Developing your awareness can help improve your relationships and project delivery, say Donnie MacNicol and Steve Wood

1. 8 Construction Journal April-May 09
Soft skills – Self-awareness
Colourful relationships
Developing your awareness can help improve your relationships and project delivery, say Donnie MacNicol and
Steve Wood
ur industry is built on relationships, which will
be tested in the next few years because of the
wider economy. PMs are often at the sharp
end of projects, needing to deliver even when multiple
technical challenges exist and relationships are under
strain. It is critical that PMs develop strong and
sustainable relationships to allow them to influence
others. This will require them to understand:
• the impact they have on the feelings of others
• what makes others ‘tick’ and how they react in
certain circumstances
• what makes themselves tick.
This increased awareness will allow you to, for
example, deal more easily with conflict, engage with
stakeholders, adapt project management to suit the
project and manage risk more effectively. These areas
will be discussed later after introducing a model to
help facilitate self awareness (other models exist
to do this, such as the Myers Briggs Type Indicator).
The Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) is a self-
development tool based on Relationship Awareness
Theory. The underlying assumption of the SDI is that
‘all human beings need to interact with others in a
way that makes them feel good about themselves’.
The SDI looks at our motivations in good times as
well as when faced with conflict.
The SDI distinguishes our underlying motivations
by introducing four main Motivational Value Systems
(MVS), which describe ‘how we seek to be valued by
ourselves, others and in all life situations’ (see Figure 1).
Our MVS means we seek to be recognised for being:
• of genuine help to others – BLUE
• focused on achieving results – RED
• self-reliant and orderly – GREEN
• part of an effective group – HUB.
Our behaviour may vary due to circumstances and the
environment but our MVS will remain as an anchor
when things are going well. It is therefore important to
understand a person’s intention and motivations as this
allows us to relate more effectively to them and their
actions – resulting in better relationships.
Consider an important relationship to you. Are you
aware of their motivations and how this influences them?
Using Figure 1 allows project teams or management
groups to view each others’ MVSs so they can see
their diversity, explore this as a source of strength,
and highlight how these same differences may lead
to misunderstanding and conflict with others.
Consider your team. How can you make best use
of its diversity and strengths?
So what do I do now?
Below are four ways in which these awareness skills
can help you with common challenges on a project.
Exposing and dealing with conflict
Relationship Awareness Theory defines conflict as a
reaction to a perceived threat to self-worth so, typically,
people are willing to go into conflict about things that
are important to them. This allows you to identify their
BLUE – Concern for the protection,
growth and welfare of others. Helps
others make a difference in their
lives. Wants to engage and build
rapport with others
RED – Concern for task
accomplishment, the organisation
of people, time, money and other
resources to achieve desired
results
GREEN – Concern for assurance
that things have been properly
thought out, for meaningful
order being established and
maintained. Thinks things
through and is self reliant
HUB – Concern for flexibility and
adapting to other people. Focused
on the group making sure everyone
is included. Provides alternative
viewpoints and considers multiple
topics simultaneously
Figure 1 – The four Motivational Value
Systems: which one do you most
relate to?
It is important
to understand
a person’s
intention and
motivations as
this allows us
to relate more
effectively
to them and
their actions
O
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2. April-May 09 Construction Journal 9
Soft skills – Self-awareness
conflict ‘triggers’. Conflict can also serve as a safety
valve, act as the spur needed for change and
potentially end unproductive associations.
In the case study, we facilitated a series of SDI
workshops with a key partner of the construction
company to resolve a crisis in their relationship. These
allowed both organisations to understand why, in part,
conflict had arisen through misunderstanding each
others’ motives. Opposing PMs realised they were
being illogical by thinking their opposite number was
intentionally delaying the project, whereas in reality
they were doing what they believed would succeed.
Can you identify a similar belief on a project that you
are involved in?
