When engaging in conversation, many of us want to share our knowledge and experiences with others. This may be inform or educate others and at times just to impress people. While there is value to us sharing our knowledge, it is also very important to engage in active listening and learning from others.

Listening provides many benefits:

It engages other people: Have you been in a conversation where someone just talks about themselves and takes no interest in you? You probably weren’t as engaged in the conversation and may have been looking for a way out. Imagine how someone else may feel if they are not given an opportunity to speak and share their thoughts and ideas. Providing people with a platform to speak engages them more in the conversation and they are going to be more likely to listen intently when you speak. It can help to develop a relationship of trust and respect.

You learn more about the other person: Letting others speak provides an opportunity to learn more about the person. This can give you a better understanding of what make them tick, what challenges they are facing, and other things they are working on. This can help when planning a project where this person will be a key resource.

It’s an opportunity to learn something new: We cannot learn anything new by just talking ourselves. Every person has unique experiences which offer unique skills and knowledge that can provide value. Considering ideas from a fresh perspective can help to create new ways of thinking and generate new solutions to old problems. You may also learn about something that you may enjoy, be it a movie, restaurant, or place to visit.

When engaging in conversation with someone, take time to ask the other person some questions to get them talking. It can be to ask their opinion on something or to share an experience they have had. Give the person time to speak and engage in active listening. Try to avoid the urge to interject and take in the information. Many of us are guilty of getting ready to reply rather than just listening to the other person.

Listening is a skill which will help us in building stronger relationships.

In the last several years, we have seen an increasing growth in project teams which are dispersed across locations.  With improved technology, we can communicate more easily with our teams through phone conversations, conference calls, video conferences, e-mail, texts, instant messaging, among others. While being able to easily communicate with others remotely provides many benefits, there is still great value to face-to-face communications.

There is a value to the physical contact of a handshake and eye-to-eye contact which can solidify a personal relationship that cannot be replicated by remote communications. It helps to establish a stronger personal connection. Even one face-to-face encounter can strengthen subsequent remote communications.

Face-to-face meetings are not always possible or the best use of our time, but finding times to engage with your team in person can contribute to improved team engagement and performance. Here are some examples of times to have face-to-face meetings:

Kick-off Meetings: Gathering the project team for the first time can set the tone for the team moving forward through the project. Strongly encourage your team to attend the project kick-off meeting in person. People who join the meeting remotely via conference call will not be fully engaged and will miss an opportunity to create bonds with other team members. I have seen instances where team members in the same building elect to dial into these meetings. To minimize this, I do not publish dial-in information and will only provide the information upon request. This provides me with an opportunity to discuss the request with the person and only provide the dial-in information if there is no way for them to attend in person.

There may be other key meetings where in-person attendance is desired. Stress the importance of this to your team.

Periodic Visit: As a project manager, find time to have some one-on-one visits with project team members. It can even be for an informal chat over coffee. It can provide an opportunity to understand your team members better, what their interests are, what else they are working on, as well as build trust. Building trust and rapport with team members will improve their engagement with the project and lead to better performance.

Remote Visits: Depending on your budget, engaging face-to-face with team members in certain remote locations can be a challenge. Some remote team members are located within close proximity to accommodate an on-site visit, but other team members may be located in offices which require significant travel to visit.

If your budget allows, schedule trips to visit key project team members, especially during key times of the project. A few years ago, I was managing a systems implementation project where the system was being installed at an out-of-state location. I scheduled a visit for a few days to meet with the technical team installing the system along with the vendor. The time spent on-site was very valuable as we worked through key decisions and solidified our relationships. After that visit, our ongoing communications were virtual and we were able to work better together.

When budgets are tighter, you can still find ways to meet with remote team members. In one project that I managed, we had project team members located across the US and I did not have the opportunity to visit with most of them. I did have the opportunity to visit one of our remote sites for a training class, which allowed me to meet with a few project team members. There are times when people may be visiting your office from a remote location. I’ve had the opportunity to meet team members and other key stakeholders visiting from overseas and it was helpful to meet with them face-to-face.

Though our work and interactions have become more virtual, don’t underestimate the value of face time with your team. The return on this investment can prove most valuable.

Spring has sprung. The weather is becoming milder and people are ready for a fresh start.

For many, spring cleaning is a ritual they take on each year to clean their homes to start anew. Though it does not currently feel like spring in the Northeast United States, it is still a good time to look at cleaning through some different things:

Your Desk: Over time, our desks become cluttered with paper and other items. Many times, we can’t actually see our desktops. This can make it difficult to find the information we need or to feel in control.

Take a look at your desk. Go through the papers on your desk and organize them, by project or other category. For papers from old projects, either file them away if you still need to reference them in the future or throw them out if they no longer have any value to you. For current projects, look through the papers that are currently needed and put them into appropriate folders that can be easily accessed. Papers that are not currently needed, but need to be available for reference should be filed in a place that you can access them when needed. The same can be done for other information that you need to reference.

