I am a believer in the power of project management.
As a professional project manager for nearly twenty years, I have witnessed project success drive business results. I have also proven that project management can change lives and help achieve personal transformation. Now I am sharing some practical tips and techniques that you can use to help achieve your own personal goals, live your best life and become a PM Believer.
5 Practical Steps To Overcome A Roadblock
In How To Prevent Unexpected Roadblocks From Derailing Your Journey, I said, “nearly all problems that you encounter are something that you could have predicted and planned for well in advance.” Unfortunately, sometimes stuff happens, and despite our best efforts, every project will have problems.
In project management, an "issue" is a problem that has occurred and is impacting your project. Whereas risks are things that might happen, an issue is something that has happened.
Your personal goal projects are no exception; you are going to encounter issues. Your ability to react to these issues will keep them from derailing your progress. I recommend a 5-step process: identify, prioritize, forgive, fix, prevent.
Identify
The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem. You can only solve what you know about. Some issues are obvious, like an injury blocking your training for that marathon. But other issues aren’t so obvious. If you are measuring your progress daily, you can see the early warning sign of emerging issues.
Prioritize
Once you identify an issue, work quickly to respond. Start by determining the priority of the issue. Is it preventing progress or a “blocking” issue? Is it just a minor annoyance? Not all issues require an immediate resolution, and some don’t need to be solved at all.
Forgive
Next is a step that may seem a little unusual: forgive.
Most of us have been in a position where we call out a problem at work and get beat up; this is not a helpful response. Getting beat up over issues is especially troubling when the person beating you up is that voice in your head.
Issues are a sign of progress and that we are trying something new. Accept and forgive the issue. Negative self-talk will not help you get back on track.
Fix
Next up is troubleshooting: what is the root cause of the issue.
Was that injury you encountered during your training because of bad form, over-use, a medical problem or a sign that it is time to replace your shoes? Sometimes the root cause of the issue will surprise you.
Pro Tip: When working to identify the root cause of your issue, the “5 Whys” exercise is helpful. This exercise is a tool to get beyond the symptoms and to the root problem.
Learn more about how to use 5 Whys in this 2-minute video. https://youtu.be/em4DtqYuuH4
Once you have identified the root cause, the (almost) final step is to correct it. The required fix can vary greatly.
- Something very easy: buy new shoes.
- Something harder: take two weeks off from training.
- Something terrible: you need surgery.
Warning: Issues seldom heal themselves without intervention; ignoring or avoiding the issue often amplifies it.
Prevent
Finally, this issue should feed your ongoing risk management process. What steps can you take to avoid this issue from happening in the future?
Are you ready to be a PM Believer?
You knew that you were going to have challenges along the way, but you’ve got this. The issues are here, but by methodically responding to issues, you can get yourself back on track.
Need some help getting your project back on track? I have tons of experience helping projects of all shapes and sizes back on track.
Click Here to learn more about my Operation Melt coaching services.
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