You should be looking for ways to motivate your team every single day. You could bring them donuts or bagels. You could give out monthly awards or public recognition. You could also give them a pep talk. All it takes is one minute of encouragement to change their day for the better. So, here is your pep talk for today. Take 55 seconds, watch the video, and I challenge you not to have an awesome day. This kids could be the next Tony Robbins!
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I’m currently reading a book about Systems Analysis and Design. In a chapter discussing Agile Methods, one of the statements really rubbed me the wrong way.The Agile Manifesto is a set of team-based principles…
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What skills do you need to lead your zombie army? Sorry, what I meant to ask was, what skills do you need to lead your team? Motivation techniques can be as unique as the individual.
There are a lot of people out there who identify themselves as project managers, those tasked with managing inanimate resources (time, scope, budget…zombies). Though those skills are necessary, there is a need for skills to lead teams and manage stakeholders. I’m talking (soft) skills to lead, manage, and inspire human resources.
You can’t expect your team to operate in a vacuum. As a team member, imagine if your manager provided an annual review and then didn’t provide feedback to you until the next annual review. That would be a clear failure on the part of the manager or leader. I believe managers and leaders are obligated to provide continual feedback to the team. Now, if managing a zombie team member, no feedback is needed. They’ll keep searching for brains until someone either shoots them in the head or decapitates them. Either way, providing feedback will probably only result in you being chased by a horde of flesh eating zombies.
Let’s look at this from both a positive and a negative perspective. If your team is not doing a good job, you need to recognize their performance (both as a group and individually) and give constructive feedback so they can meet your expectations. If they are meeting your expectations, you need to reinforce what you like so they can continue to meet those expectations or exceed them. Recognizing zombie team performance is like watching someone win a pie eating contest. They eat (brains). Put another brain in front of them and they’ll eat it. Repeat ad nauseum. How well they perform is limited by nothing but time.
Don’t be an unreasonable person. Recognize that some team members will not feel comfortable with some goals set for them. Win-win negotiations should help you arrive at the desired outcome. With constant feedback and motivation, believe any team member can reach any goal you set for them. Note, don’t set the bar too low and give them a false win. Do not believe in “stretch” goals. Negotiate realistic outcomes. Most importantly, don’t negotiate with zombies! Zombies are like terrorist, except they have a green skin tone and look at you like an opened can of Spam sitting in the hot sun for a week.
Have you heard the idiom you can catch more bees with honey than you can with vinegar? Get to know each of your team members personally and find out what motivates them. What’s important to them; coffee, family time, or recognition? You may buy one team member a coffee gift card, tell another to go home early, or thank another publicly in a meeting. Everyone has something that motivates them. If you ever order lunch for the team, make sure you consider everyone (individually). When you set schedules, try to consider individual family obligations.
Respect is fundamental in any relationship. You will get the very best from people if you have mutual respect. I once had a superior ask me if I wanted my team to respect me or to like me. My response was OR? Why can’t they do both? Teams will respect you if they know you would never throw them under the bus to protect yourself. Take the hits from management if you don’t reach a goal. Protect the team at all costs. As a result, the team should do everything they can to prevent that situation from happening. Zombies are not team players. They want your brains and they will throw you under a bus at the first opportunity. Don’t judge them. They know not what they do.
If you’re going to be a project manager who is managing people, you need to have good soft skills. That is, you need the ability to engage and interact effectively with your team, obtain acceptance, build consensus, and provide assistance, direction and leadership.
I’m a strong believer that if you treat people with honesty and respect and your motives are good, it will come back to you. That means be genuinely concerned about the well-being and happiness of your team. Listen to them and guide them. Whatever the business side expects of you will get taken care of. Your team will rise to the challenge. I’ve known project managers who lacked some of these skills. Either they didn’t provide feedback to their team or they were unreasonable or demanding. The team was miserable, productivity went down, and that manager blamed the team. It was a vicious cycle.
Sometimes, you just have to do what you know is right and face the consequences.
Sometimes, you have to fight the urge to eat brains.
Photo: flickr user frogmuseum2
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Have you ever stuck your neck out and get no support? Did the trust among that team start to break down? I’ve seen it happen first hand and Geoff Crane wrote an awesome post over at Papercut Edge about it. He called it the too-common cycle of apathy.
The post hit a nerve with me. At my previous engagement, the Engineering Department was used to being railroaded by management. Promises were always made on their behalf and they found themselves working long hours and weekends. If they didn’t make the goals, those who made the promises would never take ownership. If goals were miraculously accomplished, the same person(s) would jump into the spotlight. After I was brought on board, I didn’t have a problem looking a Director or CIO right in the eye and telling them I disagreed with them. Sometimes they backed down and sometimes they didn’t. But everyone at that company knew I was honest and would speak up if I didn’t agree with something. Everyone knew I was looking out for my people, my department, and my company. I believe positive change rolls up hill, just as sh*t rolls down. Though I’m no longer with that team, I have no regrets for backing them up and providing support when they needed it most. Those who bullied so many are no longer there either. Though there was an attempt to silence my voice by decapitating my team, others in the organization saw through the ruse.
I think sticking your neck out is worth the risk. If I think you’re right, I’ll support you. By doing that, I build trust with my teams. With trust, my teams will do anything for me. With that, anything is possible. What can I say, everyone is happy but the party you had to confront in the first place. Yep, it’s certainly worth it.
Thank you Geoff for getting me fired up. Now go check out his site!
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Mitigated speech is a linguistic term describing deferential or indirect speech inherent in communication between individuals of perceived High Power Distance.
The term was recently popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers, where he defines mitigated speech as “any attempt to downplay or sugarcoat the meaning of what is being said”. He described 6 degrees of mitigation with which we make suggestions to authority:
1. Command – “Implement this”
2. Team Obligation Statement – “We need to try this”
3. Team Suggestion – “Why don’t we try this?”
4. Query – “Do you think this would help us in this situation?”
5. Preference – “Perhaps we should take a look at this an an alternative”
6. Hint – “I wonder if we will run into any issues by following our current process”
As I observe the command and communication structure between a PMO and its members and contractors, I have the opportunity to witness mitigated speech every day. Being direct (command) doesn’t always work. People need to learn to be flexible in their requests and negotiations if they have the hope those in power will implement new strategies. Additionally, learn to read those around you to know what degree of mitigation you will use IF you intend to use it.
As I read Outliers, I started to think of the relationship between mitigated speech and Appendix G.8 (negotiation) of the PMBoK.
Negotiation is a strategy of conferring with parties of shared or opposed interests with a view of compromise or reach an agreement. Negotiation is an integral part of project management and when done well, increases the probability of project success.
The following skills and behaviors are useful in negotiating successfully:
To summarize, stride to be a win-win negotiator and be aware of the mitigated speech you are using to conduct your negotiations.
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