It’s pretty common for an experienced consultant to see a problem or a project and know exactly what needs to be done. For some, the way to go seems “simple.”
Keep in mind that a project that looks simple to you may seem like scaling Mt. Everest barefoot to your client. You’ve got to take time to bring clients along in their understanding at the pace that’s right for them. Don’t assume that what’s easy for you to grasp is the same for them.
Most people I know have a love-hate relationship with project team meetings. Those meetings can be drama-filled (especially if a deadline is about to be blown) or just plain tedious. Everyone knows there’s value in team meetings, but sometimes it’s hard to find.
Project leaders can add some excitement—and value—to any team meeting by asking one simple question at the outset:
What can we do differently (or better) today to improve this project’s outcome?
Once you ask the question, let people share their ideas—no matter how big or small. And, if possible, design an approach on the spot for putting the best ideas into practice. If you can’t, don’t leave the room without articulating a next step for the ideas you’ve heard.
Besides improving a project’s outcome, you’re sending people a clear message: I value your opinion. Plus, you’re encouraging an open environment for discussion, which will challenge people to search for ideas that will lead to a better result.
You’ve probably seen project leaders who act as though a good idea can only come from on high. Those individuals make their jobs harder than needed. And when such a leader looks for help with the next project, mysteriously, the best people are already tied up on something else.
It’s a simple question. Ask it at the beginning of every meeting, sit back, and let the ideas flow.
Photo by Vancouver Film School
On any airplane flight, you’re likely to see at least one passenger turning blue in the face trying to force a bulging “carry-on” bag into an overhead bin. No matter how hard the person pushes, everyone watching knows that it’s not going to work–the bag is just too full.
Sometimes, a project plan can unintentionally end up like an overstuffed bag. Before you are tempted to cram too much into your plan, make sure you take into account these three basic realities:
Define Degrees of “Done”
What can you do about these realities? For one thing, do the most obvious and build some flexibility into your plan. It’s easy to define a project that includes everything you want and more. Unfortunately, disappointment will set in as the team slowly (and maybe arbitrarily) slashes project scope because there’s just not enough time to get everything done. The result: everyone gets frustrated.
Instead of chipping away at scope incrementally as a project unfolds, define two or more acceptable project outcomes before you get started. If the project progresses and your initial planning assumptions end up trashed, you’ll have a workable fallback position.
Give It a Rest
Expect a break in the action as you and your team finish key tasks. Take time to celebrate accomplishments, instead of diving right back into work. Everyone needs a breather, so be sure you’ve designed a plan that accommodates these natural breaks. And remember that it takes a team time to regain momentum after reaching a milestone.
Get Tough on Decisions
As a project starts to wrap up, the decisions you must make multiply—with incomplete information and not enough time to learn more. If you don’t decide quickly at this juncture, a project can easily grind to a halt. And, the decisions you make late in the project are often the most important ones.
Consider changing how your team makes decisions as the project enters its final stage. Some project teams choose to give decision-making authority to a smaller group of individuals. Using input from the team(s), this smaller group can speed the decision process by taking responsibility for and control of the strategic decisions that impact the success of the project. The goal of the group is to solve problems, not let them fester.
No matter what you do, there’s going to be a final push at the end of every project. But the things you do at the outset (packing the bag) will have a direct impact on how the project wraps up. You’ll never avoid all of the uncertainties your project will face, but if you plan for varying degrees of “done,” the periodic dips in project productivity, and for the tough decisions at the end, your plan just might be the right fit.
We’re all aware of the laundry list of attributes that make for a successful project, including:
But, even if a project has these essential ingredients, you still need one more thing: candor.
Few things move a project along more effectively than an environment of open, frank communication. A lack of candor on any project team, which usually stems from fear, leads to bad decisions, flawed ideas, and poor morale.
It’s easy to find project leaders who say they want a candid working environment, but don’t really mean it. Why? Because many leaders have had bad experiences with candid conversations. So they create project environments in which communication can’t flow easily. As a result, they often don’t learn about real problems until there’s an emergency.
Candor can’t be a cliché. It’s not enough for a project leader to proclaim, “My door is always open.” Candor between a team and its leader begins with trust and respect. Slogans don’t engender trust. Actions do. The best project leaders show–though their actions– that it’s not only safe to be candid, but preferable.
