The Ties we Bind - Engagement & Performance
| I think it's safe to it's well known that Gallup statistics indicate we are at very low rates of employee engagement - and have been for some time. And because engagement has been tied to motivation, productivity and organizational performance and profit, there are many engagement strategies being touted on the market. Many companies are shifting to employee-centric initiatives, to increase the happiness or satisfaction of the employee. Some offer a work-life balance style, including flexible hours, remote working options, options in benefits, and more. Others have looked at creating a more comfortable work environment, with open spaces, lounge chairs and even nap pods, coffee areas, ping pong or games areas, and often included in this - free snacks. But are these the best strategies for increasing engagement? Engaged employees are not necessarily engaged because you have improved their working conditions. It helps to remove stress, and likely increases levels of creativity as well, but won't always increase engagement in the work they are doing or with the people they work alongside. Research has shown there are three basic human needs that need to be met, if we ever want to increase motivation and engagement. These are autonomy, relatedness, and competence. And what is perhaps most important, is that all three need to be met - without even one, the others will diminish. Autonomy is...our need to perceive that we have choices, that what we are doing is of our own volition, and that they are the source of our own actions. Relatedness is…our need for connection to the things we do, and to feel that we are contributing to something greater than ourselves, as well as connection to others without concerns of ulterior motives, our need to care about and be cared about by others. Competence is…our need and ongoing pursuit of increasing knowledge, to feel effective at meeting every-day challenges and opportunities, to demonstrate skill over time, and to feel a sense of growth and flourishing. What is beneficial about this is that, as a leader, you can create environments for your team where all of these needs can be met. You don't need to wait for some HR initiative or organizational management strategy to roll out, or gain more training to make some shifts. I will tell you that I have worked in environments at both ends of the spectrum, when it comes to having these intrinsic needs met. By sharing I hope to validate what research has shown, and help you reflect on your own situations throughout your career and the reasons you may or may not have felt engaged with your role. The Best At the top end, I worked in a synergistic team, where we all worked very collaboratively when it came to strategizing our project plans and making decisions. We interacted at a personal and professional level, and exchanged ideas and feedback in a very open and trusting manner. Although our team had a formal reporting structure, this didn't stop anyone from fully engaging and challenging each others thoughts, nor from correcting each others' mistakes or offering alternate suggestions. Our work was very satisfying, we got a lot done, with each of us finding flow on our individual contributions, and with those pieces coming together - because we had worked the overall strategy together. We never faced work stoppages or delays because something was missed - we stopped only when there were differences of opinion - and this was to hash out and agree upon the best path forward, so we could carry on with the work. Funny thing, when people ask me about what my role was within that team, my default response is to start with "we" - because it was, in fact, a "we" environment. In actuality, my role shifted from junior to senior to leader over the years I was with that team, with some distinct changes in formal accountability along the way. But when it comes to our work accomplished, I do actually struggle with defining responsibilities that were solely mine, and I am fine with that. We performed as a team, and we all contributed to achieving our goals. This was the most inspiring and engaging job I had ever had and would have it back in a heartbeat if given the chance. It is an environment I endeavour to create for any future team that I have. The Worst On the flip side, I have worked with a micro-managing person (forgive me if I struggle to call him leader), who never offered insight as to direction of our team, nor our roles. He distinctly kept us in our silos and had all work pass through him, and always challenged every proposed strategy or decision each of us made. Looking back, I think he argued (like a lawyer) so that he was assured the choices made were right, but he always took things too far. None of us had autonomy in anything we did, and he made everyone feel incompetent. I didn't last very long in this role. As a person who is naturally collaborative, and having had very autonomous roles through most of my career, this was not an environment I could survive in. I quickly became depressed and unmotivated. I dreaded coming to work every day. Where in the spectrum does your environment fall? Companies have long been approaching motivation and engagement of employees the wrong way. Research over the past 60 years has not only proven this, but they have also shown better ways of doing this. Challenge your knowledge about engagement and motivation with this mini-quiz. Better yet, watch this webinar on the topic. Maybe you know it all already, and your team is doing amazing things…or maybe it will reveal that you could learn a thing or two! Are you creating a space where your team can flourish and flow? What will you do to improve?
