Category Archives: 04-Managing a project team

Keeping things moving forward, managing team dynamics, giving & receiving feedback, making sure all the team roles are covered

04-Managing a project team, team dynamics, team roles

Exerting Influence Without Authority

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In the business environment today the “I leader, you follower” mentality may not always be the most appropriate approach anymore.

With so many business structures relying on partnerships and working with teams inside and outside the company, the traditional leader tactic will not always work. Many managers and executives need to be able to adopt a more lateral style of leadership in order to coordinate, communicate, and complete work with these interwoven relationships.

The article explains lateral leadership as the ability to combine multiple essential skills. The article explains 4 essential capabilities to assist you with understanding how to use lateral leadership to your benefit.

1) Networking – “Cultivate a broad network of relationships with the people inside and outside your company whose support you need to carry out your initiatives.”

2) Constructive persuasion and negotiation – Look at persuasion and negotiation as a way to  heighten your influence not as way to manipulate.

3) Consultation – “Take time to visit the people whose buy-in you need. Ask their opinions about the initiative you’re championing. Get their ideas as well as their reactions to your ideas.”

4) Coalition building – “It’s a fact of human nature that several people who are collectively advocating an idea exert more influence than a lone proponent.”

A few more take aways:

  •  Lateral leadership can be challenging for managers to execute. It is difficult to master many of the capabilities that go into achieving lateral leadership. It may take time.
  • It is important to find the people in your company that have a lot of influence. Take the time to meet these people and get to know them before jumping into a project with them.
  •  A natural positive environment can help bring relationships together. A company should encourage opportunities for people to meet, but let the relationships form on their own and not be forced.

Exerting Influence Without Authority

 

03-Planning the work of a team, 04-Managing a project team, 99-Applying business intelligence

Career Rocket Fuel in Three Stages

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http://www.fastcocreate.com/3027499/career-rocket-fuel-whether-youre-a-millennial-or-eyeing-retirement-heres-what-you-really-nee?utm_source=facebook

Recently, my boss shared this thoughtful article on career planning. Despite the unwieldy title, “Career Rocket Fuel: Whether You’re A Millennial Or Eyeing Retirement, Here’s What You Really Need To Get Right About Work,” it opened my eyes to a longer view of what constitutes a career.

The key takeaway for me is the thought of pacing. Author Brian Fetherstonhaugh suggests thinking of a career as a three stage process, with each stage spanning roughly 15 years. These days, people don’t stay with one company for their entire career. The article points out that it isn’t necessary to remain in one place if you have the structure to build toward something.

Stage One is a time to acquire valuable skills and experiences that are transportable to all types of work. These are the skills we are working on this summer—problem solving, communication, working with teams, reasoned decision making—not purely technical skills. Another goal in this stage is to build enduring relationships with people on all sides of us. Stage One is a time to figure out what you find interesting and what you could devote future years pursuing.

Stage Two is a time to focus in on the interests and hone the skills discovered in Stage One. It’s a time to elevate those skills to a level that differentiates you from the rest of the field. This is the time to take the skills with which have the most proficiency and become most proficient in your department, company, industry, etc.

Stage Three was the most revolutionary part of this article for me. This is a time to mentor the next generation and pass along the wisdom (hopefully) earned over a nearly full career. Thinking of coworkers in this stage made me realize how much value there is to gain by listening to people near the end of a successful career.

This article concludes with an interesting breakdown of how you might invest your time in each career stage if you wanted to optimize your return in each segment.

04-Managing a project team, team dynamics, team roles

Discovering Your Authentic Leadership

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This Harvard Business Review  article outlines how to be an authentic leader and explains that you do not have to be born with a specific set of characteristics that labels you a leader. Rather authentic leadership develops from a multiple of facets that make up ones life. Their study shows that you do not have to be in a high position at your organization or wait for that tap on the shoulder to be recognized or portray authentic leadership.

The authors and their research team surveyed over a 125 leaders at multiple levels. This proved to be one of the most extensive study on leadership development.  The team wanted to know how these leaders developed their leadership skills. They found that after “Analyzing 3,000 pages of transcripts, our team was startled to see you do not have to be born with specific characteristics or traits of a leader. Leadership emerges from your life story”.

One of their interviewees was Ann Fudge, Chairman and CEO for Young & Rubicam. She stated, “All of us have the spark of leadership in us, whether it is in business, in government, or as a nonprofit volunteer. The challenge is to understand ourselves well enough to discover where we can use our leadership gifts to serve others”.

There are 7 areas in which the authors express make up authentic leaders. Please read below for a brief description of these 7 areas.

1) Learning from Your Life Story – Many leaders use life experiences and happenings to help motivate their leadership. They use these experiences to give meaning to their lives and find the inspiration to lead.

