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Viewing Posts by Conrado Morlan
Groom and Coach Your Gen Y Project Managers
Categories:
Generational PM
Categories: Generational PM
| As a project or program manager, there may be times when you're asked to recommend one of your team members to manage a new project. Depending on the magnitude of the project, you may select a team member based on his or her skills and experience. The new project may be a good opportunity to fulfill a younger team member's aspiration of becoming a project leader. But to groom project managers from a different generation, you must assess their skills and define an action plan. After the action plan is completed, the Gen Y manager will start a transition period to prove his capacities by executing the associated project activities. Ninety days is usually appropriate. During this period the Gen Y project manager will be vulnerable. It will be important that whoever is coaching the Gen Yer, establish a solid working relationship and that you help him or her to navigate the new role. To effectively coach and train the Gen Y project manager, have your trainee do the following:
Have you had the opportunity to recommend a Gen Y member of your team to lead a project? If so, what did you do to support him or her? |
Contribute to the Project Management Profession
| This weekend at PMI® Global Congress 2011--North America, I accepted the PMI Distinguished Contribution Award. As the first Mexican national recipient of the award, it's an honor and a responsibility. This award represents the global recognition PMI bestows upon individuals who contribute to the growth of the project management profession. In 2008, I joined a group of volunteers that acts globally and domestically. I learned about the extent to which PMI volunteers offer their services, including writing PMI standards, preparing questions for certification exams, organizing global congresses, and presenting at PMI events. My first official volunteer activity was as a presenter at PMI® Global Congress 2008--Latin America in São Paulo, Brazil. There, I had the opportunity to meet practitioners from different latitudes and to share my experience working on multigenerational and multicultural project teams. After the global congress, I had many more opportunities pop up to continue supporting PMI's culture of volunteerism and promoting the value of multicultural project teams. I seized the opportunity to mentor young project managers and create project management knowledge. I was able to impact society after I helped the PMI Madrid, Spain Chapter translate into Spanish the Project Management Methodology for Post Disaster Reconstruction. The final product was ready at the time an earthquake hit Chile. The local chapter and Chilean authorities used this document to help manage post-disaster projects. These opportunities have been excellent learning experiences that have enriched me personally and professionally. They've given me the opportunity to touch lives and persuade other colleagues to volunteer. I've been lucky that the team members noticed my volunteer efforts and endorsed my nomination for the PMI Distinguished Contribution Award. If you are an experienced project practitioner and would be interested to contribute to the profession you can:
See more posts from Conrado. See more posts from PMI® Global Congress 2011--North America. |
The Invisible Side of Different Generations in Project Teams
Categories:
Generational PM
Categories: Generational PM
| Generation X represents the majority of members in project teams around the world. (The exact date range of this generation varies, but for the purpose of this post, it is those born in the 1960s through the early 1980s). These team members are potential candidates to transition to higher ranks once their senior project managers and program managers are ready to retire. Veteran project managers and program managers who are close to retirement are looking for the right successor. But that can be challenging because of the divergence of values among generations. Cultural and generational beliefs and behaviors have both "visible" and "invisible" components. Visible elements of beliefs and behaviors are easy to observe and represent the 'what' of cultures and generations. For example, baby boomers are confident, independent and self-reliant, and those from the Silent generation are disciplined and loyal. The invisible part is not easy to observe and represents the 'why' of cultures and generations. It holds values, beliefs, attitudes and assumptions that are a result of shared experiences. During Generation X's childhood years, in the mid 60's and 70's, there was an intense competition between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. This competition influenced people to strive towards their country goal and fostered teamwork. The competition between countries included fields like economy, politics, science and sports. Generation X was born into, and grew up in this competitive environment. They have taken their culture and spirit to the workplace and positively impact project teams with their pragmatism, competence and technological savvy. In my opinion, project managers and team members of different generations need to look on the invisible side of their beliefs and values to understand each other and avoid stereotyping and creating the wrong perception. As a project manager, what would you say is the main contribution of Gen X team members? What other invisible factors had a positive effect for generations now in the workforce? |
Adding Generation Y to Projects
Categories:
Generational PM
Categories: Generational PM
| Generation Y is entering the workplace. As the children of baby boomers, Generation Y may not always fit the behavior you see in many organizations, but that shouldn't impede how you leverage their talents and competences when working as team members on a project. These 20-something new graduates, or "millennials," have lived in a technologically ubiquitous world. They've always been recognized independently of their abilities and have mastered virtual collaboration skills. Projects provide an ideal work environment for millennials because of their temporary nature. Many in Generation Y are searching for assignments that fulfill them personally and challenge the status quo. And they like to develop solutions supported by technology. Their attraction to technology may cause some project managers to find it challenging to communicate with millennials who don't follow traditional business formalities. For example, those that favor sending task and project status via text message rather than standard report templates. In the project environment, millennials are closer in temperament and outlook to baby boomers. They look for smart mentors who don't talk down to them. When these types of relationships mature, boomers will show millennials how their wants can align with an organization's needs. Millennials bring much to project environment: the ability to rapidly adapt to change, the ease with which they embrace diversity and a strong collaborative spirit. They've grown up in a changing and diverse world and have mastered many abilities that are important to projects. As a project or program manager, how do you attract young team members and keep them on your projects? What is the biggest challenge you have faced in working with millennial team members? Read more from Conrado. Read more on teams. |
The 50-something Project Manager
Categories:
Generational PM
Categories: Generational PM
| Nowadays, many of the seasoned project management professionals across the world are part of the baby boomer generation, a term often used for those born between mid-1940s and the mid-1960s. I'd like to talk about their contribution to the project management profession. As a member of this generation, I can attest that baby boomers are competitive by nature. We are confident, independent and self-reliant. Although respectful of authority and hierarchy, baby boomers think that rules can be changed. Thus, don't be surprised if during a project meeting baby boomers argue about the project issues. While leading a multigenerational team, baby boomer project managers will face conflicts due to the diversity of generational values. Addressing conflict in a multigenerational team will require for the project manager to master a multigenerational mindset. That means you must: • Understand that beliefs and values are not easy to change. Learn about why other generations behave as they do. • Put yourself in someone else's shoes to get a better perspective on what motivates the multigenerational team. • Work with the generational differences rather against them. Establish an on-going and candid communication environment that fosters dialog among the team members. Regardless of your generation, your purpose as a project manager is to lead and inspire your project team while leveraging the divergent point of views of your team members. As a baby boomer project manager, how do you deal with generational differences in your project team? Are you doing something to master your multigenerational mindset? See more posts about multigenerational teams. |