Some Skin In the Game

Ty is a work management evangelist; "accidental" project manager and marketing veteran with over 25 years of experience.

  Communications Management   Knowledge Management   Lessons Learned   ProjectsAtWork  

A huge challenge we face as project leaders is creating an atmosphere where everyone on the team takes ownership of their tasks and the bigger picture. To get people to commit on a deeper level, tools need to go beyond status updates; they need to provide transparency and visibility into the meaning behind the work.

The story is told of a pig and a chicken who decided to go into business together and open a restaurant. The chicken suggested, “We could do a breakfast menu and serve bacon and eggs.” The pig wasn’t too excited about the idea. He said, “That’s all fine and dandy for you. All you have to do is make an occasional contribution while I have to be totally committed.”

Although most members of the project team don’t have to be as committed as the pig, one of the biggest challenges we face as project leaders is creating an atmosphere where everyone is engaged and feels a sense of ownership relating to the projects they work on. I think it’s important that everyone on the team has a little “skin in the game.”

Most of the projects I work on are usually completed during the course of a calendar quarter. Depending on the team’s ability to plan and execute on those quarterly initiatives, there’s some kind of bonus associated with success — we have skin in the game. As a result, I’m …

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