2) Knowing Your Authentic Self -This article expresses that one of the most important capabilities of a leader to possess, is to have self awareness. As time goes on many leaders who may find benefits from the outside world such as money, fame, and power will eventually feel like something is missing. These leaders have left no time for them to understand and develop the inside part of their leadership.

3) Practicing Your Values and Principles – The article explains “leadership principles are values translated into action. Having a solid base of values and testing them under fire enables you to develop the principles you will use in leading”.

4) Balancing Your Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivations – It is easy to get caught up in the external motivators such as promotions or financial rewards, but in the end of the day intrinsic motivators work closer with your values and will be more fulfilling then extrinsic motivations.

5) Building Your Support Team – Authentic leaders maintain strong relationships in multiple forms. These relationships help them continue their forward movement. These relationships can include family, mentors, colleagues, and close friends.

6) Integrating Your Life by Staying Grounded – This can be very challenging for many leaders. It is important to integrate a balance between work, family, friends, health, and even spiritual practices. This allows leaders to maintain an authenticity.

7) Empowering People to Lead – An authentic leader recognizes that leadership is not defined by their success but rather the success of an organization by empowering leaders at all levels. Authentic leaders will motivate and encourage people to lead.

I found that this HBR article offered a great perspective of what we can focus on to develop our abilities as authentic leaders. We do not have to wait to start becoming the leaders we want to be, the best time to start is now using our life stories and experiences to lead the way.

I want to end with my favorite quote from the article.

“Authentic leaders demonstrate a passion for their purpose, practice their values consistently, and lead with their hearts as well as their heads. They establish long-term, meaningful relationships and have the self-discipline to get results. They know who they are.”

Here is pdf version of the article

Discovering Your Authentic Leadership 

04-Managing a project team

In pursuit of “Strengths and Weaknesses”

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Reading the article “Managing Oneself”, reminded me of Joe Song’s question during our summer MP launch – Should one build from a position of strength or work on a weakness ? , crossed my mind.

Peter Drucker posits the following-“Companies today aren’t managing their employees’ careers; knowledge workers must, effectively, be their own chief executive officers. It’s up to you to carve out your place, to know when to change course, and to keep yourself engaged and productive during a work life that may span some 50 years. To do those things well, you’ll need to cultivate a deep understanding of yourself—not only what your strengths and weaknesses are but also how you learn, how you work with others, what your values are, and where you can make the greatest contribution. Because only when you operate from strengths can you achieve true excellence.”

Do we really know our true strengths and weaknesses ?  Our classmate Patrick Daly strongly opined that the millennial generation thinks it has very few weaknesses.  This is what Mr. Drucker says – “Most people think they know what they are good at. They are usually wrong. More often, people know what they are not good at—and even then more people are wrong than right.”

So how do we recognize our true strengths and weaknesses ? Again, during class we had multiple suggestions from the class as well as from Prof. Noonan.  Mr. Drucker recommends the following in answering that elusive question.

“The only way to discover your strengths is through feedback analysis. Whenever you make a key decision or take a key action, write down what you expect will happen. Nine or 12 months later, compare the actual results with your expectations.”

“Practiced consistently, this simple method will show you within a fairly short period of time, maybe two or three years, where your strengths lie—and this is the most important thing to know. The method will show you what you are doing or failing to do that deprives you of the full benefits of your strengths. It will show you where you are not particularly competent.”

By far, this is the one of the best objective method that I have come across that answers the questions raised in class during our MP launch. I plan to implement this in the coming months and hope what I think my strengths are will match my real strengths.

http://hbr.org/2005/01/managing-oneself/ar/1

team dynamics, team roles

What makes great boards great

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This article from HBR applies to almost everything we’ve been doing in MP from a group standpoint, and yet at one of the highest levels of business responsibility.

In today’s corporate society, it seems that Boards of Directors are sometimes viewed or regarded as just “guys sitting around a table”.  But this article deals specifically with the fact of how boards need to work, because there were lots of “smart people” in some of the most successful companies, while at the same time some of the most disastrous and unethical ones.

This article closely reminds me of the colored hat activity we had in class.  Who’s a black hat, causing all the trouble… It reminds me of a couple of conversations we had in our fall and spring MP groups, since in the first meetings we had, we all discussed who was strong in certain areas, who was the black hat, etc, and what other hats we purposely wanted to try on.  Instead of being complacent individuals to go with the flow and not challenge major initiatives, board members need to be engaged, involved, and asking the questions, the real ones, not just agreeing or disagreeing to a topic.

