安東尼奧·涅托·羅德里格斯

Amid crises， a leaders role is not to simply run the organization； the person must ensure the organizations survival through projects. There are three stages that leaders and project managers should focus on and act on during a crisis. Each stage requires leaders to switch to a project mindset. The first stage is selecting and launching mitigating projects immediately. Crisis management requires top project leadership. The second stage is stopping， deprioritizing， and delaying projects to shift resources to the critical initiatives. Stop projects ruthlessly， shift resources swiftly. The third stage is taking advantage of new opportunities， preparing for the new normal， reformulating organizational strategy so as to refocus and reimagine the organization through projects.

Stage 1. Crisis Management Requires Top Project Leadership

In normal circumstances， management will discuss an idea or a potential project over several months， in addition to taking the administrative steps to prepare a business case before a project is approved and resources and budgets are allocated.

In a crisis， leaders must think fast and decide even faster. All the stakeholders involved need to be brought together to recognize and acknowledge the reality of the crisis. They need to choose new projects that the organization should launch immediately to overcome， or at least mitigate， the impact of the crisis on their business and employees. With this accelerated timing， especially during a crisis of the magnitude of the coronavirus pandemic， some mitigating projects will probably not succeed； leaders need to adjust course promptly. In an unprecedented situation， where time is of the essence， the longer it takes leaders to intervene， the more severe and costly the impact of inaction will be.

The extraordinary disruption associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed several examples of companies that have launched projects to adapt swiftly to mitigate and， sometimes， to exploit the crisis. Senior leadership at Lin Qingxuan， a cosmetics retailer， needed to find a solution to engage customers who were no longer visiting its stores. The immediate impact of COVID-19 saw sales plummet by 90 percent， and senior leaders had to find a quick solution to address the massive impact of the sudden crisis. Fortunately， over the previous three years， they had worked hard to embrace digital transformation， building more than six million online followers. On the evening of February 14， 2020， with only a few days preparation， Lin Qingxuan launched a large-scale livestream shopping event with more than a hundred of Lin Qingxuans shopping advisers. More than sixty thousand people watched the livestream， and the company sold more than four hundred thousand bottles of its camellia oil. The bold leadership move paid off， sales from this project in two hours ended up equaling the sales of four retail stores in a month.

In just a few weeks in early 2020， worldwide airline travel dropped by as much as 96 percent. Airline leaders needed to find ways to survive. With few passengers and little baggage being transported on airplanes， there was more capacity for cargo， which goes hand in hand with the increased demand for ordering goods online. Virgin Atlantic leadership rapidly decided to shift its focus to cargo flights， delivering an unparalleled network of cargo-only flying， operating more than fourteen hundred cargo flights in April and May 2020.

Stage 2. Stop Projects Ruthlessly， Shift Resources Swiftly

To add new projects， leaders must free up capacity and resources as quickly as possible. In normal circumstances， employees and management are fully booked， with dozens or even thousands of projects on top of their everyday business activities. There is no spare capacity.

In a crisis， many projects must be stopped to make way for new ones. In normal times， stopping a project can easily take a few weeks， if not months. In a crisis， shutting down a project should be done almost instantly. While they are selecting mitigation projects， leaders must also decide which ongoing projects to cancel， which to put on hold， and which few should continue.

In my experience， in standard circumstances， an organization can stop about 50 percent of its projects without any short-term impact on the business. In crisis mode， however， leaders should aim at stopping around 80 percent of their running initiatives.

Early in a crisis， leaders must not only show only agility， speed， and quick decision-making， but also demonstrate foresight and a steady hand. Teams need to know where the organizations focus will be in the next weeks and months. If leaders struggle to decide or communicate， the whole organization will suffer.

Stage 3. Refocus and Reimagine the Organization through Projects

In the last stage， which should start as soon as the organization stabilizes from the sudden impact， leaders must shift from focusing on disaster response to preparing for post-crisis recovery. This aspect of crisis project management is just as challenging as the immediate response. In addition to all they are doing in the first two stages， leaders must ensure that a smaller group of the organization is working on projects that address new near-term opportunities and longer-term strategy.

Projects that reimagine and refocus the business may involve a return to what made the business successful， but not always. Sometimes it is about reinventing the business， creating a new business model to prepare for a new normal.

The most famous example of refocusing is what Steve Jobs did when he returned to Apple in 1997. He ruthlessly stopped projects and shifted resources. He canceled more than thirty products， refocusing on four （two laptops and two desktops）， and withdrew about 80 percent of the companys projects — all those that were not linked to his vision and the new Apple strategy of focusing on its core capabilities. Steve Jobs approach is what is expected from todays leaders to overcome the global health and economic crisis that will be ongoing features of business in the twenty-first century.

Disney is another great case of reimagining. Before 2020， Disney was not a big player in the streaming world， which had been dominated by Netflix. When the pandemic created an opportunity to rethink its streaming services， Disney merged modern streaming with old-school marketing of concepts. As opposed to releasing a whole series at once as Netflix did， Disney went back to the old concept of spreading the release of episodes weekly， to allow people talk about it over the weekend and create a buzz. It also released feature films through the streaming platform and introduced tiered pricing — more reimagining. Disney+ subscribers skyrocketed to almost ninetyfive million in a little over a year， nearly half of what Netflix had achieved in a decade. Without the crisis， it is unlikely that Disney would have reimagined its business so quickly.

These three stages will guide you as you navigate through any crisis. If you take action， make the tough decisions， communicate， shift resources， prioritize， and focus the organization through effective project management， you and your organization are more likely to get through the crisis successfully. But you need to act immediately. From a project leadership perspective， this is a unique opportunity for leaders to take action， step up， build competencies， and move toward becoming a more agile organization. The best way to do it is through inspirational projects.

About the author： Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez is a thought leader， author， practitioner and professor. He was the Chairman of the Project Management Institute （PMI） in 2016. He is the creator of concepts such as the Hierarchy of Purpose and the Project Manifesto. His publications include The Project Revolution， Lead Successful Projects， etc.

Note： Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review Press. Excerpted from Harvard Business Review book Project Management Handbook： How to Launch， Lead， and Sponsor Successful Projects. P