for success.
Panicking, complaining and playing the victim is not productive and will take much needed energy away from making this new initiative a success.
But never be afraid to calmly and rationally push for setting reasonable expectations and asking for the needed clarity, resources and support to succeed.
Stay Calm and Lead On
