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Date
It is not hard to raise one’s hand. Science says it takes about 5 calories to do so. You can get that from the dregs (5%) of a can or bottle of Coca-Cola™. Or a tiny sip of your smoothie.
Yet, when a project issue concerns a team member, an issue that could either cause the project to miss an objective, or worse – to become disconnected from the organization’s mission, vision, and/or values, it seems like that can be much more difficult – as if the hand has become very heavy, and it would take millions of calories (or thousands of gallons of sugary beverages – and maybe some caffeine) to do so.
It seems like there is more hand-wringing than hand raising. That has to change. And you can play a part in that change, in the process building a higher-performing team.
When companies are investing in a project or task that is counter to the project's - or organization’s - stated objectives, and a team member needs to speak up, it’s clearly a leadership issue to ease that hand-raising and avoid hand-wringing. I’m talking about the top leadership of the company.
But I am also talking about project leaders. I’m using the word ‘leader’ quite intentionally here. Not project managers – project LEADERS. Project managers become project leaders when they create an atmosphere of psychological safety in their project team meetings and in general the flow of project communications. Examples of how to do this and to step up as a project leader:
- Set clear ground rules about all ideas (amplifiers and objections) being listened to seriously
- Allow for the use of Devil’s Advocacy to raise issues
- Calling on those who seem reticent to raise concerns
- Minimizing the use of coercive power – saving it for situations where a team member bullying or preventing others from speaking their mind
- Assuring that you as a project leader is connected to the mission/vision/values of the organization – that you are a standard-bearer of ‘the golden thread’.
There are (unfortunately) many instances of where this ‘hand-wringing’ took place instead of ‘hand-raising’: The OceanGate Titan submersible, two different Boeing 737 Max situations (MCAS and the door blowouts, Volkswagen’s ‘Dieselgate’, the Flint, Michigan water switchover, and on, and on.
The bottom line here is that if you want a high-performing team, you want full participation and contribution from everyone – even, no, strike that, especially from the hand-wringers. Their silence can literally be deadly. Their participation – although it may be uncomfortable or hard to hear at first, is one of the things you need – for identification of threats, stakeholders, concerns, and details that you need as a project leader and which will make your project team cohesive (in the long term) and productive (in the short and long term).
In a future post, I will discuss resources and tips for project managers to make their project platform a place where hands will go up, threats will be identified, remedies or actions will take place to prevent disasters, and the individual who raises their hand will be celebrated instead of reprimanded.
I’ll talk more about the value of Devil’s Advocacy in particular in an upcoming post.
In the meantime, have a sip of your smoothie.
Posted
by
Richard Maltzman
on: February 29, 2024 02:28 PM |
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