Great project managers have great networks
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High performing PMs have great internal networks. They go to see people out. They don’t just talk with people on their current networks. They build up relationships and exploit these for sources of information and influence. This presentation looks at why networks matter and how you can burst your 'social bubble'.
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Great project managers have great networks
- 1. Make a memorable connection Today!
- 2. Great project managers have great networks Louise Worsley
- 4. Agenda-based Role-based Numbers ofstakeholders Complexityofengagement Update training materials Introduce Windows 10 Implement anew sales commission scheme Change personnel terms & conditions Build a nuclear power station The stakeholder continuum Stakeholder-neutral Stakeholder-sensitive Stakeholder-ledAgenda-based Role-based
- 5. Myths of networking Networkingis a waste of time It’s for extroverts It’s insincere & manipulative Ourstrong ties are the most valuable It’s about how manycontacts youhave
- 6. Andrew Lisa Bongani Leone Amy Owen Tom Sarah Linky Gail Siyabonga Johan Karen Tania Peter Peter Yolanda Noma The importance of weak links
- 8. Mapping your network List up to 4 names for each question. You may repeat names for different questions. 1. Who are the people with whom you have most frequently discussed matters important to you? 2. Who are the people with whom you have most frequently, communicated with in order to get your work done? 3. Who are the main people with whom you have socialized informally? 4. Who do you approach for career & work advice, such as deciding to take or leave a job? 5. Who do you ask to find out the latest in your profession/discipline?
- 9. How diverse is your network? Now examine the composition of your knowledge network. How many people match each criterion? Age: Older than you by 6 years or more Your age, plus or minus 5 years Younger than you by 6 years or more Organization: Your family Your organisation – same function Your organisation – different function Another organization Gender: • Same as yours • Different from yours Area of Expertise: • Same as yours • Different from yours Area of Expertise: • Same as yours • Different from yours Geographical location: • Same office as yours • Same city • Different city • Different country
- 10. How diverse is your network?
- 11. I store my knowledge in my friends
- 12. My LinkedIn network http://socilab.com/#home
- 14. Connecting you with energy and drive to achieve your ambitions Connecting you withopportunity
- 15. Your network should empower you It should inspire you Networks for • Information • Political support • Personal development • Sense of purpose • Work/life balance • Personal support and energy
- 16. Make a memorable connection Today!
- 17. Thank you! https://za.linkedin.com/in/picubed @worsley_louise • Name | Louise Worsley • Web | www.pi3.co.za • Email | lworsley@pi3.co.za
Editor's Notes
- Research on project managers: High performing project managers: Number 1 behavioural characteristic is integrity Number 1 skill is communication Number 1 task performed – monitoring. At least 30 of time out and about asking that crucial question Number 1 attitude – I am responsible for client acceptance High Performing project managers have extended networks – knew people not just those stakeholders on their current network but also generally around the organisation.
- Stakeholder neutral project – in these projects relatively few SHs and your focus is primarily on role based SHs. Things like small training projects, software updates affecting few people , department office move Stakeholder- sensitive – now SHs are in the 10s and 100s. Lots of role-based to consult with and gain agreement from but also likely to includes – the affected – agenda-based SHs Stakeholder-led – now the agenda-based SHs are so powerful. This is a game changer – now you have to collaborate with these SHs. Project managers with great networks are much more stakeholder-capable and able to anticipate and work with large groups of SHs and crucially, have more strategies for working with agenda-based SHs.
