Viewing Posts by Yasmina Khelifi
Let Team Preferences Guide Knowledge Sharing Practices
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By Yasmina Khelifi, PMP, PMI-ACP, PMI-PBA In my last post, I wrote about the benefits of sharing knowledge. Now it’s time to talk about how you’ll document and maintain that information. And this is where project leaders should turn to their teams for ideas. A few years ago, I belonged to a very efficient and collaborative project team. We were all responsible for a service deployed across different manufacturers’ models, hence the importance of having up-to-date information. We maintained a spreadsheet file shared on a cloud service and we updated it regularly, as agreed on by the team. Then a new manager decided to implement a different system. The team was told to send all information to two administrators who would handle updates. You can imagine what happened. Almost no one sent the information and the system was decommissioned after two years. As a result, all the knowledge our team had built over the years was lost. What was deemed a more professional or advanced tool ended up crippling the knowledge base. As a project leader, we need to trust our teams and let them define the best ways to share and store information. We’re not talking here about an encyclopedia of knowledge. It’s really just enough documentation to help handover and onboarding. One of the best ways to ensure knowledge sharing is to record presentations and conference calls. You can also take detailed notes to share with other project team members. Another major part of closing the information loop within teams is to solicit and give constructive criticism and feedback. Postmortems, retrospectives or lessons learned are an invaluable opportunity to share knowledge and ultimately document it. How do you let team preferences shape your approach to sharing knowledge? |
Are You Doing Enough to Encourage Knowledge Sharing?
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By Yasmina Khelifi, PMP, PMI-ACP, PMI-PBA Sharing knowledge has so many benefits: It’s at the heart of business continuity. It boosts team morale. It creates a culture of continued learning. It connects remote employees to crucial information. It encourages the flow of ideas and can even challenge the status quo. From my point of view, it’s part of being a project professional. As a leader, you can set the right example and get team members in the mindset of knowledge sharing. If it’s presented as a norm, the team follow your lead and carry this behavior to other projects and teams within and outside of the organization. So why isn’t it always practiced? Because it’s difficult. A few years ago, I joined a new technical team, replacing a contractor. During our handover period, we met regularly to discuss the transition, but he didn’t keep much documentation and his explanations weren’t clear to me. I had difficulties grasping the big picture. At the same time, I met the new manager regularly. But he was a true servant leader—trusting his team members—and so he didn’t have the details I needed. And the rest of the team seemed preoccupied by their headphones. (I’ve gained a reputation for asking many questions, so I thought they were afraid of investing too much time in sharing information with me.) Throughout my 20-year career, I experienced some reluctant behaviors. People don’t directly say “no,” but they demur through:
What’s crucial is to get team members to officially agree that they will contribute to sharing/explaining knowledge. But how do you secure that buy-in? I’ve found one-on-one meetings are the best strategy for reluctant colleagues. Being visual and sharing information live—away from the computer screen—also helps people focus. A few years ago, I needed an expert’s help on a new service set to launch. As I knew he balked at sharing knowledge, I organized a face-to-face meeting with him. I arrived one hour before the meeting and wrote the different topics and the questions on a big whiteboard to ensure we stayed on task and maintained clarity. Another thing to keep in mind: Subject matter experts often have scarce availability, so be sure to clarify your intention from the outset of the conversation and highlight the benefits of knowledge sharing. Your goal isn’t to step on anyone’s toes, rather to get information for a given purpose. And you have to create a safe environment to foster that type of collaboration. As a project professional, you’re responsible for devising strategies to get the information and keep it flowing across silos. There’s no silver bullet, but efforts pay off in the long term. How do you foster knowledge sharing within your project team?
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Are You Stifling Your Team’s Creativity?
