Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Empathize Rather than Finger Point
As project managers, most of us are so engrossed in mere reporting and escalating that we almost refuse to think about the true issues faced by the stakeholders. It requires an understanding of their issues and concerns to appreciate the problems at the “other side of the fence”. While it is important to communicate issues, especially to senior management, it is also the responsibility of the project manager to try to understand the real causes behind such issues. This does not just require you build a better working relationship--but also to find a long-lasting solution to repetitive project problems and challenges.
Several instances in my experience substantiate this. The one experience that stands out is my interactions with a particular user group in a few of my projects. The business owners of this user group always complained about meeting deadlines related to the baseline of requirements and sign off. After taking the conventional project path of escalation on the initial projects, I found that customer relationships were low and frustration levels were very high. Subsequently, before the next project kicked off I decided to discuss their concerns face to face. Having made my agenda clear, it took me only a few minutes to break the ice.
To my dismay, I found that the group was severely understaffed. It is not necessary that the issue was …
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"Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw |