Facing Setbacks

Since facing setbacks is part of the nature of new product development (see e.g. Ulrich

& Eppinger 2003, Cooper, 1993), the leaders were asked how they act in these

situations. First of all, it was commonly agreed among the interviewees that the team faces several setbacks during the development phase.

“These setbacks occur5there is no one or two setbacks, there are dozens or hundreds of them5that you have to return to the previous phases to redo them..” (upper

manager, firm A)

Secondly the interviewees agreed that during the setbacks, the problem solving ability of the project leader is really weighted.

Showing the Direction

It was emphasized that during difficult times, the project leader needs to stay strong. In addition, it was mentioned that the project leader need to be the one the team can trust to, meaning that even though he/she wouldn’t know what to do at a certain moment, the project leader need to be able to lead the team further. This “being certain about uncertainties” is also recognized among different authors (see e.g. Hohn 2004, Buijs, 2007). The upper manager 1 of large Company B said that in the case of setbacks, the project leader needs to encourage the team and show the direction where the team should head to. The other upper manager 2 of Company B noted that even though the project leader would not know which would be the right thing to do at the moment, it should not be shown to the team.

“In challenging times, the project leader needs to act as a strong leader, whereas in other times his/her role can be more of an expert’s role.” (upper manager 2, company

B)

The same upper manager 2 from large Company B mentioned a precautionary method for handling setbacks. He discussed about drawing scenarios; thinking in before hand about the possible threats of the project and what would be the actions to be taken.

Furthermore, the project leader has to be able to tell the bad news to the team and to the stakeholders. Nevertheless, it was mentioned during the interviews that often it might be a good idea to think solutions and plans for the setbacks faced before telling about the problems to the team. The upper manager 2 from the large Company B mentioned:

“Openness is a good thing but it doesn’t mean that the problems should be delegated to the team, rather the problems should be presented with possible solutions.”

Communicating the Reason for Setbacks

Usually the reasons for the projects to prolong were said to be some concrete problems, such as technical or logistic problems. That is why it was noted to be important to communicate the team that they are not the reason for the problems.

Upper manager of large Company A commented that:

“Even though setbacks occur, it is not necessarily anybody’s fault – it’s just the nature of the game. Team members need to know they are doing the right things even though

the timetable is not keeping up.”

He further commented that speeding up the so called cycles of the project is one way to try to accelerate the project:

“Say, you have team meetings every other week including task deadlines. But if you change the meetings to be every week, as well as the deadlines, it will speed up the project. Most of the tasks don’t require two weeks to be completed, rather some hours, but to be able to complete them you need some information from someone else or you

need someone else to complete their part first. People are sometimes pretty narrow- minded in that, that they need a project leader to tell the next person that the part he/she needed to start working his/her part is ready. When you keep the meetings

more often you get to change the information more often also.”

Furthermore, when facing setbacks, it was seen important by several interviewees that the project leader won’t start to talk the team down. Rather it should be discussed why that has happened and what can be learned from it. Also, taking distance to the problems was recommended. Project leader of small firm C noted that:

“I’ve said to my team that once you think you found the solution, sleep over one night and see if you still think the same way next morning.”

Taking Part in Solving the Problem

The same advices mentioned above apply in cases where an individual has made a mistake. The individual should be encouraged rather than talked down. However, it was mentioned that the reason for the mistake has to be talked through also.

Furthermore, it was noted that when problems occur it is important that the project leader “rolls his sleeves” and goes to the root level to take part in solving the problem.

Project leader of large Company B mentioned it to be important to tell the team that they’re in this together.

“You can’t go to him/her (who has made the mistake) that ‘oh, you blew this up’, rather you should encourage him like ‘this seems really interesting, I wonder how we could solve this!’ ”

On the other hand, setbacks were seen as the ones that reward the developers most. It was noted that the people tending to drift towards product development usually like challenges and solving different kinds of problems. Project leader of large Company B mentioned that:

“Setbacks are the reasons why some projects are remembered. Once you solve those problems, they give the best feelings!”

Project leaders agreed showing commitment to the project by being present and giving their time to team members. In addition, they show interest to the project by enquiring how team members are doing with their tasks and taking part in solving problems as was noted above. This function is not valid only during the development phase but also during the front end.

Staying Optimistic

Humour was seen a helpful element to keep the atmosphere less serious during challenging times. In addition, “announcing small victories” as the upper manager of Company A mentioned, was said to be important to show that progress is being done.

Optimism has been recognized to be important during setbacks also in earlier studies.

Waldman and Bass (1991) emphasize that optimism and encouragement needs to be provided to the group in order to persist in their effort even when facing difficulties.