Program Tactics #003 - Signaling Slippage

"The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy."

- Carl von Clausewitz

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Estimated reading time: 4 mins

Don't shoot the messenger

Program managers have to communicate on the good and the bad.

We are uniquely suited to control the 'who' and 'when' of programs. Anytime there's a change in those variables, the program manager is responsible for addressing and implementing the correct approach to bring things back on track.

One of the greatest sins of a program manager is to have important information and not tell anyone about it. Even if it's not great news. We oftentimes have to be the bearer of bad news and the best way is to just get it over with. Sitting on it and letting it fester only makes things worse.

So, that program got delayed in a major way? Alright, time to update the status report and blast it out. Always be communicating, am I right?

Not so fast.

The no surprises rule

Developing program managers usually cause a blast radius with their bad news resulting in collateral damage in the form of confusion, degraded trust, and an environment of high stress for everyone involved.

Skilled program managers control the impact and roll out it in a simple but carefully planned manner.

In other words: you shouldn't be in the business of surprising people in the name of "communication."

The Tactic

The next time you have bad news to deliver on a program, take inventory of all your major stakeholders. Determine who's involved and who cares the most about the impact, then personalize your outreach in private before blasting it out in public.

Example

As an earlier program manager, I had a program planning to deliver on several important milestones. One of our major deliverables was going to be delayed in a bad way due to attrition of resources in that team. I knew I had to communicate the delay, but with the regular exec update coming in two days, I figured I'd wait to tell them then.

Oh boy, was that a bad move. Since I was the bearer of the bad news, I became the one in the hotseat. I was asked 20 questions about it, and several were around what I personally did to try to resolve it. You could say it felt like a congressional hearing.

My playbook (steal my learnings)

After many iterations, I developed a personal framework to navigate bad news.

I determine who I need to talk to (using judgement to determine where to stop):

• The person responsible for the change to understand it if nothing else
• Program sponsor
• Manager in the chain responsible for the bad news if they're involved (e.g. if a Manager reported it, it would be their Director/VP)
• Executive(s) with a strong interest (e.g. CTO/VP)
• Your manager (if you need air cover)

The bigger the impact, the more people on this list you should talk to, and vice versa.

You're going to want to let them know:

1. What happened, and do it before everyone else finds out
2. Describe the options available, if you have some
3. Ask what they recommend to move forward

Why go through the trouble?

It makes you proactive partner-- not just a status reporter. That's the difference between a developing and skilled program manager. It also gives them the heads up so they are prepared to answer about this delay to their bosses, customers, or whoever cares-- you help them save face too and they appreciate you for that.

Implementation

When I implemented this framework above on my next major program delay, the following occurred:

• The person who raised the issue explained the nuances with the delay and why we couldn't just hire anyone
• The sponsor thanked me for bringing this up and lobbied for our program to get higher priority in the company
• The manager of the person that reported the issue now had time to prepare a defensible story to give his bosses so he didn't feel like I threw him under the bus-- then we partnered on the solution together
• The one executive who was really invested in the program asked me tough questions, but then contacted a few people to get budget for professional services to speed up the program
• My own manager appreciated the heads up, and took the information to the next staff meeting to lobby support.

At the next executive update, the conversation shifted from me getting a grilling to communicating the changed plan. No one was surprised. And no one questioned my method and approach.

If you wonder why some program managers in your org appear so smooth and composed, it might very well be they're working behind the scenes.

Your turn

If you're surprising people, consider changing your approach to personalization. Shift from 'always communicating' to 'always partnering.' By partnering with people, you build a strong network of peers that enhance your leverage in the organization as well as giving them reasons to write great peer feedback for the next promotion cycle.

At the end of the day, people don't remember the programs, they remember how it felt like to work with you. By leaving this positive impression, you become hard to replace.

Sometimes you have to do the work that no one else gets to see.

They won't be sure how you do it, but they'll feel your impact.

To them, it seems like you always have the magic touch.

Let the show go on.

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