What are the most difficult situations that might come across managers?

To manage a team comprising of different discipline and get the work done using your skills before the deadline set. 

1. Your Client Keeps Adding Small Things to Your List

Like the hard-working individual you are, you accept these small changes gracefully and keep on working because small changes and additions are not usually a big deal.

But a few extra hours/days later, you realize that it is a big deal.

It’s called scope creep — and it happens to the best of us. All of a sudden, you realize that you’ve taken on more than what your initial contract and agreement entails.

The work is completed and you’ve agreed to do it, but you feel cheated because you spent way more time on it than you anticipated.

The Solution

Talk to your client in person or over the phone — not through email — so that you can have a two-way conversation.

Calmly outline what the original contract included and how they added things over time. Although you agreed to these additions, you’ll need to charge extra because the time you spent exceeded the time anticipated. In most circumstances, they will agree that it’s fair. If they refuse to compensate you for the extra time and effort you put in, at this point, you’ll have to concede to yourself that it was your responsibility and you’ll have to eat the extra cost and chalk it up to experience. If only we could go back in time and do some things all over again.

In future projects, don’t let additional work get out of hand, as it is your duty to keep things in check. It’s best to evaluate each additional task that your client requests outside the scope of work you agreed on. Don’t accept any changes or additions without thinking it over and deciding whether or not you need to charge for it.

2. An Unethical Company Wants to Hire You (for Lots of Money)

The client is in a business of something that isn’t necessarily illegal (for example, gambling) but you’re still wary of being associated with them. Is it worth it? Many things will come up in business that will question your values, and this is why it’s best to decide beforehand how you would handle them.

The Solution

Don’t take the job. No amount of money is worth compromising your personal ethics and putting yourself in a situation that makes you feel wrong about the product you’ve built. Remember, everything you do may get out into the public, especially if you’re a web professional. What if you lost other accounts because your prospective client found out you took this one? Think about opportunity costs.

3. You Promised Something You Can’t Actually Do

You’ve landed a huge project opportunity and you’re really excited! You feel that it’ll be a great learning opportunity as well as an excellent chance to work with new people.

Unfortunately, you realize later on that you can’t complete the entire project because it requires expertise that is outside of your skill set. In short, you bit off more than you can chew, and now you can’t deliver.

The Solution

The first thing I would do is research. Figure out what the solution might be, and if you really can’t handle the implementation of it, see if you can outsource it to someone in your network.

Reach out on Twitter or Facebook if you don’t know someone that can do it; many times people will retweet your message and expand your reach.

If you still can’t find a solution, it’s best to admit your mistake to the client. Let them know you thought you could do it, but you haven’t been able to find a solution.

Next time, be extra careful about things you aren’t familiar with and let the client know that you will need to do some preliminary research before committing to a particular task.

4. A Potential Client Doesn’t Like Your Contract

You’ve found someone that needs a new website and you have everything nailed down about what he or she needs and what you’ll deliver.

It’s time to move on to the paperwork! After you deliver your standard contract, they fire back saying that they aren’t pleased with it and have several revisions for you to make before they sign the dotted line.

The Solution

This one is tough. It depends on what they don’t like and what they want to change or add. I always take this difficult situation on a case-by-case basis.

Sometimes if someone is extremely nitpicky about the contract, it might be an indication of how it will be like when you actually work with him or her on the actual project. It might be a situation where you want to say "no" to the changes and scrap the project before you get knee-deep into it.

If it’s a simple change and you don’t mind revising the contract, go for it.

Do trust your instincts and use your contract to weed out potentially problem-causing clients. Everything in your contract is there for a reason, right? You shouldn’t need to modify your contract and compromise the precautions you’ve put in place for you and your client.

5. One of Your Good Clients Wants More Work When You’re Busy

Work is flowing smoothly but getting busier and busier. It’s tough to turn down work when it’s going so well, so you take on more and more until all of sudden, you realize that you’ve overextended your capacity.

Then, one of your good clients asks for a small project. You don’t want to lose their business because they’re reliable and they’ve brought you lots of work. At the same time, you know you can’t manage to take in additional work at the moment.

The Solution

If they are a great client of yours, chances are they will understand if you tell them they have to wait.

If they are on a deadline and can’t wait, you could refer them to a friend of yours or outsource the work.

If they aren’t appreciative of your inability to take on their project at this time, they probably weren’t a good client to begin with. If you’re honest and upfront with people, you will find that they almost always respond well.

6. You Agree to an Unreasonable Timeline and Now You Can’t Deliver

You knew it would be a rush but you figured you could get it done if you worked late hours. Then, a computer emergency came up, your friend asked you for a favor that took the entire morning to help with, and your child came home from school sick. Now you can’t complete the work on time, but the client is counting on you.

The Solution

It’s best to set a timeline that you’re comfortable with from the beginning. I usually add in extra time to project timelines and milestones because I know things will pop up unexpectedly. Trust in Murphy’s law: "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."

As soon as you see the timeline getting out of reach and find yourself in a difficult situation where you might not be able to deliver — give the client a heads up. Things come up all the time that move timelines around, and if it’s reasonable that you need to change things, they should be sympathetic.

Most clients will understand if you explain it before it’s too late, but if you’ve waited to the last minute and you’re in a crunch, outsource the work just to get it done.

If it still can’t be done, apologize, recount what happened and try to see if you can make up for your foul-up (maybe a small discount or extra service) to salvage the relationship and leave the client with a smile.