The article also noted that even though fierce discussion and disagreement is necessary and just, once the group decision has been made, the most successful boards also put up a united front on the action.  There is no “I told you so”, or private dissention if a decision was good or bad.  The board unanimously backs the forward motion of the decisions of the company.

http://archive.excellencegateway.org.uk/media/FE%20Governance/What_makes_great_boards_great.pdf

04-Managing a project team, feedback, team dynamics, team roles

How to Motivate Employees

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There have been quite a few blog posts regarding effective management styles and how to be a good leader. In addition to these tips, one thing I find very relevant is how to motivate your direct reports and ensure your team is engaged every day. We’ve probably all been rewarded at some point or another with trophies, bonuses, etc. While those are all nice to receive, do they really keep us motivated and energized to deliver great work on a daily basis?

In a recent Inc. article, the author highlights some of the most effective things you can do as a manager to motivate your team:

1) Interesting Work

2) Information

3) Involvement

4) Independence

5) Increased Visibility

I wholeheartedly agree with the tips of being transparent and supporting employees with independence. I think one of the most demotivating characteristics a manager can have is to micromanage his or her employees. In my experience, having a manager who empowers you to make decisions on your own is by far more motivating than anything else. As we all advance in our careers, I think these are great tips to ground ourselves in how to keep our employees engaged and delivering great work.

 

 

04-Managing a project team, feedback, team dynamics, team roles, work plans

The Importance of Trust and How To Build it

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Often in our workplace we think of our success as being dependent upon our skills and ability to perform in a timely manner. I thought the same until I stumbled upon this article and it really changed my frame of mind. Honestly, now that I think about it, before my performance and skills even come into play, it is someone endowing trust upon me to even utilize my skills.

In undergrad I was taught that business is a system of integrated relationships of skilled people that are working to achieve personal and organizational goals. As this article points out, trust is at the center of every relationship.

I, like many of you, am constantly working on a project teams and in some cases, managing a project team. The author of the article Roger Dean Duncan states that “With high trust, teamwork is more of a reality than a hollow buzzword. Innovation is vibrant. Productivity tends to be strong and is typically more sustainable.”

This article begins by discussing what it really means to have trust. Later in the article Duncan begins to have a conversational interview with Barbara Brooks Kimmel, the executive director of Trust Across America. In the conversation Kimmel mentions a model that can be used to facilitate the earning of trust. She calls it the VIP Trust Model™.

Below are the attributes of the model to gain trust:

Vision and Values

Integrity

Promises

See article below for the full conversation on trust and how to use the VIP Trust Model.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rodgerdeanduncan/2014/07/14/how-do-you-build-trust-in-a-trust-deficient-world/

03-Planning the work of a team, 04-Managing a project team

Making a change

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If I’m being honest – I PROSCRASTINATE!  Thus why I’m just now posting my first blog deliverable.  I’ve somewhat “successfully”  functioned this way for as long as I can remember, but I know that I can do better and I’m trying to rectify my situation.   I realize that my condition adds stress to all the people’s lives who count on me daily to accomplish their tasks and I want to change, but I haven’t – until maybe recently.

A combination of a few recent events in my life have hopefully helped me turn the corner for the better.  First, I need to apologize for my last thirty plus years of waiting till the last moment to start studying for tests (sorry Mom and professors), turning in work projects at the last moment just in time to meet deadlines (sorry boss), and even hitting the snooze button a few too many times each morning (sorry wife!).

A few months ago my wife and I found out that we are expecting our first child, a son, and it thrills us both!  Since then I have often thought about what kind of person he will become and what will he learn from me as he grows up.  I want him to be a polite, motivated, and caring individual who works hard, has great friends, and is able to experience all of the wonderful things our world has to offer.  I also don’t want him to pick up on any of my bad habits and so I am realizing I need to make a change, quickly because he is due in September.

During this time of reflection my sister forwarded me an email with a speech given as the commencement address to the University of Texas graduates by Naval Admiral William McRaven.  You may have already seen or read this speech, but in his address Adm. McRaven speaks about how changing the world is possible and ten lessons that he learned during his distinguished career in the military.  http://www.utexas.edu/news/2014/05/16/admiral-mcraven-commencement-speech/  His first lesson about accomplishing the simple task of making your bed each morning took me back to my days spent in the military.  I realized that waking up with a sense of purpose reminds me every morning to stay focused on my tasks and not to waste time on Facebook, playing solitare, or checking ESPN for random sports stories.  This initial task, at least for the last two weeks, has started my day off right and allowed me to positively tackle the oncoming challenges each day.

We also were assigned the reading “The Brand Called You” in BUS634P. The Brand Called You  This reading reminded me of the importance of how every action that I take impacts the impression that I leave with customers, colleagues, classmates, family, and espically my soon to be child.

I am working to change my current brand and stop proscrastinating for my son most importantly, but I also believe that if I am successful in doing so the benefits will improve my relationships both personally and professionally.  From a work perspective, I anticipate advancing in my career and leading a team of sales people.  My desired brand of punctuality, on time results, and dependability needs to be in place before I can effectively expect to manage others.  While I fail some days, I am striving to change my habits and am making progress.