- It’s for extroverts –Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck has shown that people’s basic beliefs about “nature versus nurture” when it comes to personal attributes like intelligence or leadership skill have important consequences for the amount of effort they will put into learning something that does not come naturally to them. People with “fixed” theories believe that capacities are essentially inborn; people with growth mind-sets believe they can be developed over time. As shown in a forthcoming academic paper by Kuwabara, Hildebrand, and Zou, if you believe that networking is a skill you can develop you are more likely to be motivated to improve it, work at it harder at it, and get better returns for your networking than someone with a fixed mind-set. Networking is a waste of time - Last year alone the PM had received close to 60 people, a heavy burden on top of the day job. Rightly, he wonders whether it’s the best use of his time. But, just because networks can do all these things, it doesn’t mean that yours will. It all depends on what kind of network you have, and how you go about building it. Most people are not intentional when it comes to their networks. Like Joe, they respond to requests, and reach out to others only when they have specific needs. Reaching out to people that you have identified as strategically important to your agenda is more likely to pay off. Its insincere or manipulative – go out with people you don’t like!. The problem with this way of thinking is that it produces networks that are neither useful to you nor useful to your contacts because they are too homogenous. Decades of research in social psychology shows that left to our own devices we form and maintain relationships with people just like us and with people who are convenient to get to know to because we bump into them often (and if we bump into them often they are more likely to be like us). Our strong ties are the most valuable – don’t take coffee breaks with your pals. People we know, know people we know. Tipping point – and the importance of weak links Its about how many contacts you have… really!!!
- We surround ourselves by people who are similar to us: The old adage “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is true. But it’s more nuanced than that. In spite of what most self-help books say, network size doesn’t usually matter. In fact, we’ve found that individuals who simply know a lot of people are less likely to achieve standout performance, because they’re spread too thin. Political animals with lots of connections to corporate and industry leaders don’t win the day, either. Yes, it’s important to know powerful people, but if they account for too much of your network, your peers and subordinates often perceive you to be overly self-interested, and you may lose support as a result. The data we’ve collected point to a different model for networking. The executives who consistently rank in the top 20% of their companies in both performance and well-being have diverse but select networks like Deb’s—made up of high-quality relationships with people who come from several different spheres and from up and down the corporate hierarchy. These high performers, we have found, tap into six critical kinds of connections, which enhance their careers and lives in a variety of ways. Through our work advising individual managers, we’ve also identified a four-step process that will help any executive develop this kind of network. But first, let’s take a look at some common networking mistakes. In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell tells us about three types of people most likely to start social epidemics: connectors, mavens and salesmen. "Connectors are important for more than simply the number of people they know," he says. "Their importance is also a function of the kinds of people they know." Their networks are vast and are primarily made up of "weak ties" -- people that they know peripherally. Weak ties make us powerful. Gladwell points to sociologist Mark Granovetter, whose classic 1974 study, Getting a Job, surveyed 282 Boston workers and found that 56% got jobs through a personal connection. Of those connections, most were weak ties. Only 16.7% saw the contact often, 55.6% saw them occasionally, and 28% saw them rarely. Granovetter argues that when it comes to finding out new information, weak ties are more important than strong ties: "Your friends, after all, occupy the same world that you do. They might work with you, or live near you, and go to the same churches, or parties. How much, then, would they know that you don't know?" Acquaintances are more likely to know something you don't. They represent social power -- and the more acquaintances you have, the more powerful you are.
- We surround ourselves by people who are similar to us:
- We surround ourselves by people who are similar to us – even in our social media links
- Try mapping your LinkedIn network. Where are the long leaps – the connectors into different communities.
- A Twitter exercise to take you our of your normal sphere. Pick 4-5 people or companies that you would never normally connect to. Watch them for 3 months and then change again.
- Working with your entrepreneurs in Cape Town we asked the question about what they valued in their networks. One very important area is the motivation and personal support given by members of their professional and personal communities. The people who encourage you to try again – even when it gets hard.
- Generally, benefits fall into one of six basic categories: information, political support and influence, personal development, personal support and energy, a sense of purpose or worth, and work/life balance. It’s important to have people who provide each kind of benefit in your network. Categorizing your relationships will give you a clearer idea of whether your network is extending your abilities or keeping you stuck. You’ll see where you have holes and redundancies and which people you depend on too much—or not enough.
- Become known for something – be clear in your image. Leave memorable traces