Taskforce
Management
Nothing comes closer to our credo “TAKING ON THE IMPOSSIBLE”
Managing critical projects (significantly delayed, technically unresolved, financially beyond budget, etc.) or often referred to as "task force projects" due to their criticality often feels like dancing on a hot volcano or similar to juggling flaming swords on a unicycle on a tightrope.
Your contact:
Thomas Pleli
+43 664 525 32 00
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We are fully aware that critical projects are often very serious matters, sometimes threatening the very existence of the company.
There are countless guides to successful project and task force management – the IQX GROUP has, above all, the people who are experts in guiding critical projects back to calmer waters.
Therefore, we decided to present the most important DON'Ts as a guide on how to reliably "drive any project into the ground." It is all the more alarming that some of the DON'Ts listed below are repeatedly the cause of current problems in critical projects!
A guide to failure
Unclear goals
Set goals that are as clear as fog. Ensure your project goals are ambiguous and constantly changing. This will keep the team on their toes and foster an environment of constant confusion, which, as we all know, is fertile ground for innovation.
No communication
Effective communication is overrated. Embrace the chaos by ensuring that team members have minimal interaction with each other. You'll see that misunderstandings and assumptions lead to creative problem-solving.
Mastering micromanagement
Trusting your team is a sign of weakness. Personally handling every small task and questioning every decision is counterproductive. Micromanagement ensures your team feels valued because they know you care enough to meddle in every agonizing detail of their work.
Flexible appointments
Deadlines should be as flexible as a rubber band. Change them frequently and without prior notice. This unpredictability helps develop resilience and adaptability among team members. Besides, some team members need the adrenaline rush of a deadline suddenly being moved forward by two weeks.
Resource scarcity
Make sure your team has just enough resources to dream of adequacy. This includes an insufficient budget, outdated methods, and a project team whose competence is more than lacking. Scarcity fuels ingenuity and helps the team focus on what really matters: surviving until the next project milestone.
Random priority changes
Shift project priorities frequently and without warning. This keeps the team agile and ready to adapt at any time, demonstrating its ability to handle multiple critical tasks simultaneously.
No clear leadership
A strong, decisive leader may provide direction and stability, but where does that leave the joy of the job? Foster a culture of distributed confusion, where leaders' responsibilities are vague and often overlap. This ensures everyone has the chance to experience the joys of leading in a vacuum.
Excessive commitment
Encourage team members to take on more projects than they can handle. Overloading ensures the team is always operating at maximum capacity and fosters a sense of camaraderie as they bond through mutual exhaustion.
Ignore the facts
Trust your gut feeling rather than hard data. Root cause analyses are just fancy words that distract from the instinctive management style that truly drives success.
Praise firefighting efforts
Recognize and reward team members who excel in crisis management. Regularly create small crises to keep the firefighting spirit alive. After all, heroes aren't made in calm waters; they're forged in the fires of perpetual emergency.