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by Yasmina Khelifi, PMI-ACP, PMI-PBA, PMP Having an innovative mindset isn’t as simple as having good ideas. It takes strong project leaders who create an empathic culture in which people can share their ideas and feel empowered to challenge the status quo. According to PMI research, 3 in 4 project professionals say their organization has sponsored or invested in innovative ideas brought forward by teams or individuals. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. Here are three ways project leaders stifle the creativity of their teams—and why you should avoid them at all costs. 1. Sticking to the same old routine Teams should always be looking critically at how they’re navigating project challenges. Sure, some techniques and ideas stand the test of time, but the team should feel supported to bring fresh perspectives and experiences to the table. When I joined a new team many years ago, I ferreted out some process inefficiencies and some requirements that weren’t tracked properly and alerted the project managers. They had their reservations but remained open to my input. We delivered the projects successfully and the team as a whole gained valuable lessons. To keep you and your team receptive to new ideas and new ways of working, ask yourself:
2. Deprioritizing new ideas When I joined a team as a new volunteer, the team was encouraged to generate new ideas, but then leadership ignored them. This crushed team morale and held me back from making any proposals. Remember: A motivated project team is an effective project team. To keep the ideas flowing, take team suggestions, challenges and recommendations seriously and prioritize them as part of your project strategy. Ask yourself:
3. Failing to secure team buy-in A few years ago, my team wanted to consolidate different trips to Africa among multiple departments. I proposed that we use a shared digital spreadsheet to keep track of these trips, while a senior manager, instead, proposed a new tool not yet adopted by most team members. The goal was to push the new tool, but the team wasn’t open to it at that time. As a result, we had this shiny, new resource that cost money and that few knew how to use. Getting feedback and buy-in from the team is integral in creating meaningful change. Here are a few suggestions for securing that support:
The possibilities to spur positive change should not be squandered. Project professionals must kindle the spark of curiosity and embrace new perspectives, even if they’re disruptive. How do you keep your team inspired to remain creative and innovative? Share your comments below. |
3 Ways COVID Changed My Leadership Style
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by Yasmina Khelifi, PMI-ACP, PMI-PBA, PMP The unforeseen chaos of COVID-19 has changed the way we work, the way we live—and the way we lead. Here are three ways I’ve reinvented my leadership style in such uncertainty: 1. Increased empathy I’ve worked in a virtual global environment for the past 20 years. Still, this crisis helped me sharpen my skills and I’ve also become a more empathetic leader. I’m more understanding as project delays arise. I’m more accepting of small mistakes made by my team in haste. And I’m conditioned to push through work challenges that are outside of my control, like the internet connectivity issues of teammates abroad. I’ve also noticed I’m more sensitive to my tone of voice when I communicate information to remote team members. 2. More thoughtful self-discovery The external crisis forced me to focus on some questions that may sound philosophical, but chart a path forward:
It takes time and courage to begin the journey of self-introspection but it’s rewarding. Have you made your leadership self-diagnosis? Try repurposing an agile retrospective tool:
It’s time to take stock. Unlearning habits isn’t so easy, but taking actions now will impact tomorrow. 3. An expanded professional network The instability of the existing job market reinforces the need to expand your network. For instance, I enrolled in an international professional community to develop marketing skills. I have the opportunity to meet coaches, HR managers, speakers and writers I’m not usually exposed to. I’m optimistic that it will open my eyes to a new learning world. In what ways have you changed as a leader this year? |
Become a Better Servant Leader
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By Yasmina Khelifi, PMI-ACP, PMP “We miss the way you managed the project!” After leaving my role as a project manager of a software development team, these words were the best gift I could’ve received. It was a new team, a new innovative product development and a new experience for me. I was not a developer, I did not have any agile training and I did not know how to contribute to the project efficiently. But I observed and kept note of what worked and what didn’t—which helped me develop my skills as a servant leader. Servant leaders are a different breed—they flip the traditional leadership model on its head. Their main goal is to be of service to their teams instead of simply focusing on the organization. My past project work has given me firsthand experience on the benefits of servant leadership. Here are some ways to apply it: 1. Remove roadblocks. Wherever I could, I tried to get rid of anything getting in the team’s way. Participating in meetings or writing documents was considered a waste of time by the team. So I decided to lend a hand, letting them concentrate on activities that added value. To ease the tension between the development team and the head of marketing, I negotiated and proposed more streamlined options for implementation and brought the ideas back to the team. I gave presentations on behalf of the team about the product and jotted down the questions I couldn’t answer. I documented and organized the information to be shared in a way it could be easily accessed. I concentrated on circulating the information within the team and tried to anticipate any issues or topics. 2. Set ground rules. The development team complained to me after a marketing representative in the organization stepped on its toes. They needed a mutually beneficial and efficient way of working, so I stepped up as the main point of contact and set up weekly, in-person meetings. Every Friday morning, we met with the development team. The representative loved technology and wanted to know more and engage in a knowledge exchange, but it used up a lot of our time. This person also gave some advice on topics he did not know, which didn’t always sit well with members of the development team and came to my desk and asked me questions I could not answer. Regular meetings and serving as a dedicated team liaison were not enough. At this point, it became clear that I needed to set specific ground rules, so that I didn’t diminish the trust I had built with my team or put them at risk by allowing someone outside the team to question or interfere with their work processes. 3. Reward the team. Congratulating team members and giving them visibility keeps them motivated and builds trust. And there’s more than one way to create an environment in which your team feels appreciated. I initiated a weekly newsletter to shine a light on team achievements, even highlighting individual names. I also spoke with the functional manager about the good job done by the developers and pushed for a pay rise. I even advocated for a member to receive training on a test tool. Looking back, the project was both a challenging and transformational growth journey. But I did learn a lot about servant leadership—trusting the team and supporting them whenever and however they need it. How have your experiences with servant leadership shaped you?
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