Plan On!

Plan On!

Visualize Success and Take Positive Actions

The inward-bound inquiries into Run&JumpCo, a mid-market sports equipment manufacturer, had slowed to a trickle during the current situation.

Jon, the Project Lead of the company-wide Customer Relationship Management (CRM) initiative, was feeling glum. What was the point of selecting the new CRM System if business was stalled?

He recalled a quote from WWII General Dwight Eisenhower: “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” The enemy was real and the purpose of the project seemed like it had gone off the rails.

Wondering the point of it all, Jon called his boss, Sandra, Head of Business Development. “Should we put the CRM Selection Project on hold?”

“Why?” asked Sandra. “Have you run into a problem? The project has a budget, a timeline, and most importantly, a mission! I don’t think we should stop.”

“But,” drawled Jon, “what’s the point? Our business has dried up, no one is responding, and we’re not getting new inquiries, so there’s no need to get a system that can handle 200,000 records anymore.”

Sandra was silent and Jon got nervous. She always reminded him to be positive, act positive, and do positive. She also expected solutions and not complaints.

Jon started to murmur as if to frame a sentence that would sound like he had an alternate plan. But he didn’t.

So Sandra calmly asked, “Jon, let’s think this through. Say we have three choices here: we can stop the project and do nothing, we can continue the project with the original timeline, or we can extend the timeline while keeping the same goal.”

Sandra paused, but Jon did not chime in so she continued, “It makes sense to assume that business will rebound since we are a sports equipment company and we are sold in every retail outlet. I think that choice one is clearly not a good one. So let’s explore choices two and three. What do you think?”

Jon smiled, thinking Sandra was so smooth – she always kept her calm.

“Okay,” responded Jon, “I get it. We need to plow forward. Of course we’ll still be in business when the market picks up again. So, let’s expand the timeline?”

Sandra lowered her voice for emphasis and replied, “Maybe, but are the vendors continuing to submit their proposals? If so, let’s keep the positive energy in motion and finish the project. That way we can then spend more time testing.”

“Yes," exclaimed Jon, "I see. We can use this quiet time to get ahead of the curve and then really have the system working well….”

Sandra laughed and finished Jon’s sentence, “…instead of launching and fixing the implementation later.”

“That’s really smart.” Jon was feeling better about the project.

“Can you visualize the new CRM System being used by everyone?” encouraged Sandra.

“Yes,” replied Jon.

“Then I think we have a plan,” stated Sandra.

"I agree. We can do this!” enthused Jon.

“You are going to have a success,” said Sandra, before closing the call. “Just think about how important this project is to everyone. Be our hero!”

Jon smiled and edged out a “Thanks!” as the call ended.

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Is your company in the midst of a project that needs a great project manager to guide your team? Get the team focused on accomplishing the goal, on-time and as planned!

Especially in this business open / business closed period, it’s important to keep the team working on core projects that will position the company to respond to customers, leads, and opportunities.

Keep projects going strong to add functions to your business that are mission critical.

Give us a call and we can get on a screen-share to talk about your projects, today. We want to hear from you! 310-445-5300

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Rubenstein / Justman Management Consultants (RJMC) is expert in assisting you to plan for operational and systems improvements. We can meet you via screen-share every day. Call today to talk about your projects and get more insight regarding our approach to great project management in your business through improved operations and systems. We Get Projects Done!