Lost major account

[Lushmetender]

I am the PM for a project but the customer has pulled the plug and is going elsewhere. There have been grumblings but no major botch up job. My boss has said he doesn’t think any one person is to blame and I’ll be redeployed internally. Do you think I need to prepare for possible recriminations? Any similar stories out there?

Well they might want to review how the project has been handled for the past few months but it doesn't sound as if your boss is looking for heads to roll. Has your company had that project for a long time, because clients can feel that 'someone else' would do a better job even if it's not a fact really!

Sometimes it does just come out of the blue though. Hope you are doing OK, OP.

Do you think I need to prepare for possible recriminations?

Do you know why the customers decided to go elsewhere? If the customer makes a decision but doesn't give any reason for withdrawal, then you can hardly be held responsible for that.

Only you will know if you did everything you could to win the contract. If you feel you could personally have done things differently, or if there were barriers in your way, think about whether any of those things will be brought up in any "Lessons Learned" meeting your manager chooses to have, so you can give answers to any questions. It's all about covering your position, and ensuring they don't have recriminations against you, if you feel there's a risk of finger pointing and blame culture. Hopefully not.

Personally I'd be asking my line manager for a debrief session with all the team. Go through everything and try to identify what was done wrong, so it's not done again.

It's a useful exercise and by asking for it yourself you're being proactive and not afraid to admit if you're wrong.

There will be a lessons learned. The client we worked with is undergoing major restructuring and all folks we did business with have been let go. They talked re work being not up to scratch but when you look at the metrics, they were pretty good and where there were issues it was down to their structure. We raised issues but they fell on deaf ears. I personally think when they’ve done all their culling they want a fresh start with new provider and are looking for cheaper solutions. Anyway my next job is a transfer and close down plan is it’ll be a year from now before we can finish all tasks up. I still have that feeling of dread however so wondering if I need a plan B