Courage in Project Management
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At some point during your career as a project manager you will be responsible for motivating individuals that will be faced with tasks outside of their comfort zones. The key to successful project management in times of discomfort is courage. It’s about the courage to lead when needed, let go when needed, and know how to motivate and influence others to excel for you. This Slideshare covers: - What is courage in the workplace - Situations that require courage - How to infuse courage in project management and teams
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Courage in Project Management
- 2. 2 SlideShare Objectives 1. A definition of courage in the workplace 2. Project situations that require courage 3. Infusing courage in project managers and teams
- 3. 3 …the ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/courage …a brief singular occurrence, that rare moment of unity between conscience, fear and action, when something deep within us strikes the flint of love, of honor, of duty, to make the spark that fires our resolve. John McCain as quoted from Courage as a Skill, January 2007 https://hbr.org/2007/01/courage-as-a-skill Definition of Courage
- 4. 4 Courage at Work Nor does it emerge from nowhere Reardon, Kathleen. (January 2007) Courage as a Skill. Retrieved December 4, 2014 from https://hbr.org/2007/01/courage-as-a-skill Is rarely impulsive
- 5. 5 Courage at Work It is really a special kind of calculated risk taking Reardon, Kathleen. (January 2007) Courage as a Skill. Retrieved December 4, 2014 from https://hbr.org/2007/01/courage-as-a-skill
- 6. 6 Business courage from making decisions Great business leaders teach themselves to make high-risk decisions
- 7. 7 Courage Formula at Work 1. Setting primary and secondary goals 2. Determining the importance of achieving them 3. Tipping the power balance in your favor 4. Weighing risks against benefits 5. Selecting the proper time for action 6. Developing contingency plans Reardon, Kathleen. (January 2007) Courage as a Skill. Retrieved December 4, 2014 from https://hbr.org/2007/01/courage-as-a-skill
- 8. 8 Project Situations That Require Courage Accepting a stretch assignment Giving bad news Expressing an unpopular opinion Addressing poor performance Facilitating a large high-stakes meeting Asking for help Requiring accountability Delegating
- 9. 9 Project Leadership Leave the company better off than how you found it Treasurer, Bill. (2008) Courage Goes to Work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc Leave the people better off than how you found them Try
- 10. 10 Building Courage in the Team You’re success as a project manager will be determined by how well you manage workers who are too comfortable, too afraid, or too much of both. Treasurer, Bill. (2008) Courage Goes to Work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc
- 11. 11 Three Buckets of Courage Treasurer, Bill. (2008) Courage Goes to Work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc
- 12. 12 Examples of Courage in Project Management Accepting a stretch assignment Giving bad news Expressing an unpopular opinion Addressing poor performance Facilitating a large high-stakes meeting Asking for help Requiring accountability Delegating Try Try Tell Tell Trust Trust Tell Tell Trust
- 13. 13 Helping To Fill The Buckets Jump first Create safety Harness fear Adjust the degree of comfort and discomfort Treasurer, Bill. (2008) Courage Goes to Work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc TRY TRUST TELL The courage of action and pioneering “first attempts” The courage of relying on the actions of others The courage of “voice” and truth telling
- 14. 14 Jump first Demonstrate initiative Pave the way Try something innovative Setting the stage Treasurer, Bill. (2008) Courage Goes to Work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc
- 15. 15 Jumping First - Real Life Experiences Power of the context diagram A more effective status report Decision workshop Be the job you want (program manager) Create a scrum team Treasurer, Bill. (2008) Courage Goes to Work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc Try Try Try Try Trust Tell
- 16. 16 Create Safety Value forward-failing mistakes Provide air cover from upper management Spend time with your team Treasurer, Bill. (2008) Courage Goes to Work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc
- 17. 17 Create Safety - Real Life Experiences Support a team member in a more responsible role – Encourage – Provide mentoring – Demonstrate patience Sticking up for the team – Deal with a bully – Working through a problem – Support truth telling Safe team forums Sensitive escalation Treasurer, Bill. (2008) Courage Goes to Work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc Tell Try
- 18. 18 Harnessing Fear Build a Robust Protective Frame – Gather facts – Learn from others who have faced similar challenges – Get training to improve skills needed to face the task Normalize Fear Treasurer, Bill. (2008) Courage Goes to Work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc
- 19. 19 Harness Fear - Real Life Experiences Facilitating a 21 person decision meeting – Being prepared – Trust my skills in facilitation (but okay to feel the fear) – Be flexible, be tough Giving and receiving bad news – Create an environment of safety, manage your reaction – Encourage early warnings – Focus on problem, don’t criticize – Utilize SOAR (situation, opportunity, action result) – Look for the lesson Treasurer, Bill. (2008) Courage Goes to Work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc Try Tell Trust
- 20. 20 Adjust Degree of Comfort Skill stretching assignment Solidify new skill Build to more complexity Treasurer, Bill. (2008) Courage Goes to Work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc
- 21. 21 Adjust Degree of Comfort - Real Life Experiences A stretch assignment – New product launch project support Promoting a project manager – Applies a consistent project framework – Can run a larger project – Can run multiple projects – Require more independence in being able to: Deal with conflict Leverage relationships for results Solve an organizational problem Treasurer, Bill. (2008) Courage Goes to Work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc Try Trust
- 22. 22 Ask “what do YOU want?” Treasurer, Bill. (2008) Courage Goes to Work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc It’s easier to get people to perform uncomfortable tasks when those tasks tie in to the attainment of their personal goals. It only takes four words to understand the career aspirations of your workers – because when you know what people want, you are in a far better position to match their aspirations to the company’s goals.
