Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose tore some nasty things in his knee and is looking at rehab for six to nine months. He was the team’s best player, leading the Bulls to the playoffs each year since he started, earning Rookie of the Year, and becoming only the second Bulls player to earn the MVP. Now he’s out for 2012-13, and the Bulls have to figure out how to get to the playoffs without him. Organizations find themselves in this situation, maybe not because of torn ACLs, but the resulting chaos and confusion can be equally crippling. When you lose a crucial member, it can send your project team into a tailspin. How do you start winning again?

Say your team leader or key player is going to go on maternity leave. You know she will be out during a specific length of time; you know it’s coming, and her belly serves as a great reminder. When there is advanced notice, you have to begin scheduling knowledge transfer sessions. What can you do?

• Depending on the role she fills or the specific knowledge she holds, put another team member with her for a couple of days (or longer, if possible) to try to facilitate an understanding of her role. This person will be able to gain knowledge and transfer it back to the team.
• If that’s not possible, look within the team or the broader organization. Who has the knowledge or skills, or the potential for quickly acquiring them, to act as a replacement?
• And if that’s not possible, go outside the organization. Look for people – quickly – who have that level of knowledge and experience. They may have it in specific detail or at least have a good understanding of the skill required for the position.

What about unexpected absences? A team member is injured; someone must take time off for illness; someone up and quits. In this case, you’ll have to look internally or externally to try to find someone who can fill the role.

Sometimes there is a junior individual on the project or the in the business unit who can come in and take on a more senior role, such as Jeremy Lin of the New York Nicks who came off the bench and led the team to playoff contention before he was injured! Junior individuals are often knowledgeable, but just as important they are highly motivated to demonstrate their knowledge and abilities.

Other times, the team may have to share the problem and divvy up the various tasks that this person is responsible for. In a perfect world, other key project team members will have exposure to, and insights into, the work this person was doing. In these cases, sometimes you can cover one person with “pieces” of three or four people and shift their work to others. The key is making sure this is a temporary solution and be careful not to overwork these employees.

This is exactly why we have a “resource bucket” with people we can call in on very short notice to fill specific skills sets without much disruption to the project. Unexpected absences are not, or should not be, a total surprise. Life happens; you’ve got to have a plan in place to handle those curveballs.

Sometimes team members can’t be replaced. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau says, “You’re not going to replace the greatness of Derrick. We have to do that collectively as a team…Everyone has to do a little more…We’ve been a team that has responded to challenges all season. This is the next one.”