Resilience and PMO - Wellingtone | FuturePMO 2021
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Presenter: Emma-Ruth Arnaz-Pemberton - Director of Consulting Services, Wellingtone Presentation: Resilience has been one of the buzzwords of 2020 and 2021. During this engaging presentation, Emma-Ruth will provide an insight into building individual and team resilience to get your PMO Supercharged for the future. To attend the next FuturePMO conference, please visit www.FuturePMO.com
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Resilience and PMO - Wellingtone | FuturePMO 2021
- 1. #FuturePMO #FuturePMO Resilience and PMO Emma-Ruth Arnaz-Pemberton Wellingtone
- 2. #FuturePMO Emma-Ruth Arnaz-Pemberton Director of Consulting Services, Wellingtone Founder PMO Academy Sustainability and CSR Lead Axelos P3M3 Assessor Fellow APM Chair APM PMO SIG PMI UK Board Member IPMA AEIPRO Partner NLP Master Practitioner Mindfulness Practitioner Cognitive Behavioural Therapist @PMONinjas
- 3. #FuturePMO Let’s explore… Resilience in 2021 Resilience: Playing hard to get Resilience: Across teams Becoming resilient Practical tips #FuturePMO
- 4. #FuturePMO Resilience in 2021 ‘The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. The ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.’ Oxford Dictionary There is a single word that sums up 2020 and does encapsulate, in a deeper sense, the shared experience of billions of people this year. That word is resilience. Arianna Huffington, CEO
- 6. #FuturePMO Resilience in 2021 New Challenges: • Balancing work with other responsibilities such as home schooling and caring for relatives • Difficulties in adapting to remote working • Important meetings and phone calls being cancelled for COVID-related reasons • Challenges of communicating with colleagues and stakeholders #FuturePMO
- 7. #FuturePMO Resilience in 2021 The word resilience has the ring of hope, optimism and rebirth. Resilience holds more openness to future growth and possibilities. When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves . Viktor Fankl
- 9. #FuturePMO Resilience: Playing Hard to Get • Predetermined paths • Comfort zones and tribes • Science versus wisdom • Resilient individuals; born not made? #FuturePMO 11/5/2021 9
- 10. #FuturePMO Resilience: Across Teams Individual versus collective resilience Inconsistent vision and goals Virtual connection Day to day roles 11/5/2021 10 #FuturePMO
- 11. #FuturePMO Becoming Resilient • Positive versus limiting Beliefs • Sense of purpose • Network • Reflect and accept • Think optimistically #FuturePMO 11/5/2021 11
- 13. #FuturePMO Practical Tips: You Develop problem solving and critical thinking Learn something Establish goals Find accountability Focus on your physical health Relax
- 15. #FuturePMO Practical Tips: Team Collaborate in & out Review with pragmatism Define the team journey Consider accessibility Get together - often Have fun
- 16. #FuturePMO Resilience as an individual is learned from within Resilience as a team is learned together #FuturePMO 11/5/2021 16
- 17. #FuturePMO Thank You Take some time to reflect on your journey Identify areas in your life or team where resilience is needed Use the practical tips to begin your resilience building Emma-Ruth Arnaz-Pemberton Emma.arnaz-Pemberton@wellingtone.co.u Wellingtone.co.uk ¦ Wellingtone.es PMONinjas #FuturePMO
Editor's Notes
- Without resilience we fail to grow. Following the year we have had, this is the time to start to build skills such as resilience to support the ‘new normal’ whatever that looks like. So today we will explore the state of resilience in 2021, and understand why it is sometimes so hard to find. We will discover some focus areas on becoming resilient, and uncover some practical tips that can help you to do so both as an individual and as a team.
