Your business will give you what you are willing to accept.
What stuff is happening in your business that you blame someone else for, hope will go away by itself, accept as “just one of the problems of our business,” or are doing nothing about?
Accept responsibility and fix it.
I read a contract with my own eyes in a rush and I didnt really take the time to think about it or its implications only until it was signed and the construction stage completed the demolishion of a lovely building. As project manager it was my responsability to monitor all the details and find a way to communicate the implications with all parties.
We messed up.
How do we fix it?
It is not right towards all the parties involved to act like we are not responsible at all for overlooking something, whatever valid reasons there may be, as a service provider it is our responsability to advise the customers and help them receive the best value for their invested time and money.
I proposed a meeting to discuss the damage and to present the best solution to work out the glitches and keep the customers happy. We messed up, we acknowledged it as soon as we noticed it, took full responsability and we proposed to fix it before the project was completed in an unfavorable fashion.
I kept my fingers crossed and prayed that the customers will understand that we are all humans who do unintended misstakes but who take full responsability for their actions. I hoped our transparency and initiative to make things rigth will make them see that we care, take things serious and that we are responsible and reliable professionals.
It was up to the customer to decide to work with us or put a stop to the project. As project manager I had to face them and wait for their answer.