I don’t know if you have experienced the same doubts or concerns, but if so how did you change your patterns, lessen your daily distractions, and become someone who accomplishes everything on their daily checklist?  Thanks for any help you can provide – from me and my soon to be son!

 

03-Planning the work of a team, 04-Managing a project team, feedback

Poor Managers Are More Costly Than You May Realize

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In this HBR blog, Monique Valcour identifies some of the key success factors in top managers. To sum up her thoughts in one impactful statement, “If you’re not helping people develop, you’re not management material.”

So what does this mean? It means that because candidates value learning and development opportunities above any other aspect of a prospective job, a manager’s role is more critical than ever. Skilled managers attract top candidates, retain and challenge them, and drive performance. Poor managers do just the opposite. The firm not only misses out on potential talent, but it also costs them a lot of money due to employee turnover and subpar productivity.

As most of us have learned, the majority of learning and development (roughly 90%) happens on the job rather than in schooling (not to knock Goizueta!) or formal training programs. An effective manager can benefit you in many ways – from mentoring and challenging you to providing constructive feedback and helping facilitate conversations. In many ways, a mentor is someone you can look up to and model yourself after. Thus, your own management style will, in turn, help to shape the firm’s future leaders.

Below are some characteristics of effective managers:

-Invested in coaching

-Someone you can respect and learn from

-Takes interest in your career development

In conjunction, here are some tips to becoming an effective manager:

1) Be transparent

2) Share detailed information about firm’s ongoing operations

3) Support internal networking

4) Have frequent conversations about career goals and interests rather than just once a year during annual performance review (I have found this to be very helpful in my own relationship with my supervisor)

5) When planning the team’s work, ask employees how they can contribute and what they’d like to get out of the project (this gives them ownership and helps them buy into it more)

6) Establish open lines of communication and provide regular feedback

Having a poor manager/undesirable relationship with a direct supervisor tops the list as the number one reason employees quit their jobs. Therefore, continual teaching and development should be a non-negotiable in every manager’s repertoire.

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/01/if-youre-not-helping-people-develop-youre-not-management-material/

01-Structuring a problem, 04-Managing a project team, 05-Creating & constructing good solutions, 07c-Telling stories, creativity methods, issue trees, problem statement, scoping

Dig Deeper to Solve the Underlying Problems

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For the sake of switching things up, I thought that I would share with you a show that really knows how to “dig deep” (pun completely intended) into the things that we often take for granted. If you have the time and are interested in finding ways to approach problems in a very different and unique way, I highly suggest you watch “Going Deep with David Rees” on National Geographic (the show just started airing a couple of weeks ago).

Why does this matter and how does it apply to this course? Sure, the topics may seem silly, ranging from learning how to tie a shoe to creating the perfect ice cube for your scotch, but the show does a great job at taking a simple concept and really understanding the components that go into it. Let me explain one of the episodes to help give you some better insight. The steps are rather detailed, but that’s really the point.

How some of us think about digging a hole:

    1. Grab a shovel.
    2. Dig.

How David Rees thinks about digging a hole:

    1. He first addresses the problem and what he’s looking to accomplish (he wants to build a “party hole”).
    2. David went to an experimental mine at the Colorado School of Mines to understand how these subject matter experts dig holes in the mine. From there, he determines that digging a hole into a rock is too dangerous for him and as a result the scope of his project changes.
    3. He goes to a soil biologist to figure out the best combination of sand, silt, and clay to dig the perfect hole (medium loom).
    4. David then goes to visit “Dr. Shovel” at Penn State University where he tests out a number of shovels to determine which ones are most efficient for him to use. From there, he learns that you actually need a couple of types of shovels for different stages of a dig.
    5. David learns that the hole he designed was actually flawed and potentially dangerous if he doesn’t “shore up the sides.” This discovery makes him adapt and change his original plans.
    6. So where does he go to learn how to shore up the sides? He goes to a golf course to learn how to keep his hole intact.
    7. From there, David goes to a cemetery to meet with a professional digger to learn better techniques on how to dig a hole. They first mark down the location and dimensions of the hole they are going to dig.
    8. He then goes to Harvard University to understand how the field mouse burrows a hole. There, he learns that these field mice dig much faster when they dig together instead of alone. As a result, David learns that he will be much more efficient if he has his friends help dig the hole with him.

Whether you’re a project manager, part of the product development team, or your manager asks you to give a presentation on the dynamics of your competition within the industry, you can use some of the analysis and problem solving skills that are utilized throughout this show. That, and you may get a good laugh out of the show as well. And you thought digging a hole was easy?

Spoiler alert. He ends up digging his party hole.