Another useful element of the theory is that we
approach conflict with a predictable sequence of
motivational changes and related behaviours. Initially,
we tend to focus on the problem, the other person
and ourselves. If the conflict is not resolved, then our
behaviour changes and we will tend to focus only on
the problem and ourselves. If still not resolved, then
at the 3rd stage the person would focus only on self-
preservation. Conflict is rarely resolved at this stage.
Engaging with stakeholders including sponsors
Strong relationships with stakeholders are often a
characteristic of successful projects. The PM must
understand the stakeholder’s motivation which is
impacted by the stakeholders’ role on the project and
the culture of their organisation. This may impact the
level of active support the stakeholder will provide.
Understanding how each stakeholder views success
is critical – both in terms of what is delivered and in the
way it is achieved. For example, if the PM was a Red
and the project sponsor a Blue, it would be important
for the PM to understand that they may appear pushy
and insensitive to the sponsor if delivery of outcomes
is all that is focused on during conversations.
Adapting the style of project management to suit
The PM should identify the type of project (defined
through factors such as complexity, pace and capability
of the team) before considering the appropriate style of
project management (as defined by the lifecycle, roles,
controls, etc). These dual considerations will most
effectively support the team in delivering success.
On a current client assignment, we are working
with a team charged with delivering a programme that
is key to the organisation’s future. The current style of
project management is having a detrimental effect on
relationships and, in turn, performance. Using SDI
helped the project office manager identify the need
to adopt a less systematic and inflexible approach to
project management by understanding the motivations
of the team. The bulk of the team has a HUB MVS and
do not feel the group was consulted or that the style is
flexible enough.
Is the style of PM adopted on your project a motivator
or de-motivator for the team?
Identifying and managing risk
Planning for future eventualities, including the
identification and management of risk (as either a
threat or opportunity), is a core PM skill. There are an
infinite number of variations in the way people perceive
a risk, and assess its impact and probability before
identifying appropriate courses of action. It is therefore
critical that the PM appreciates these differences and
implements a process that engages the different team
members and uses this diversity. For example, if risk
is managed by a Green MVS then the identification,
recording, assessment and ongoing management
could potentially be done in a far more structured
and thought-through manner than if another MVS
had the responsibility.
Can you identify how your motivation influences
the way in which you deal with risk?
Developing awareness offers opportunities to improve
relationships, increase the effectiveness of our
delivery processes and highlight the way we deal
with conflict. With the challenges facing the industry,
this is a valuable business advantage that should
be embraced by all.
case studyWe used SDI with the senior management team (SMT) of a specialist
construction company to develop their leadership capability. SDI provided
an objective and impersonal way for them to discuss their different
motivations and the impact these have had on relationships and
performance.
The SMT had four strong Reds, all directly involved in the operational
delivery of projects, the strongest of which was the MD. The other three
members of the SMT (each of which had a different MVS) regularly
challenged decisions but, as their focus is not shared by the Reds, they
could not exert influence, leaving them feeling isolated and unvalued.
One such decision resulted in using considerable internal resources on
a procedural mapping project that delivered no real benefit, something
Donnie MacNicol is a Director
of management consultancy
Team Animation and Chair of the
Association for Project Management’s
People Specific Interest Group.
Steve Wood is Senior Manager
at Personal Strengths (UK) Ltd
donnie@teamanimation.co.uk
Related competencies
include: M004, SP001,
SP002
that was identified as a risk by the non-Red members of the SMT.
Recognising that a ‘personal weakness’ is no more than the overdoing
or misapplying of a personal strength, a number of ‘A-ha!’ moments were
experienced by the SMT. One included the impact on relationships of
having such a Red-focused leadership style and the way it was stifling
the development of all layers of management.
We tend to perceive the behaviours of others through our own MVS,
preventing us from appreciating the strengths of diversity. SMT members
have also learnt to borrow other members’ behaviours to help identify
new decision-making strategies, e.g. a Red may borrow Green
behaviours when looking for alternative options and seek evidence,
rather than just focusing purely on delivery.
For Donnie MacNicol’s
previous articles, visit the
Construction Journal pages
of www.rics.org/journals
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