Sources: "Why Motivating People Doesn't Work...and What Does" by Susan Fowler "Employee Engagement Insights and Advice for Global Business Leaders, State of the Global Workplace" www.gallop.com |
8 PM hot topics in 2017
Categories:
EMEA
Categories: EMEA
| I interviewed speakers who came with hot topics. Here are 8 short interviews (from 1 to 3 minutes) about things that you should hear more about in the coming months. MindfulnessAccording to George Pitagorsky, mindfulness is the capacity to be objectively aware of anything and everything that is rising in and around you. Interview: https://youtu.be/m5UQYGfGuCA Servant leadership: a project manager in the stormDoug Humbert genuinely talked about servant leadership from a real case study taken from hos professional experience. Interview: https://youtu.be/TgDm95e9GI4 Portfolio management reduces project failureMajeed Hosseiney and Michael Frenette explain that to understand the main causes of project failure, we need to look outside of the iron triangle (cost, time, scope) and use portfolio management. Interview: https://youtu.be/vDtjzfegCfU Speak the language of the sponsorAlfonso Bucero reminds us that, as project managers, we need to consider our project from a strategic perspective to better communicate with our project sponsor. Interview: https://youtu.be/pj7EZvbW8-A Global project communicationMohamed Khalifa and Muhammad Ilyas shared a tool that helps understand differences between cultures so that we can better communicate with stakeholders on projects with multicultural teams. Interview: https://youtu.be/dhg0ph04rzk PDRI: Project Definition Rating IndexJoy Gumz presented PDRI, a tool for scope definition in large, complex, non-agile projet management. Interview: https://youtu.be/k7Zh_v-_x4k Handling complexityLeon Herszon identified 15 complexity factors that have an impact of cost estimation. His tool provides guidelines based on complexity assessment. Interview: https://youtu.be/OA30kPEN4ao Bridge the gap between organizational silosAccording to Saadi Adra, business development and project management often work in silos. He proposes a tool to increase collaboration between both. Interview: https://youtu.be/k6Og5LAZeD4 Thanks to the community team: Kristin Jones, Laura Samso, Sarah Mersereau and Fabio Rigamonti! |
Interview to Werner Meyer, PhD, PMP: Managing Uncertainty in Project Estimates
| Werner surprised me the first time I listened to his speech ... Human behavior and project management. See here the interview we made him during the PMI EMEA Congress in Rome 2017 #PMIEMEA17 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfSoQnI64wA Thank you Werner! Enjoy ... |
PMI EMEA Congress: Fun in the Sun
Categories:
EMEA
Categories: EMEA
| So far I shared with you all several insights I got from some of the sessions I attended, but another big part of a PMI Congress is the networking fun you can have.
I reconnected with old friends and met new ones: what a great chance to establish year-long relationships!
PMI Congresses are always a great opportunity to meet practitioners outside my company, my Country and my industry.
It is also a great chance to talk to the speakers in a casual environment; below I am with Lily Murariu, Mike O'Brochta, and Frank Saladis: they all delivered awesome sessions, with takeaways I will apply to my job.
They were so nice to answer some of my questions about their sessions! It was also a great honour to meet again Jack Duggal, I attended his Seminar Word last year in Barcellona and it really changed the approach my Company have about our PMO.
I am also a Toastmasters and had the opportunity to talk with William who is not only passionate about ethics but... he's also 10 times DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster). What a good surprise!
Can you believe you can even meet Jim Snyder, one of PMI Founders, having a photo and a chat with him? He is an extremely witty man, and sharing some thoughts about the future of our profession was a priceless experience!
But the most unexpected (and funny) part was meeting unknown people thanks to the PMI Event App. Everything started with someone complaining (and making fun) about the colourful socks the keynote presenter had, stating they distracted him; therefore some people launched the hashtag #FancySocksChallenge. We had fun, we met, we talk, we created a bond.
Thank you Arlete, Mykyta and Burak for the great amusement! It was a silly little thing that helped us to add a little fun to the learning we had, and we promised to continue our challenge next year in Berlin!
Auf wiedersehen! |
Building a PMO with an Agile Approach
| Presenters: M. Khalifa and M. Ilyas When I saw in the agenda that these two presenters were delivering two sessions at PMI EMEA, I was very excited as they are usually very informative and knowledgeable, but also entertaining and enjoyable.
PMI EMEA has 7 concurrent tracks, therefore I could attend only this session. One of the most important pillars that must be added to the other three traditional pillars of PMO Implementation is Change Management.
Without it, the entire PMI falls down. Then, among all the agile's enablers, they explained the importance of simplicity with the following example:
This is a bull portrayed by Picasso after several (many) steps of simplification. In their case study, their challenge was how to move from complexity to simplicity without compromising governance and best practices. They reached that success by implementing the Picasso's approach:
The feedback they had were supporting their approach:
And you, what experiences to you have to share in similar cases? |