- 8 out of 10 say the pandemic has been and continues to be a source of stress 60% say that the issues currently faced are overwhelming
- So alongside the challenges we are all used to facing, there are new things to consider which is causing people cause for concern: Balancing work with other responsibilities such as home schooling and caring for relatives, or new pets!– cited by 31 per cent of respondents Difficulties in adapting to remote working – cited by 30 per cent of respondents Important meetings and phone calls being cancelled for COVID-related reasons – cited by 30 per cent of respondents Challenges of communicating with colleagues and stakeholders – cited by 29 per cent of respondents
- Lets think about the most popular words from the last 18 months. Lockdown ad pandemic. Don’t they fall flat, reflect negativity, and focus towards a dead end? Some say even the limits of human compassion. It isn’t about being 100% positive 100% of the time, but paying attention to how some of these words make us and our teams feel. The last years have been witness to a huge degree of unprecedented situations, leading to something called psychic numbing. Psychic numbing is a tendency for individuals or societies to withdraw attention from past experiences that were traumatic, and therefore from future threats. Effectively we tactfully ignore risks despite our previous experiences. How many people do you know who forgot about the danger facing them and their loved ones as soon as the UK started to re-open? But it has been a different experience for everyone. When something senseless happens that our minds can’t explain or justify or control, we encoutner a fork in our road, a moment of choice. One fork leads us into despair, cynicism, maybe raging at the universe, or even how meaningless life is and continue down that path to the dark side. Or we can choose the other fork: starting the journey to finding deeper meaning in even the most senseless of events. You can let loss and pain be the catalyst that relieves you of whatever you don’t need, which in turn can take you to the core of who you are. This doesn’t apply just to our personal life but also in our professional world. Ever perceived a lack of control or autonomy? Did someone take your desk away? Its super emotive for most, how did you react to it? The key is that we always have choices even when we think we don't. And although we cant control everything, we can control how we respond to a situation. This statement is something we hear all the time, but I can hear you all asking “Emma you make that sound easy, but why is it so hard?”
- Stand up! Don’t worry you don’t need to touch anyone! Find a partner and spread out Introduce yourselves PMO Practitioners who have been on our classroom course, play along don’t cheat! Study each other for a second Get Back to back Change 2 things about yourself Turn back around Notice what's different Now back to back again Change one more thing Notice what's different this time Sit down if you took something away Stay standing if you added something during either of those sessions When our minds hear CHANGE We automatically think “you’re going to take something away from me” Control, autonomy, desk space, whatever We automatically go to the negative Which is why its important to take a second and respond rather than react. A 9 second pause is the difference between a reaction and a response. Let me ask you: When was the last time you reacted when later you felt you should have responded? Now we now how our brains work… even though we are change agents in our organisations.
- Resilience often appears to be playing hard to get, no matter how much we want to make the right choice, we find it impossible to start. A number of factors can play into resilience appearing hard to find. Firstly, the belief that our paths are predetermined can affect our resilience. ‘Im rubbish at maths’ versus, if I tried I could be more accomplished at maths can be the truth we tell ourselves that limit our ability to be resilient. Consider: do you have faith in a higher power (a God, the Force, something else)? Does blind faith allow us to stay the course when things get tough? Does it make us more comfortable in tough times because of the greater plan that we know is already written? The belief of Predetermination in life can be powerful. As can the belief that we are masters of our own destiny, create our own luck. Next, how often do we stay in our comfort zone? During our PMO Practitioner and Leader courses we spend some time understanding how we learn, and how some are more able to step outside of their comfort zone than others. But often we are enabled! Our tribes often encourage us to stay in there and not step out because it is safe, even though we all know that to grow is to be brave and step outside of our comfort zones into the unknown. Because we learn by example, we find ourselves not brave enough because change is scary? But what if its not? What if those negative thoughts can help us to see a clearer way? How many changes has your organisation been through these last 18 months that turned out to be positive? At Wellingtone, we now have a brand new online learning suite, a whole new vertical that we can use to spread our message, training, and innovations far and wide; such as our most recently accredited courses, short lessons, and fully self learning opportunities. Also in our quest to find resilience its important to acknowledge that during this pandemic we have seen the rise of science versus wisdom. Most of us believe that our experience gives us the wisdom to be able to deduce a right answer – regardless of the science or even proven facts. We believe we know better, which can negatively impact our experience, our choices and even our relationships. One top tip for dealing with opposing views between colleagues, friends, and acquaintances – ask this question before getting into a debate/argument “how much evidence is it going to take to change their mind.” If the answer is no amount. Walk away from that argument. How many times should you have stepped back from a debate? And that was a nice segway into the fact that some career people seem to be born with pit-bull determination. They are less affected by stressful situations and are naturally more resilient to change. Others appear more vulnerable to everyday career and personal pressures. Neither is right or wrong, and regardless of where you fall on that particular spectrum, it is possible to cultivate individual resilience.
