I quit. How to know when to quit working on a project

What is your strategy for knowing when to quit a project? 

Your Rant: My boss recently chided me for sticking with a project for too long. How can you tell when it’s time to pull the plug? JUST SAY NO?

911 Repair:

When I first pitched Working Wounded to a newspaper, I was looking for a full-time position. The editor loved it and offered me $150 a week. But I was depressed. Then the editor said, “Of course, you can sell it to any other paper you’d like.” And that launched the column you are now reading.
I ended up saying “no” to my day job to focus on building a writing and speaking business. Your boss is right; many people are unable to look past what they currently are doing to ask, “Is this what I should be doing?” I’ve included some questions below to help you decide if you should keep doing what you’re doing or move on. For more, check out “Leadership and the Art of Change” by Lee Roy Beach, one of the world’s top decision-scientists (Sage, 2005).

Do you know what your goal is? There are often so many interesting things to do at work. The challenge is to focus your best efforts on the greatest opportunities. That’s why it’s so important to write down your goals and to update them constantly. Yes, it is important to be in sync with your boss and your organization’s goals, but don’t overlook your own.

Has the goal been achieved? Duh! Think about it: If you don’t know your goals, how will you ever know whether you’ve achieved them? I’m a big believer in the “law of diminishing returns,” where we keep doing something even though the returns just keep shrinking. It’s important to find ways to make tangible the results of your efforts so you can see whether it’s time to redouble your efforts or move on.

Is the goal hopeless? Don’t get me wrong, great breakthroughs have been made because people put effort into projects that appeared hopeless. But more often than not we just keep throwing good effort after bad. So it’s important to avoid continuing to do something merely because of pride. Accepting defeat gracefully and moving on is something that many people are unable to do.

Are their barriers to stopping? Ironically, we tend to overlook that once we start putting effort into something it can be tough to pull the plug. Why? Well we’re back to that five-letter word that can create havoc at work — pride. We’ve got to learn to resist the temptation of sticking with a project or process long past the point of it being worthwhile simply to feed our pride.

Is it time to see if there is a second right answer? Ending a certain approach may feel like a big deal. So you might want to consider taking some of the pressure off by thinking of it as experimenting with a new approach. Before you can just say “no,” you’ve got to just say “know” to your goals and other opportunities.

Bob Rosner and Sherrie Campbell author the weekly internationally-syndicated workplace911 column. Bob’s a best-selling author and award-winning journalist who has personally responded to over 50,000 emails. Sherrie’s a relationship expert and award-winning comedian who has offered quick, intuitive and humorous responses to over 30,000 people. He’s been called “Dilbert, with a solution.” She’s the counselor with a kick. Watch our 911 team of consultants, authors, counselors and comedians—namely Bob & Sherrie—tackle the nastiest work wrecks in organizations and via seminars, TV, radio, newspapers, books, web sites and live on workplace911.com.