Successful Project Managers Road Map by Mostafa Alshimi - HTML preview

How to sort it out if you lied

There are difficult situations throughout the project where you can’t remain honest with a client. Whatever the circumstances, the project  manager may feel it would be better to not reveal all of the information or  not tell the complete truth. Inevitably, however, the client will know  sooner or later. Oftentimes, project managers will think that it is their  burden to bear when a project is off track. They may withhold information  and try to fix it themselves. What they forget is that it is not always their  job to fix it! Even if he or his team are the main reason behind the delay  but the client must be involved in the tradeoff decisions that come with  bringing a project back into compliance. Sharing the whole story and the  current status with the client ensures client’s support to you and your  team. There are some simple steps to follow when a client finds out that  the truth has not been told.

• Formal apologize must be sent.
• Tell the client or the sponsor the whole story and whatever you  hide before, including why you chose to withhold the information.  Emphasize on that it is not an excuse, but an explanation.
• Acknowledge that you may have lost the client’s trust and you will  do whatever it takes to regain the trust through action, not empty  promises.
• After the acknowledgment, be quiet and listen. Give the client  or sponsor time to process the information and look to them for  the instructions on how to proceed.

There may have been a perfectly valid reason to withhold information or to  not to tell the truth—or at least at the time you thought there was a good  reason. In the unfortunate circumstance when you have not completely  told the truth, be prepared for the fallout. Any time integrity, honor, or  morals are called into question, it can be difficult to deal with. Keep in  mind that you created the situation, however, and you must resolve it.

A project manager’s role is to bring chaos to order, blurred vision to clear  reality, and disorganization to harmony. It is a project manager’s role to  plan, execute, validate, and complete projects. This responsibility includes  reporting progress. Many project managers will be tempted to not tell the  truth if the project is slightly behind schedule or slightly over budget. They  begin to hope that it will turn around. Instead, slightly behind becomes  greatly behind, and a small issue grows into a large issue. To avoid this, a  good project reports the exact progress. The moment a project goes off  track, the project manager should ensure that everyone is aware that it is  off track and understands what needs to be accomplished to get back on  track. This has to be carried out with action and communications, not hope  and prayer.

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