- And what about our teams? The concept of groupthink often comes into play during times of stress. The idea that a group perceived power rule without consequence and make decisions based only on their own view of the world. How resilient we are as individuals is often affected and influenced by the resilience of our groups (or tribes). In the work economy, if our workplace has managed to stay resilient throughout this pandemic, then we are more likely as individuals to act in the same way. Likewise, if our organisation has struggled to adapt, then so have we. Likewise our family situation and experience has the same effect. PMO teams in particular that do not define themselves as a group often find that individuals have inconsistent views of the vision and goals. This can be driven by factors such as experience and specialism that people have which may impact how they perceive other ways of working, maybe they have limited exposure to the industry, and even seniority within the team can all affect team dynamics and resilience. We must consider that virtual connection is possible but not the same as building relationships face to face.. We are here today because we missed personal connection. We didn’t try to make FuturePMO virtual because it loses its very ethos to allow us all to learn share and grow together. However this new world of work can have a significant impact on the collective resilience of a team. When was the last time you spoke to each of your colleagues? It has maybe been weeks? Consider that everyone experiences virtual working differently, maybe they need a check in now and again, or maybe they could support us when we feel less motivated. Also our day to day roles, particularly in PMO teams can vary greatly and this can lead to a disconnection between team members and should be considered when attempting to develop resilience in the team. This is such an important point a real dark art, so much so that we include the topic in our PMO Leader course, focused on the bits of PMO that are known to be difficult to do.
- So how do we become resilient? As children, we develop beliefs about ourselves and the world, and these beliefs become the lens through which we view life. We’re constantly on the lookout for evidence to support our beliefs, which means that we’re always looking for information to validate that what we believe is true. Remember “Im rubbish at maths” means that maybe I subconsciously find problems to prove that to myself” Some of these beliefs are limiting. Our limiting beliefs shape everything that we do. They prevent us from seeing opportunities and they discourage us from going on to achieve the things we want in life. We can start to identify these beliefs by listening to what we are telling ourselves. For example, when our internal dialogue is something like, ‘I just have to accept my lot in life’ or ‘Ill never be good enough’ we limit how far we can go, and our level of resilience. Once we identify what these beliefs are, we can then recognise that we have a choice as to whether we will continue to accept them in our lives. My step son sometimes talks and mentions his limiting beliefs. “Tell your brain a different story” is my advice when I hear him. Maybe when it comes to you sitting here now, it’s time to tell yourself a different story. Identifying and finding your sense of purpose can be a great way to find resiliency. A sense of purpose gives us an opportunity to truly believe in what we are attempting through life. And if we believe we are doing the right thing, it can hold us up when times get tough. Networks are more important now than ever. As we have become digitally connected, over connected, we are also craving human interaction and find ourselves disconnected in many ways. So finding and growing your professional and personal network will enable us to become more resilient thanks to the support they provide. Today is a perfect example of that so make sure you stick around for drinks later. Accepting ourselves with all our flaws, again professionally and personally is a sure fire way to find resilience. If there are flaws we want to fix, then use some of the practical tips coming up to help you uncover your resilience, and hold onto it. Its better to show up imperfect than not show up at all. And lastly, being optimistic is not about having a plethora of quotes to share with people (although I have lots if you need them). It is about an individuals mindset, how they respond to challenges as well as opportunities. Remember that although we can choose our response we often don’t. Instead we allow ourselves to be driven and guided by our limiting beliefs.
