Your team is facing a major challenge. How can you help them overcome it?

When crisis is there, first spend time to observe the situation for few hours.  Define the Problem statement (challenge), ensure everyone on same page for the problem including customer.  Identify the Root cause with possible solutions with trade off’s and finalize top one or Two or Three.  Socialize with all stake holders and finalize the top one solution  Call out for any help & Implement it and track to the closure.

Instead of diving into identifying the problem, I always find it helpful as first step to understand the impact and consequences of the challenge or problem. This helps the leader and the team to put things in perspective and set the right priority. Then depending on the urgency and impact, l would choose an approach fitting to the situation: be directive and act fast if we need to put out the fire immediately; or encourage and coach the team to work on the problem themselves if we do have time to turn things around. The situational leadership is very important to empower and enable high performing team.

It’s often useful to change the way you see the problem. Sometimes it’s hard to reach a complete identification of the problem, and it will ask you to decide with a high level of uncertainty. Changing the prism of sight, Looking from different angles, Adding new fresh eyes, make you see others ways to understand and find trade off to match a fast-safe-efficient solution

*Evaluate the situation dispassionately *Unconditional support for the team *Commit to resolving the problem at hand collectively *Own the problem, enable, empower people through the resolution process *Carefully assess the progress without "review overheads" on the team *Coach and Course Correct on the fly (perhaps there may not be a second chance) *Ensure the trajectory of resolution is towards the end goals *Resolve, Retrospect - take corrective and preventive measures *Recognize efforts of the team to meet the end goal

1) Firstly identify yourself as one among the team so that the fatigued team would not want to face another situation of a leader posing threat. 2) Generally when we see an issue, it could just be outcome of a completely different problem. So please assess carefully. 3) There are proven scientific techniques to resolve the problem once identified like the other leaders have pointed it out. 4) If it takes time in resolving issues, so be it. Avoid any short cuts during this time. Look at the benefit of resolving this issue and the long term benefits due to this. (It can be momentarily painful in removing the pus from infected area. But it restores the original condition back). 5) The fellow colleagues will have to be educated and made aware.

Identify the problem boundaries and be precise on the issues to get addressed first. Once you are clear on what are the core issues to get solved, feed the team with all the boundaries of the issues you have identified. Slice the issues and get the right talented resources at each slices of the problem. You may continue to play the role of orchestrator to synchronize the teams for a collective outcome.

Once the problem is identified, is healthy to hear from the team their perception and problem solving skills. In this case, the leader is just the facilitator to allow the creativity of the team to flow and express so that everyone can contribute to the resolution.

You shouldn't need to involve your team they should already feel empowered to be starting conversations, developing ideas, even if that idea is to change the strategy. They should also be confident in being able to involve you when required

Getting the team together and doing some possibility thinking always helps and brings new ideas and different perspectives to the table that may have previously been overlooked. Always hold open discussions and no idea is a bad idea at this stage.

Start by doing a stakeholder analysis. Then do thebresearch. Revisit stakeholder map based on research. Repeat. That research is then used during the analysis phase.

A strategy is not a holy book that cannot change. On the contrary, the strategy is as good as how relevant it is to the circumstances and environment and the stakeholders surrounding it and thus should be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure its relevance and to ensure that the objectives of the strategy are well met.

The team must be as flexible as the business need requires. the solution must be the same. Measure causes and consequences of development in the short and long term in order to define a strategy according to what has been identified.

Peter Drucker said, 'Culture eats strategy for breakfast.' In the IT sector, balancing strategic planning with an agile culture is vital. Our approach combines ongoing analysis with adaptability, forming a resilient strategy aligned with our objectives and open to new insights. We use frameworks like OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) and PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) for strategic execution. This blend of agility, cultural strength, and disciplined analysis helps us navigate challenges and stay competitive

Adapting your strategy to the evolving situation is crucial. Revisit and potentially revise your goals, objectives, and planned actions in light of new information and circumstances. Regularly monitor progress, assess results, and evaluate outcomes to determine if changes are necessary. Be open to altering your course, incorporating new tools, or experimenting with different approaches. Staying rigidly committed to an original strategy, especially in the face of new feedback and evidence, can hinder success. Flexibility and responsiveness are key to navigating challenges effectively and achieving desired outcomes.

The end result of a strategy or plan, very rarely looks exactly the same way it was originally intended. That is perfectly ok, If the success criteria has been met. Agree with everything else being said above.

Effective risk management is essential. Identify potential threats, opportunities, and uncertainties that could impact your team and strategy. Develop comprehensive plans, policies, and procedures to mitigate, avoid, or leverage these risks. This might involve allocating resources, delegating tasks, or escalating issues as necessary. Avoid underestimating or overlooking risks, and do not assume that everything will proceed without challenges. Being proactive in risk management and prepared for various scenarios ensures your team is equipped to handle unforeseen events and maintain progress towards your objectives.

Risk management is obviously a form of control - mandatory to keep coherency and boundaries. I believe also it could be a mind limit, when a strategy includes too much damage control. Anticipating too much risks will keep you from innovating, too much innovation could expose you to understate problems and consequences. Always a matter of trade off, with one arbitrator : the context

Keeping the "Plan B" ready is one of the most important thing to ensure success of any project or any tasks. Identifying potential risks due to uncertainties and keep the team ready to mitigate any major issue will always keep on safer side.

