Sometimes it happens. Or it doesn’t happen. The cause is irrelevant because no matter what, at some point we must deliver bad news to our project sponsors or contacts. Even project managers with the most impeccable track records run into trouble every now and then—it’s part of risk. There are plenty of materials out there on dealing with and mitigating risk, but sometimes we have to face the situation.

There are some best practices to handling this scenario. It’s not a guarantee that no one will become upset or that it will save your project, but at the very least, these are a series of actions that you may take to get the best results out of a bad situation.

1. Get the facts together. Never walk into a situation without knowing the lay of the land and all the available information. This will help to keep you in a position of expertise and help to alleviate some stress.
2. Gather solutions. The best thing you can offer your client contact after delivering bad news is some actionable items to rectify the problem. It shows that you are aware of the issue and on top of solving it.
3. Be proactive. The more time that passes between discovery of the problem and informing your client, the worse the results will be. Do not ever wait for your clients to discover the issue on their own.
4. Be objective and pragmatic. The client sometimes gets upset; it is inevitable. Your job is not to battle them, but to work through the situation and get to a solution as quickly as possible.
5. Don’t get emotional. This may be the most difficult rule to abide. When problems arise, tensions mount, stress rises, and sometimes hurtful things are said. You must always remind yourself that this is a business situation—not a personal one and that to persevere, you have to push whatever feelings you have aside and get the job done.
6. Blame can wait. You may want to blame someone on your team or even on the client’s team. The client will probably want to do this even more than you do, but this is not the time. Finding fault before the problem is solved only wastes time and further complicates the issue. There is always time during performance reports, debriefs and meetings to worry about post-resolution responsibility.

You may encounter situations that require different approaches, but following the above tactics will help you to brave what can be a very difficult task during a project. Never forget to be proactive and to act as an expert and you will experience success, despite unavoidable problems.

Harris Eisenberg, MBA
Harris has worked in a project management role within both the marketing and music industries. Most recently, as Strategy and Business Lead for a small marketing agency in Virginia, Harris managed dozens of projects from individual brochure development to enterprise software development for the Federal government. If you wish to contact Harris, you may email him at harris.eisenberg@gmail.com.

Off Peak Training, a Reston, VA based company, offers public and private training classes to help prepare business professionals for professional certifications like the PMP®, CAPM®, PMI-SP®, CISSP®, CAPM®, CISA®, and is a Registered Education Provider for the Project Management Institute.