- Consider Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and what characteristics Self-actualized People that you know have: i. Embrace the Unknown & the Ambiguous. ii. They Accept Themselves, Together With All Their Flaws. iii. They Prioritise and Enjoy The Journey, Not Just the Destination. iv. Inherently Unconventional, Yet Do Not Seek to Shock or Disturb those around them. v. They are Motivated By Growth, And are happy to play the long game not needing instant gratification vi. They Live With a Sense Of Direction and Purpose. vii. They are Not Troubled By Small or Irrelevant Things. They may still react, but they move past quickly viii. They are Grateful For What They Have and Where They Are in Life. ix. Share Deep Relationships With a Few, But also Identify with (and Have Concern Towards) the Human Race in general. x. Self-actualized People are Humble and strive to Resist Enculturation. Self actualised people are not perfect that have their bad days too, they react when they should respond, and they need support as well. So how do we get closer to being self-actualised?
- Problem solving and critical thinking skills can help us to identify and deal with our limiting beliefs. They do this by providing a sense check opportunity rather than an emotional or unconscious response every time. They help us to ask ourselves the questions that will enable us to tell ourselves that different story. One of the growth areas during 2020 has been personal and professional learning. I mentioned our brand new Wellingtone online Academy. Taking the time to learn something new (not necessarily work related) is a great way to challenge our limiting beliefs, the things we tell ourselves we cant do, and accepting that we wont be brilliant at it on day 1. Finding accountability through goals and your network provide focus and enable resilience to grow. Deciding to do something, ticking off a list each day, telling and sharing with the people we interact with can all help us to develop more resilience. Like running on your own versus running with a partner. If you are accountable to someone else, you are more likely to keep going. Your physical health is important. Don’t underestimate the power of feeling better (not necessarily great), but better than you did yesterday. And lastly. Stop. Relax, find the positive (there is usually one), and do some self care. Taking care of others is of no use if you don’t take care of yourself – airplanes tell us to put our own masks on before helping someone else.
- Lets look at what our teams can do. First we need to understand the PMO hierarchy of needs shows the progression that takes PMOs from a nugget of a concept to bring more discipline to change activity, through to a fit for purpose value adding business partner that supports the organisation in all its project, programme, and portfolio activities. And like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it provides a perspective on how the PMO priorities develop as it becomes more ‘mature’; more capable across the services it provides that are perceived as valuable by the PMO Customers. Business Problem or Opportunity needs are the reason why PMOs exist and can manifest as projects, programmes, and activity that requires oversight. Value Perception needs provide the safety of the position of PMO and usually appear in the form of active sponsorship and championing of the PMO and its objectives at the senior level. Partnership needs drive the PMO to be an effective and respected business partner and can include supporting the strategy development of the organisation, and representation across the organisational functions. Maturity needs enable the PMO to continually improve on the value they generate for the organisation and is often a mapped-out journey with practical steps to achieving each level over a period of time. Innovation needs realise the full potential of the PMO through targeted transformation, sustaining the core whilst fostering innovation and progress to achieve recognition from both the organisation and (sometimes) the industry.
- How do we make PMOs more resilient? Accept we don’t own all the good ideas, so collaboration within and outside the team is always the first step. Those of you that have seen my webinars over the last year will recognise that now is the time to review our PMO services, our PPM practice and do so in a pragmatic way. If we have survived without every touchpoint of governance, maybe we need to adopt minimum viable bureaucracy. Take the time to define the journey of the PMO (or whatever team) so that everyone is on the same page, and consider how accessible you are. Project management should NOT be an exclusive club. Get together with the team often, take some Agile principles and start a stand up meeting each day, or have a non-work social hour every now and again. Lastly. You work hard so play hard, do something fun! All these things can help to bring resilience to the whole team. Meaning that personally everyone has a support structure so we win twice!
- Resilience is one of the key words for 2021 and 2022. I hope you have found this session insightful and it has made you reflect on your own level of resilience. Have you found it already or are you still looking for it? If you have in fact found it in this uncertain world, maybe help someone else to find theirs.
- It would be great to hear about your resilience journey, so keep the conversation going with your team, your tribe or with Welllingtone using our DrPMO clinic and networks. Thank you for listening.