How can you build resilience to handle project changes?

One of the best ways to manage social impact project changes is to create a team culture and philosophy around being agile from the very beginning! Creating positive social change is a science and an art: You have to experiment, test, get feedback and iterate. If you approach a project with that mindset, your team will automatically be resilient to changes.

Navigating changes in a project isn't just about understanding why they happen or good communication. It's also about being flexible in your plans, always learning, and working well together. Use tools and technology to help, talk openly with everyone involved, and celebrate the small victories. Resilience is not just about one person but everyone working together to handle whatever comes our way in the project.

This is a key opportunity to shape the culture to be agile and supportive. In times of friction or change, it’s when culture is tested the most. Be proactive and model the support that you’d like the team and organization to implement.

“Constraint breeds creativity.” Embrace this mentality and lean into finding solutions and building a supportive culture. There will be many bumps in the road, and if you can learn to navigate and build the foundation skills to be agile, then you are setting yourself up more for success.

This is the single most important aspect to grow in the field of your choice. You can't win with a negative mindset. Always strive for good and highest forms of being. Grow yourself and upskill everyday. Try to work for better results everyday.

Invest in ways of expressions, including therapy but not only. Art, sports and time of quality with those you love can help you manage your emotions. Most importantly, every emotion matters, and tells something about you. Validate your feelings before ignoring them, and jumping to the next challenge. Going through your emotions analyzing carefully can help you take something good from each critical situation.

In addition to self care and stress management we should also equip project managers with conflict resolution skills to address disagreements and tension that will definitely arise when changes occur. Investing in team skill development and team building to improve their adaptability, cooperation and problem solving skills goes a long way when implementing complex change projects.

There are a few other things that I find helpful when managing a complex project: 1) Adopt agile methodologies: Agile project management methodologies, such as Scrum or Kanban, are designed to embrace change. They allow for flexibility and adaptability by breaking projects into smaller, manageable tasks or sprints, making it easier to accommodate changes as they arise. 2) Flexible Resource Allocation: Cross-train team members to perform multiple roles and develop a flexible resource allocation strategy to reassign team members amidst changes. 3) Establishing a change control board and maintaining comprehensive documentation: This will ensure that changes are evaluated for their impact on project scope, schedule and budget.