Another idea is to scan documents and create digital files of documents that you do not need to have a physical copy of. This can help to reduce the amount of paper you keep.

A cleaner desk will make it easier and faster to access the information you need and will keep you from being distracted by information that does not serve any value right now.

Your E-Mail: Most of us received more e-mails each day than we can reasonably process during the day. This leads to an ever-increasing inbox that becomes harder to manage. The large number of unopened e-mail messages continues to eat at us as unfinished work. Large inboxes also makes in more likely to have an important e-mail message slip through the cracks and not responded to.

To start cleaning your e-mail inbox, identify e-mails you receive from distribution lists that are not of value to you. Most automated e-mail distributions allow you to “unsubscribe” from the list. Unsubscribe from any distribution lists that you no longer want to receive e-mails from. For e-mails you want to continue receiving but don’t need to read or respond to immediately, set up filters to move those e-mails to a folder for future reference. Filters can be configured to identify an e-mail sender or keyword and automatically move the e-mail to a designated folder. Most e-mail client software supports the use of filters. You can set up different folders for different types of e-mails. By setting up filters, certain e-mails will not appear in your inbox and will make your inbox easier to go through and allow you to address the most important e-mails. You can then designate times to review the other folders when it is convenient for you. I recently went through this exercise and found that it has saved me much time and aggravation.

Your Calendar: Our calendars get quickly filled with meetings, presentations, and other commitments. This leads to less time allocated to the work that is most important for our jobs and our personal lives.

Take a look at your calendar. Are there meeting that you do not need to attend? If so, politely decline the meeting. Are there meetings that are scheduled for longer than is necessary? See if those one-hour meetings can be cut down to a half-hour or even 15 minutes. Identify any other meetings that can be cancelled or reschedule if they are not going to produce the necessary value.

Then, look over your calendar and set up time blocks to perform certain work, such as creating reports or for planning. Blocking this time will make it easier to actually get this work done, especially for time sensitive work you need to finish.

These simple steps will help you become more efficient and productive with your time. Share any other tips for your spring cleaning.

In the past few weeks, we have looked at the relationships of a project manager with the project sponsor, the project team, and other key stakeholders. In working with all of these stakeholders, it can become easy to neglect our own well-being. We tend to stretch ourselves thin and try to work extra hard to keep up with all of the demands.

While this may work in the short term, this cannot be sustained in the long term. After a while, you will experience the law of diminishing returns for the work you perform. As a project manager, you are also a key stakeholder in the success of your projects.

Taking steps to take control of your time and your well-being will go a long way to increased happiness and improved performance.

A few ways to take care of yourself include:

Find time to plan your day: It is easy for the day to quickly get away from us with urgent requests and other fire drills. Taking the time to plan out your day will help keep you on task. Some people will take time at the end of the day to review their tasks and calendar and identify what they want to work on the following day. Others will start early in the morning before most people arrive to work to plan for the day. Prioritize the tasks to identify the most important work that needs to be completed to meet your goals. Inevitably, unexpected things will come up during the day, but keeping your highest priorities in mind will help to keep you focused on the key tasks you need to complete.

Learn to say “no” and push back when necessary: Most people aren’t afraid to push back and you shouldn’t be either. You can’t do it all. If you are asked to do something that does not move you closer to your goals, consider if it is worth doing. In most cases, the answer will be “no”. Also, consider meetings that you are invited to. Ask yourself if you are needed at that meeting. If not, decline the invitation. Be polite, but firm. Most people will understand.

Find time to take a break: We are expected to do so much, it can be hard to find time to take a break during the day, at lunch time, or even after hours. We have the feeling that we have to be available 24 x 7. Working too much can tire us physically, mentally, and emotionally. Taking a break gives us time to get re-energized, making us sharper and more productive. Get away for a little time may help us look at problems and issues more clearly and enable us to identify solutions. Find time during the day to take a short break, which could be taking a walk to clear your mind. At lunch, avoid eating at your desk. Occasionally, meet up with a friend for lunch and talk about something other than work. Some people will take their lunch hour to exercise. After work, try to disconnect and address your personal needs, whether its exercise, your hobbies, or spending time with family and friends. Also, make sure to get adequate sleep. Creating some separation from work will help you to come back the next day more energized and better prepared to take on the challenges of the day.

In the end, if you do not address your well-being, who will? There will be days when certain urgencies will need to be addressed and you may lose control of the day. Avoid making this a daily occurrence, where you will eventually find yourself adrift and move way from your goals and what is most important to you. Taking care of yourself will not only be a benefit to you, but also to the people around you.

In the past few weeks, we have looked at the project manager’s relationships with the sponsor and project team. There are many other stakeholders to also consider when managing a project.

According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), a stakeholder is “an individual, group, or organization, who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project”. Stakeholders can be either internal or external to the organization. Usually, projects involved some form of change and these changes will be perceived positively by some or negatively by others.

