Monday, April 7, 2014

How to Cope with Setbacks

Life-changing work projects are rare because they create learning opportunities. The Organizational Freelancer learned in childhood to achieve success in every aspect of her work. That sounds great in theory. However, there are rare opportunities when setbacks or failure may occur.

Project setbacks are a result of challenges that may be within our span of control such as time management, poor planning or identifying available staff to support the work load. However, some work issues may be occur because available staff may be reassigned, budget issues prevent the investment in necessary software or simply it was "doomed to fail."

It is hard for a person to bounce back from a failed project, especially when you put so much time and effort into creating something amazing for the masses. However, the reality of the situation is that sometimes projects fail, despite the best effort to plan for potential threats or weaknesses.

As an organizational freelancer, it helps to learn different ways to cope with failure effectively.   Your coping skills will develop over time and can be valuable if you channel your energy in the right direction. Use the quick tips below to enhance how you cope with setbacks:

  • Identify the real problem (too little staff, reduced funding, structural design or etc.)
  • Talk with your team and obtain their input about the process from start to finish
  • Avoid assigning blame. It is a distraction that will not help you fix the problem 
  • Create a comprehensive list of how to solve each issue 
  • Learn something new from your setbacks 
  • Share your ideas and obtain feedback about problem-solving measures
  • Get buy-in from your team and leaders to support the solutions
  • Implement the changes to your project work plan
  • Draft a trouble-shooting strategy to resolve work challenges

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