Navigating the Uncharted: 5 Keys to Mastering Complex Tasks with Confidence

Have you ever faced a significant task and felt unsure where to begin? Feeling overwhelmed or uncertain? Begin with the final goal and work your way back from there.

Even as a child, and occasionally even now, I start by examining the back cover and back pages of a book or magazine before fully engaging with it. This habit has been beneficial in developing a skill that aids me in addressing large or complex challenges.

What does that entail? Here are my preferred strategies and tactics for addressing complex tasks.

Begin with the end in mind. This involves thoroughly considering the result you aim to achieve. Ask yourself, what does success look like? Is success absolute, or can varying degrees of success be attained? For this question, I create a set of outcomes categorized as good, better, and best based on known and unknown factors.

Build backward toward the outcome. There are several ways to do this online and offline. I still work offline and move online as I approach the final strategy and tactics supporting the outcome. I'm particularly fond of 3x5 index cards on which I can write tactics and strategically arrange to reach the result. I then let these sit for a while. On the shorter side, create in the morning, work on some other items, take a walk, or both. Then, after lunch, I review, adjust the sequence, or update the language. I might do this several times before creating a final plan online or in a document.

Some other options are to create directly in a document or spreadsheet or try online tools like Miro to use a virtual board with sticky notes and create a first draft. The first three boards in Miro are free, or you can upgrade to a subscription for more. I have used Miro to make the good, better, and best boards from which I create a formal strategic plan in a document or slide show.

Miro Projet Board

Have a collaboration team or group of advisors. It's so important to get feedback from key advisors on the project. While stakeholders are typically established upfront when a project is assigned or agreed to (entrepreneurs), an advisory group is not always the case. I have leaned on my network built over time in each role or project tackled and keep those warm whether we are working together. See this post [create and link] on nurturing your network and maintaining warm connections when there is no project or data to share.

I select my advisors and create a connection long before the project begins. In the Miro example above, I created content for an MSL Excellence Summit talk: How to Engage Key Opinion Leaders in the Data Desert. [Link to talk]. Since the audience was Medical and Science Leads, I reached out a few months before the conference and shared that I was excited to be part of the speaking faculty and asked if I could lean on them for some brainstorming on the subject and, finally, for reviewing and providing feedback on the content. These aren't folks you reach out to weekly but rather on a pre-planned strategic cadence for the brainstorming and feedback of the final product.

Create a check-in cadence with key stakeholders. This keeps them abreast of what is going on between deliverables and lets them update you on any business shifts that may require a pivot in the strategy or tactics in motion. This is important so that what is delivered isn't missed if there is a significant change in the business need, resources, or priorities.

Review, edit, and hone your plan. Reviewing along the way with stakeholders and advisors is crucial, but doing this as the end approaches is also key. I create a strawman deck for marketing the project at the beginning stages for sharing along the way. It looks something like this:

This is crucial for reinforcing communication and creating a buzz around what you are doing. As you share along the way, stakeholders and SMEs will not forget about it and will be equally eager for the outcome. Then, once the day arrives that the outcome or launch has occurred, you have a template for marketing the work to broader audiences.

Lastly, honing the project deliverables includes practicing talking about your project. Have you ever had to practice your elevator pitch—maybe when applying for a job? The project deliverables and outcomes are precisely the same. As the project progresses, you'll no doubt pick up key phrases that resonate with stakeholders and SMEs. When you do, add those to a document, voice memo, or other device to refer to them as needed. I use the notes application on my phone to capture these with voice-to-text. Simple and easy, and not forgotten.

No matter the complex task, these 5 keys will help you travel the uncharted territory of any massive, audacious, complex task. For questions or to work with me, contact me via LinkedIn or CKHeslip@ckhcc.com.