Be prepared for the unexpected. Take proactive steps to manage risks before they catch you off guard. Start by mapping out the potential threats to your team's revised strategy. Look for both internal factors, like resource constraints, and external factors, like market shifts. Don't forget to also consider opportunities and uncertainties that you can either take advantage of or minimize. Remember, risk management shouldn't be a rigid plan. Continuously review and update your risk register as you move forward. Stay flexible and ready to adjust your strategies and contingencies as you learn and face unexpected challenges.

Go for the largest risk first. What are the team primary roles and responsibilities? Make solid measurements the team can monitor, priorities and work from. When that is a build in habbit, add the second most important area until majority of the teams work has solid measurements to work from. On the leadership side, you need to have your own toolbox in place to make sure of sufficient well-being to ensure a high daily both individual and team performance.

You need to communicate about the progress of problem solving, especially communicate if needed that problem is difficult and takes probably a bit longer time to get resolved. People understand the difficulty but not the delay without explanation.

Agreed. Effective communication is not just about talking more; it's about talking better. It's about listening, understanding, and engaging in a way that fosters trust, clarity, and collaboration. Communication becomes the foundation of understanding perspectives, collaborative problems solving, expectation management and tool for conflict resolution.

I'd elevate this to step 1. Without effective communication, there is no way that the problem will be identified. In my experience many problems in a working environment stem from poor communication, as those which don't are easily identified and resolved. Listening should not be an afterthought, but rather a default mode of engagement. Only listening will help you understand peoples perspectives. It is likely that every person has a different perspective, and therefore will resonate with different messages. I find that prioritising 1-1 communication and then supporting that with group sessions is particularly effective.

In my experience communication is the key in not only setting expectations but also clearly and precisely provide guidance to your teams.

Communication strategy with stakeholder mapping is very useful. Socializing the solution increases its adoption chances. Creating champions or influencers within business team is another good approach to drive the adoption.

Learning from experience needs to mean something substantial. I believe, lesson’s learnt should be documented and shared with everyone in the team, the leadership team and also the customer if the problem was related to customer project. The same should also be shared with the internal delivery excellence team. Idea should be to ensure everyone really learns from it.

Learning from the experience is crucial for continuous improvement. Reflect on the successes and setbacks, analyzing what worked well and what didn't. Celebrate achievements and acknowledge the efforts and performance of your team. Consider updating your team's knowledge, skills, and processes, and be open to adopting new best practices or innovations. It's important to avoid repeating past mistakes and to seize opportunities for growth and evolution. This reflective practice not only enhances your team's capabilities but also strengthens your overall strategy, fostering a culture of learning and adaptation.

Respect and acknowledge their ideas. Consider how they can improve their communications. Listen actively and empathetically and ask open-ended questions to clarify and confirms understanding.

Every day, every experience is a learning experience, sometimes we just have to make decisions and get stuff done. Taking time afterwards to sit down and discuss in a no blame environment, how we could have done it better, what would we have done differently if we had more time, given the same situation would we do the same thing again. The value of learning from every experience is the team grows and are not afraid to step up with suggestions at the next challenge

The best teams I have worked with have recognized each other's strengths and celebrated in success by incorporating each individual's experiences to upskill the rest of the team through collaboration and either cyclical project leading or a buddying style of sharing knowledge.

Careers are a marathon, not a sprint. If you have been in the game for a while, remind people that consistent effort will get the job done. Stay calm and dig in. I have not been in a project where lives are at risk. It is usually a project to deliver a new business function, launch a product or improve something existing. Ensure that people keep this in mind. To much stress rarely helps, some sense of urgency is good, to a point. The experience learned is to be used for many more future challenges. Keep stakeholders well informed. No one likes bad news when it is too late.

I would begin by making sure we understand the problem, very well from a variety of viewpoints. The most common mistake I see all too often, is a sense of urgency to react too quickly before we understand the issue/problem well enough to make a list of possible root causes, prioritize their effort and potential for solving the root causes, which are often more than one in the complex world we have created. Then, work the solutions, one at a time, to assess positive impact, until all the root causes are gone.

One should not always projects which turn from red to green. We also need to reward projects which start green and stay green. These projects need to be showcased as stories internally on what are they doing which continues to make them successful.

Some additional “pre” steps to consider: A. Can the “major challenge” be broken into smaller “minor challenges”? If so, can those challenges be attacked in parallel by multiple teams? is there an 80/20 solution that could get us most of the way there? B. What is the priority of solving this problem versus continuing the work the team was already doing? In other words, what are the downstream effects of focusing all of our attention on one problem? C. Which of the four elements of success—quality, schedule, cost or scope— is the challenge? Can we be a little more flexible on the other three, if what is really needed is cost reduction, for example? Answering the pre-questions often reduces the size and severity of the problem.

Take Ownership! Effective leadership involves taking ownership of both successes and challenges. Trusting your team is crucial, but as a leader, you must remain engaged and supportive. If your team faces challenges or needs extra resources, be proactive in addressing these issues. Negotiate on their behalf to ensure they have the time and resources necessary for success. In moments of failure, take responsibility as a leader, fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. By actively participating in both the triumphs and setbacks, you contribute to a cohesive and empowered team dynamic.