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When you think of your project manager skills, then “compassion” is probably not the first word that comes to mind. You would probably first list some other hard project management tools and techniques like your scheduling abilities or completing your projects on scope and on budget.
And only if you keep adding words to this project management skills list will you eventually come to terms like conflict management, team building, empathy and compassion.
Margaret Meloni (http://www.margaretmeloni.com) says that we project managers should value compassion much more than we do.
If we are supposed to use compassion as one of our project management soft skills then we have to first define what it is, how it relates to project management and hear examples of how to use it on our projects. And that’s exactly what you are going to get from Margaret’s interview.
But the most important question that I have asked Margaret is this: If compassion is truly so important for me as a project manager, how can I see quantifiable results on my projects?
Posted on: September 15, 2015 10:54 AM |
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Bernadine DouglasIT Project Manager| ConsultantTopton, Pa, United States
Interesting interview. Thanks for sharing. I would like to mention additional realistic examples to the compassion outlook for a project manager. It is great to notice suffering from a personal standpoint of what may be happening in your team members' personal lives. Responding to compassion as a project manager can also be done with just noticing a team member's workload and getting them some help. Or as you mentioned, noticing the several missed deadlines, where here you--the project manager--may also be in a position to adjust tasks or deadlines. A discussion with a sponsor to reconsider the scope of a deadline could be helpful.
I also want to chime in on your mention of Mr. T's "I pity the fool," saying. You mention how pity sometimes relate to someone thinking I have a something (in your example--a house), and you don't. I think and hope your reference to pity here is what you were leading to with the remainder of the interview is that pity is and should be seen as a way of extending help (compassion as you say) in situations where we see it is needed and we can be that extension of help vs. we are reaching out because we are better and only help, for example, because you can't help yourself.
In addition, you mention how Mr. T's saying is referring to "I pity the fool who wants to take me on." To champion this saying, I'd like to offer that as project managers we have to hold on to this thought for ourselves. We are taking on projects with its issues and challenges. We have to be of a mindset that we can take on getting that project completed irregardless of the many problems and distractions that can occur.
Nice interview, It Provides a good insight. I feel Compassion is important for a project but even more important for the character of the person. Showing empathy and compassion make you stand out of the crowd.
When you think of your project manager skills, then “compassion” is probably not the first word that comes to mind. You would probably first list some other hard project management tools and techniques like your scheduling abilities or completing your projects on scope and on budget.