What to Do With Project Failure – Four Immediate Steps for Project Leaders to Take

Ok…so you didn’t reach your project goal. Whatever your project plan…streamline operations, design the new “must have” technology, double the revenue…you did not succeed. The project post mortem was dismal and everyone walked away feeling like failures. But how you as a project leader handle failure and what you do next will define your future path.

1. First you need to turn your thinking upside down.
Failures are not all bad. In fact, they provide learning opportunities you can leverage toward future success. Who has succeeded without stumbling along the way? Missteps teach you what you can do better and force you to step up. As Winston Churchill said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” So you need to accept that some project failures are inevitable and that they are part of the developmental process. Failure is not the end but simply an obstacle along the way.

2. Next express your emotions so you can clear your thinking.
Of course, you’re frustrated. This was not the way it was supposed to work and, after all the time you and the team spent envisioning the positive end result, the collapse of your dream is beyond disappointing. Give all internal and external project stakeholders a chance to be upset and then regroup so you can thoughtfully address next steps.

3. Now, here is the challenge.
How objective and honest can you be about what really went wrong? This is not the time to blame but to learn and offer solutions. It is hard to accept your own responsibility for failure but it is necessary. It all starts with project leadership.  How else can you evaluate the problem, grow from the experience and move on? This is where courage and character enter the picture. Robert F. Kennedy said it well: “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

4. Continue forward.
Gather your project team. Take the next step in your post mortem. Accept the results of the last project and consider how you can address the new project with the lessons learned as guides. You will always need to make adjustments along the way but, with experience, grit and an attitude that recognizes failure often comes before success; you have the strength to carry on.

Your job as project leader is to hold your team together even as you face setbacks. Learning what to do with failure will allow you to create a different outcome.