- 23. 23 References Treasurer, Bill. (2008) Courage Goes to Work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. Reardon, Kathleen. (January 2007) Courage as a Skill. Retrieved December 4, 2014 from https://hbr.org/2007/01/courage-as-a-skill
Editor's Notes
- Thanks Jen. Hi everyone. I’m talking to you from the snowy Northeastern US – great time to talk about courage – if you’ve been driving around here you know what I mean! So this webinar is about courage and project management. It’s about the courage to lead when needed, let go when needed, motivate and influence others to excel for you. Are you managing a project team or other project managers who are afraid to stretch beyond their comfort zones? What if your project is meant to create organizational change … having a team or a project manager unwilling to challenge the status quo could mean entrenched silos or inadequate communications. Do your sponsors consider you an influential project manager, one they can trust to ask the difficult questions? What does it mean to truly support your team, embody the project goals, and get the organization support for the project before and during? Have you experienced the satisfaction of orchestrating an empowered team, one that will challenge the status quo or achieve what felt like the impossible? Empowered teams have all been through the difficult forming and storming phases. The trick is recognizing the empowerment moments and seeking to capitalize. Allowing the team to work through work style conflicts, making handoffs visible <dev/qa>, and helping gain personal skills. Have you ever accepted a project assignment completely out of your comfort zone? Last year I participated in my first commercial product launch leaving the comfort of my IT family for 9 months. The objectives in the next 45 minutes or so include a definition of courage in the workplace, project situations that require courage, infusing courage in project managers and teams.
- A thrill A rush Danger Brief Rare
- Kathleen Reardon in her article “Courage as a Skill” talks about how courage at work is rarely impulsive, Nor does it emerge from nowhere. Think about your organization – how often do emergencies happen that require people to play super hero or jump in front of a bull? These colleagues who save the day are very much appreciated but the courage I’m describing here will be about the little things people do to step up every day and move the ball forward.
- The real premise here is that in business courageous action is really a special kind of calculated risk taking. It is about Intelligent gambles. business leaders have a greater than average willingness to make bold moves but strengthen their chances of success through careful deliberation and preparation Courageous action in business is deliberative. Real emergencies are rare or should be rare.
- Business courage is a skill acquired through decision making processes that improve with practice. Great business leaders teach themselves to make high risk decisions. Those who act courageously in business have an instinct for opportunity. Read situations quickly but are not reckless. If you think about those who are decisive: They do their homework They ask for input They are confident in their team They trust their gut What are the real pitfalls of taking an intelligent gamble? How often are your projects affected by a lack of decision making? What are some of the decisions we make that take courage? hire someone fire someone accept an assignment
- Reardon wrote, that to be productive and beneficial – courage needs direction and discipline. She talked about the 6 components that make up the courage calculation: Setting goal. What does success look like in this high risk situation. Is it obtainable? What is plan A? What is plan B? Balancing organizational versus personal success. (reputation) Determining your goal’s importance. Does the situation call for immediate, high-profile action or something less risky? How strongly do you feel. Courage is not about squandering political capital on low priority issues. Tipping the power balance in your favor. In reality top management gives power to anyone on whom they are dependent – and in this way power is something over which we do have considerable control. Form supportive power networks and recognize it takes time. Weighing risks against benefits. This component of the courage calculation focuses on trade offs. Who stands to win? Who stands to lose? What will be the impact on your reputation? Should you act in a direct way or take an indirect approach. Selecting the right time. A single-minded rush to action in business is often foolish. Ask yourself – am I prepared? What are the pros and cons for waiting a day, a week, a month? What are the political obstacles? Can they be removed or reduced? Do I have the credibility to make this work? Patience and a deep sensitivity to one’s surroundings Developing contingency plans. Contingency is about resourcefulness, having an alternative ready if primary or secondary goals fail. Ideas for example: Lobbying for a resource (employee portal example)
- Run a poll first to get ideas from the audience then show my list
- Project leadership is all about people and teams. You are not an order taker. You are about: Helping people get new skills Supporting them in their effort to achieve their goals Helping them over their fears Teaching them how to work together Demanding excellence The experts like Reardon and Treasurer are talking about line managers – I’m saying even if you don’t have direct reports you are responsible for managing people and helping them improve and grow.