Internal stakeholders are people within your organization whose jobs will be either impacted during or after the project. Departments that are required to provide resources and support during the project are impacted with additional work that may conflict with their regular responsibilities as well as other projects they are supporting. Other internal stakeholders may see their jobs change as the result of the project, either in the way their work is performed, introducing new work or through eliminating certain work. This may lead to new opportunities for some, but may also involve assuming new responsibilities, retraining, or reductions to current staff. This can lead to uncertainty and anxiety.

External stakeholders may include customers, vendors, other business partners, as well as government or regulatory agencies. Customers may be impacted by the introduction of a new product, changes to an existing product, or the replacement of an existing product. For some customers, new products may be welcome. For other customers, changes to or the elimination of current products may cause inconveniences. This can lead to customer dissatisfaction or the loss of business. Vendors may be involved as part of the project providing products, services, and/or consulting. Government or regulatory agencies may be involved where laws or regulations need to be followed or new procedures implemented. In these cases, the work may be mandatory and involve set deadlines.

Whether the project has a positive or negative impact on the stakeholder, it will lead stakeholders to either support the project or offer resistance. Project managers need to be sensitive to these impacts.

In constructing a plan to manage project stakeholders, start by identifying the key stakeholders. Determine their interest in the project, and if they will be positively or negatively impacted by the project. Also, determine their level of influence.

For stakeholders who will be positively impacted, recruit them to be project champions to promote the positive impact of the project to the organization and its customers. The project sponsor is also a project champion that can be a key influencer. To get buy-in from people, they will need to understand the benefits and the positive impacts to them.

For those who may offer resistance to the project, meet with these stakeholders and listen to their concerns. Be empathetic to their concerns. In some cases, these discussions can uncover risks or issues that had not been previously considered. In other cases, their concerns are caused by the uncertainty of the changes that will be taking place. Understanding these concerns will help you as the project manager to address these concerns.

Developing a communications plan will help to keep stakeholders informed. Communicate as frequently as you can and share as much as you can (things that are not considered sensitive or confidential). Frequent and open communications can help to build trust and to get stakeholders on board.

To reduce uncertainty and anxiety among stakeholders, provide additional information, training, and tools to help them prepare for the changes.

In working with groups who will be supporting the project efforts, review their priorities with them and work to resolve scheduling and resources conflicts as early as possible. Addressing this as early as possible will make it easier to make adjustment. Being sensitive to their other priorities will improve their engagement and commitment to the project.

Resistance can create many problems for the project manager. These problems can include project delays, cost overruns, and poor user or customer adoption. Getting in front of any resistance as early as you can help to move the project to a successful completion.

Last week, we looked the importance of the project sponsor relationship. This week, we look at the project team.

PMI defines a project as “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.” Two key words in this definition are “temporary” and “unique”. Due to this, project managers are presented with distinctive challenges with each project they manage, as each project includes a different mix of team members.

A new project team is usually assembled for each project. These teams consist mainly of people:

• Working part-time on the project in addition to their regular work and perhaps other projects.
• Representing different departments across the organization.
• Working in cross-functional roles.
• Geographically dispersed across several locations and, in many cases, across the globe.
• Working within and outside of the organization.

This can create unique team dynamics which include:

• Team members who report to different managers.
• Team members having conflicting and competing priorities.
• Team members who may not have experience working together.
• Teams perhaps experiencing cultural differences.

As a Project Manager, you will have to work through these dynamics. Some keys to success for managing your project team include:

Open and Honest Communications

It is important to communicate the objectives of the project and the expectations of the team. This needs to be communicated to the team as well as to the reporting managers of the team members. Given the dynamics of the team, it is important to address issues as soon as possible and to be open in how you communicate with your team. Gaining the trust of your team will be very important to gain their buy-in and their cooperation.

Clear Understanding of Roles and Responsibilities

As project manager, make sure that each team member understands their roles and responsibilities and how each person fits into the overall project team. Again, it is also important that there is clear understanding with the reporting managers of the team members. This will help to reduce misunderstandings and conflict.

Engage in Team Building

Each project team has a unique mix of team members and each team needs to through its forming, storming, and norming to become an effective team. Team members will also need to build trust among themselves as they will be dependent on one another.

Hold Regular Meetings

To ensure that the project is moving forward and issues are addressed in a timely fashion, regular team meetings need to be held. In many cases, weekly meetings will suffice. These meetings are also an opportunity for continued team building.

In managing the dynamics of the project team, having a strong relationship with the project sponsor will help to gain support for the project. It will also help in resolving issues that may arise where conflicting and competing priorities cause team members to miss certain deliverable dates, which can cause schedule slippage or cost overruns. If a project manager cannot resolve these issues with the reporting manager, the sponsor may be able to intervene and work with the managers to come up with a solution to keep the project on schedule or adjust the schedule as needed.