Candor must be continuous. In too many cases, candor between a team and its leader doesn’t happen until there’s a messy problem to fix. Those conversations usually begin with a team member posing a question like, “May I be totally candid with you?” Once you answer that question with a “yes,” the news is rarely good.
Project leaders must encourage their teams to be candid continually, not just when there’s a problem.
Candor is a friend of collaboration. Once teams know they can be candid, without fear of reprisal, better ideas emerge, people express themselves more freely, and they raise issues (and resolve them) more quickly.
Remember that candor doesn’t mean unfiltered communication. Candor doesn’t give anyone license to blast away at the ideas of another. Candid communication must be artful, not ham-handed.
Think of candor as the glue that holds a successful project team together. How candid is your team?
In a post earlier this week, I talked about the findings from a global, multi-year study by James Kouzes and Barry Posner on the characteristics that people look for in their leaders.
Of the 20 leadership characteristics that Kouzes and Posner use in their study (see below), year after year, four consistently rank at the top of the list of desirable leadership attributes. Which four did you pick as the top ones?
| What Are the Top 4 Leadership Characteristics? | |||
| Independent | Competent | Ambitious | Determined |
| Cooperative | Self-Controlled | Loyal | Dependable |
| Honest | Straightforward | Supportive | Mature |
| Intelligent | Forward-Looking | Caring | Courageous |
| Fair-Minded | Imaginative | Broad-Minded | Inspiring |
Well, the four leadership characteristics selected most frequently are:
Of course, all 20 of the characteristics included in the study are important. But when people are asked to pick the most important leadership characteristics, the same four come out on top.
If you want to learn more about the authors, you can read the interview I conducted with James Kouzes.
Most people have at least one horror story about a bad boss. If you’re lucky, you’ve also experienced a really good boss.
Our guest, Robert Sutton, has a thing or two to say on the subject of bosses. Sutton is a professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford, and the author of Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best…and Learn from the Worst.
Sutton’s previous books include the bestseller, The No-Asshole Rule, Weird Ideas That Work, Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths & Total Nonsense, and The Knowing-Doing Gap.
We asked Sutton for his take on some famous bosses like Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Steve Ballmer, and Tony Hayward. And we asked him to weigh in on the impact (if any) of the “reality” show, Undercover Boss, on how bosses behave.
Get the podcast with Robert Sutton.
Sometimes things don’t go exactly the way you’d like.
Maybe a colleague misses a deadline, or a client team member forgets to mention an important detail in a crucial meeting. How do you react?
Most of us recognize bumps in the road as an inevitable part of any project. And we make adjustments, even though it can mean extra work for us.
But there are also people who take a more selfish point of view and focus mainly on the impact the unexpected event has on them.
One certainty in our line of work is that surprises always pop up. I think that how we handle these moments of stress defines our ability to function in a team environment and to call ourselves professionals. Our responses also say a lot about who we are as people.
A colleague, who knows far more than I do, once summed up his perspective on being a team player by saying:
In a consultant’s professional life, you have projects, clients, and colleagues. Treat them all the same way, with a spirit of collegiality and a predisposition to trust, and make every transaction a positive one.
I agree.
Few consultants would ignore an opportunity to boost the productivity and creativity of a project team. With the non-stop emphasis on efficiency, service quality, and billable hours, managers are always looking for anything that can help.
Some firms have encouraged consultants and their clients to don crash helmets and hit a ropes course, while others participate in cooking schools or scavenger hunts in an effort to “build” a team.
If these activities don’t suit you, here’s an interesting possibility some consultants are trying: Sing your way to success.
One UK-based office of Deloitte (my former firm) hired “corporate singing” consultants to help a group of banking consultants brush up on their arias and bond with each other. “It’s a fast way of bringing together individuals, energizing them and making them more productive,” says Graham Singleton, the session leader.
Will finding your inner-Pavarotti help you become a better consultant? Probably not, but who knows what other career opportunities it could open.
Few consultants can succeed in the business if they’re not good at working on teams.
And consultants face a unique teamwork challenge: they often collaborate with clients and others on projects with high expectations and compressed schedules.
In the recent issue of Management Consulting News, Patrick Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, talks about project team dynamics and what can be done to help any team effort run more smoothly.
Have a look at the interview with Lencioni.
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Michael McLaughlin is an advisor to organizations and individuals who offer high-value services to their clients. Read more.. |
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