- Treasurer coined the phrase Comfeartable worker. The key to putting courage to work is the regimen of things you regularly do before challenging situations present themselves. In what ways is your team too comfortable? In what ways to they play it safe? What work challenges would simultaneously tap into each person’s passion and serve the goals of the project? Use my example of SCRUM – make work visible – spot light on accountability – reinvest in each other
- The best way to get workers to try new things, trust you more fully, and tell you what they’re really thinking is to build up their courage. What does courage at work look like? Team trusts your decisions instead of silently resisting When the team raises the red flag on projects early before things fester into full blown catastrophes When someone comes to you with remedies to problems they are facing instead of dumping them in your lap When people are candid and engaged during status meetings When the team offers ideas to expand its reach When courage is at work you see engagement and passion, motivation and commitment. Go through the slide and three buckets.
- Try courage – courage of initiative and action. Trust courage – courage to relinquish control and rely on others; people give each other the benefit of the doubt instead of questioning motives. Tell courage – courage of “voice” and involves speaking with candor and conviction especially when the opinions expressed run counter to the group’s. To preserve safety workers will agree too much and speak out too little. Tell courage is happening when the team will provide tactful but truthful feedback. Pick one from poll and ask them to chat in for which type.
- Good bucket management is a function of knowing which bucket you are operating out of, discerning which bucket your team is operating out of, filling your bucket and their buckets with courage.
- By jumping first you inspire workers to value you as an independent thinker Demonstrate initiative Paved the way or tried something innovative Setting the stage
- Try, Trust, Tell Context Diagram: try for me, trust from business Madgex project status report: manage bully – tell Decision workshop: try with preparation (will describe in more detail later) Be the job: try then bring trust to others Create scrum: try, trust the workers My team seeing me try Business giving me more trust
- The safer people feel the more risks they are likely to take – people extend themselves when the consequences for doing so are forgiving. Value forward-failing mistakes – there is a big difference between good mistakes (best effort, bad results) and bad mistakes (sloppiness or lack of effort). Workers are more courageous when they see you being more courageous toward your bosses. Workers want to know that you’re courageous enough to stick up for them with a safety net or “air cover” – as a % of time how much do you spend with bosses and how much do you spend with your direct reports? Example of air cover? Lessening the consequences for failure
- Try, Trust, Tell examples QA lead – try Sticking up for the team – tell Lessening the consequences for failure. Providing a safety net.
- Harnessing fear: build a robust protective frame by doing such things as gathering all the facts surrounding the situation, getting mentored by others who have faced similar challenges, and acquiring the skills you’ll need to competently face the task Protective frames are not safety nets. Safety nets are essentially lowering workers’ risks (and fear) by lessening the consequences of failure. With a robust protective frame, the size of the “tiger” stays the same but the size of one’s confidence gets bigger. Normalize fear, tie it to courage, use its energy.
- Try, Trust, Tell examples Build a robust protective frame by doing such things as gathering all the facts surrounding the situation, getting mentored by others who have faced similar challenges, and acquiring the skills you’ll need to competently face the task Prepared: Invite feedback from experienced colleagues; Meet with influential attendees and project stakeholders; Communicate; Have a decision tracking mechanism; Partner with expert and business lead; Agenda; Prep materials; Parking lot Trust my skills in facilitating a group Be flexible – moving things around, starting late Be tough – eye on critical path – push on a key decision
- Skill stretching assignment that has a higher degree of difficulty than their current skill sets. When they are too uncomfortable let them settle in with the newly acquired skills long enough to become comfortable again. Lead=ups are the building blocks of complex assignments, and using them greatly enhances people’s level of preparedness.
- Try, Trust, Tell examples Promoting or giving a project manager more complex assignments – lead up
- It’s easier to get people to perform uncomfortable tasks when those tasks tie in to the attainment of their personal goals. There is often a huge disconnect between what is important to a company’s executive body and what is important to front-line workers. What matters to the average worker are career opportunity, meaningful work, a balanced life, a fair wage, and being treated with respect. Not increasing output. Quote As a middle manager (PM), you have to attend to the goals of your bosses (sponsors) and to the career inspirations of your workers (team). Too many managers focus solely on the former. It only takes four words to understand the career aspirations of your workers – because when you know what people want, you are in a far better position to match their aspirations to the company’s goals. What about you all – is what you are working on in line with your career goals? Are you learning or being challenged? Are you seeing projects a bit out of reach that you want to try? - my experience with moving over to membership/corporate (big jump, new frontier). Be an advocate for yourself – remember Reardon’s advice – set the goal, network, look for the right time.
- I want to say up front that I found two excellent references that really helped bring expert best practice guidance to my practical examples.