SEM 16: What To Do As A Manager When A Project Gets Cancelled.
SEM 16: What To Do As A Manager When A Project Gets Cancelled.
Project cancellations are a painful and challenging aspect of leading a team.
I still remember feeling after hearing my boss say: "Leadership wants you to stop working on the project.” Those are the words no one wants to hear.
No one prepares you to tell your team, who have been working hard for months, that their project is cancelled. Project cancellations are a painful and challenging aspect of leading a team, and you'll face them as a leader §at some point.
The bigger the project, the more people work on it, the closer you are to the work, and the longer it has been running, the more difficult it will be to cancel a project.
Your project could be going well, things are on schedule, and the team is energised and motivated—then, it’s shut down suddenly.
There will be anger, frustration at wasted effort, and even disbelief and confusion.
As a leader, it’s natural to question your decisions in such situations and feel defeated. However, it's important to remember that project cancellations are usually just strategic business decisions, generally beyond your control.
Recognise The Signs
Projects can be cancelled for any number of reasons, but usually, the answer is some combination of:
Something more important needs to be done. Priorities or business conditions have changed.
The project is expensive, and the return on investment is unclear.
There is a lack of budget or resources to continue the project.
The project is consistently missing deadlines.
It becomes apparent that the project won’t achieve the desired goal or have the expected impact.
A change of leadership where new leadership don’t see the value in the project (e.g. a reorg).
The Decision
Sometimes, as a manager, you decide to cancel a project. Other times, it is cancelled for reasons outside of your control. Regardless of the reason for cancelling, these situations can be very emotional for everyone.
When projects are cancelled for reasons outside your control, it’s important to “disagree and commit” and move on.
Communicate The Decision
Once a decision has been made to cancel a project, you’ll need to communicate clearly to the team the reasons why. Be as transparent and honest as possible about the reasons for cancellation and communicate quickly to avoid rumours spreading among the team.
Manage Team Morale
One of the most challenging tasks for a leader is managing the emotional fallout of a cancelled project—for you and your team. People will have invested significant time and energy, so cancelling a project can feel like a failure.
Take the time to talk with the team and get feedback and learnings from the project.
Moving On
There are always things to learn from projects, even when unfinished. Maybe you learned, improved, or did valuable work during the project lifecycle. Remind yourself of incremental wins that happened along the way. Even when projects are cancelled, lessons can be learned, and value can be derived.
Try to find clarity on the next steps quickly. Project cancellations are confusing, so the best thing you can do is refocus everyone and bring clarity back to the team. If a current project got cancelled, what’s next?
Summary
Project cancellations can be emotionally damaging for leaders and teams. Still, they can also be strategic decisions that save time and resources while paving the way for other, more successful initiatives.
Communicate the rationale for the decision to your team. Reflect and learn from the project. Come back stronger and find a new challenge.
Thanks for reading.
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