7. You Provided a Less than Adequate Service

Your services are always top-notch but for some reason you dropped the ball on this one. Many things can cause this: you’ve been sick all week, a family member passed away, or you just got too busy to give the project enough attention. It happens to the best of us and you usually end up with an unhappy client in the end.

The Solution

It’s best to come clean and be honest with your client. You screwed up. Apologize and confess that you know this isn’t your best work. Offer a discount on the project and see if you can resolve any issues in order to end on a good note.

8. You Don’t Agree with Changes Your Client Wants to Make

You created a design that you consider one of your best works to date, and you’re so proud of it.

You send it off to the client; surely, they will be ecstatic and will love it completely.

They email back saying they just aren’t happy with it and have a huge list of changes that you think will ruin the design.

The Solution

Stay calm and use this as an educational opportunity for your client. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you. They didn’t go through art classes and they don’t know that red text on a green background isn’t the best choice for readability.

Explain your design decisions about visual hierarchy, typography or whatever is going to be affected if the changes are made.

Remember that the website is ultimately for your client, and you do want them to be happy with it. The best you can do is offer your recommendation for the changes, and what you might do instead.

If they don’t agree, do your best to make it still look as nice as you can.

Managers often have to deal with the most difficult situations in the workplace and are given a significant amount of responsibility for resolving the situations. Management degree students, aspiring managers, and new managers should review some of the most common situations to equip themselves for a quick and painless resolution.

1. Employee Grievances: Inevitably, employees have complaints about the workplace, and it’s the manager’s job to listen to the complaints. In many cases, an employee just wants to know that the manager hears and understands the grievance, agrees that it is a problem, and takes steps to escalate it to the proper person’s attention to get it fixed. Updating employees on what is being done about their grievances can help them feel valued.

2. Budget Cuts: Here is a common situation: You forecasted getting a $100,000 for your marketing budget, but your company’s leadership team cut your budget in half.  This can be a manager’s worst nightmare, but it doesn’t have to be a cause for panic. There are plenty of ways to cut a department’s budget without changing its core functionality. For starters, managers should look for ways to reduce waste and inefficiencies in the department. Maybe the department could stop eating out for work lunches or switch to a paperless strategy to reduce printing costs. Only after these factors are considered should a manager consider cutting staff in the department, unless you feel that “rightsizing” is in order.

3. Valued Member Leaves Company: Employee turnover is always difficult on managers, but it’s even worse when the person who resigned was a valued member of the team. During this time, it’s the manager’s job to keep morale high among remaining employees and step in to take responsibility, or delegate responsibilities within your team. In addition, the manager should be open to discussing why the valued member left and what the company is doing to promote employees retention.

4. Interpersonal Conflict: Teams working together always have conflict, whether little or small, and managers often have to act as conflict resolution experts. Managers should talk to employees involved in a conflict separately and encourage them to let the differences slide and cooperate with their co-workers. Adjusting teams and work location can also smooth out long-term conflicts that are not being resolved.

5. Employee Requests: Inevitably, managers must handle employee requests for time off, increased pay, and adjustments to responsibilities. As a manager, fairness is key. Rather than playing favorites, it’s important to consider the interests of the team as a whole when approving time off requests and choosing people for promotions and raises. Knowing the company policies as a whole can also help approve requests in a consistent manner, keeping the other managers and their strategies in mind as well.

Clarity, fairness, and understanding are several of the keys for managers who are in the midst of difficult situations. Employees thrive with structure, but also with managers who are humans, not robots, and who are able to sense personal needs and respond appropriately. Managers get better at handling difficult situations as they gain experience, and new managers must remember that it’s normal to make some mistakes. Correcting these the next time around shows growth and improves workplace morale.

Dear Rana,

I believe that Dealing with Budget is the most difficult situations and Issues can face managers, because budget cuts can result in situations ranging from a slight distraction to outright panic.

The second diffucukt situations managers can face is Dealing with difficult Employees where“Difficult” employees -- those who display negative, know-it-all, overly passive or overly aggressive character traits -- can make life miserable for both a manager and co-workers if not dealt with correctly.

Regards,

Hany Sewilam AbdelHamid

Head of Business Development | Sales & Marketing

Entrepreneurship Coach & Consultant 

Digital & Social Marketing Certified Trainer   

Endorsing answers given by other experts

 You Promised Something You Can’t Actually Do

You’ve landed a huge project opportunity and you’re really excited! You feel that it’ll be a great learning opportunity as well as an excellent chance to work with new people.

Unfortunately, you realize later on that you can’t complete the entire project because it requires expertise that is outside of your skill set. In short, you bit off more than you can chew, and now you can’t deliver.

The Solution

The first thing I would do is research. Figure out what the solution might be, and if you really can’t handle the implementation of it, see if you can outsource it to someone in your network.

Reach out on Twitter or Facebook if you don’t know someone that can do it; many times people will retweet your message and expand your reach.

If you still can’t find a solution, it’s best to admit your mistake to the client. Let them know you thought you could do it, but you haven’t been able to find a solution.

Next time, be extra careful about things you aren’t familiar with and let the client know that you will need to do some preliminary research before committing to a particular task.

IN WORKPLACE DIVERSITY.

MISMANAGEMENT 

IN MY POINT OF VIEW ...WHEN MANAGER OBEY WRONG ORDER FROM BOSS..." Boss is always right if he/she is not human being'

when my view different with the owner wrong view