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The Optimistic Team for Project Management Success
| "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." -- Winston Churchill About 100 years ago, Ernest Shackleton was looking for a crew for a challenging project: to produce a map of the South Pole. It is said that he published an ad in the local newspaper looking for team members with creativity, a good sense of humor and technical skills. Fast forward to the present day. Dr. Martin Seligman, director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States, is the founder of positive psychology, which focuses on the study of such things as positive emotions, strengths-based character and healthy institutions. Dr. Seligman theorizes that in order to choose people for success in a challenging job, you need to search for aptitude, motivation and optimism. This "explanatory style" theory, which indicates how people explain to themselves why they experience a particular event, can be applied to teams, too, according to Dr. Seligman. He based his hypothesis in three basic predictions: If everything else remains unchanged, the individual with a more optimistic explanatory style will succeed. This happens because he or she will try harder, particularly under bad circumstances. The same thing should hold true for teams. If a team can be classified by its level of optimism, the more optimistic team should achieve its goals, and this will be more evident under pressure. If you can change the style of the team members from pessimistic to optimistic, they will achieve more, particularly under pressure. The next time you need to pick a project team member, consider their optimism in addition to his or her technical competencies. How do you choose your team members? What characteristics do you take into account when integrating members to your team? Read more from Jorge. Read more about teams. |
Help Celebrate Project Management Achievements
Categories:
PMI
Categories: PMI
| There are some stunning stories of success out there -- too many of which go unheralded. Here's your chance to change that with the 2012 PMI Professional Awards. You've got plenty of options -- from project and individual awards to research and literature awards. Consider that peer you've seen contributing to the advancement of the project management profession or PMI. Now's the time to acknowledge all that hard work by nominating him or her for the PMI Distinguished Contribution Award. Nominee(s) don't have to be a PMI member and may work in any field. Doing well should give project professionals more than just that "warm and fuzzy" feeling. Shine the spotlight on projects that improve the wellbeing of a community, or achievements that apply project management principles to the pro bono delivery of goods and services. The PMI Community Advancement Through Project Management Award is offered in Individual, Organizational and PMI Chapter categories. Nominations for both awards must be submitted by 1 April 2012. All awards are presented among your peers at the PMI Awards Ceremony, which is held in conjunction with PMI® Global Congress 2012 -- North America (20-23 October in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada). No one knows excellence in project management like you and your peers. So nominate a deserving colleague today. Learn more, download applications, and watch videos of past award winners and nominees. |
Resolve Communication Issues in Projects
| After a recent project progress meeting with my team, one of the senior members and I discussed the face-to-face communication challenges we have with other members. We concurred that when the person receiving information has a low retention, it results in false assumptions and misunderstanding the topic of discussion. Why is this happening? Why, if the person receiving information confirms that everything is clear, do we still we face communication issues in projects? Usually, it's because taking notes in a meeting is going away, as many team members wait for a meeting recap that notes their action items. In face-to-face communication, we spend most of the time listening -- and apparently, we're not good at it. We filter what we want to hear and that may result in a broken message. The senior member of my team referenced earlier is part of the silent generation. He mastered his listening skills in an environment without all of the ways to "replay" conversations that we use today. In addition, he mentioned that the communication environment was "less polluted" than today, where we are bombarded with things that affect our ability to pay attention. I asked the senior team member what are the key elements of good listening skills, based on his experience. He recommended:
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Plan an Effective Project Meeting
| On a project management forum I frequent, someone asked whether or not it was rude to use digital devices during meetings. Some responses were flat out rejections of using digital devices. Other responses were accepting of using technology while others are speaking. Personally, if you are not being disruptive, I don't think it's rude to use your digital devices in a meeting. I think what's more important to note is why people are using their digital devices during the meeting. As a new project manager, you will probably be hosting many meetings for a project. It's up to you to stay focused even if the participants aren't captivated the entire time. As project managers in general, we should really take a good look at why we call meetings at all. You may think you've called everyone together to get their input. But how many people did you invite? What often happens is that a few people talk at once, and several people are left out and unable to contribute.They will inevitably find a more useful way to spend their time. You may think you've called a meeting at a good time because everyone was available on the calendar at the same time -- finally. But realistically, almost everyone has something going on before and after your meeting. Your meeting isn't the only thing occupying their attention. An empty space on a calendar really isn't an empty space. As project managers, we need to ask ourselves what kind of meetings we are calling, what's the purpose, who must be invited and why to determine if a meeting is the absolute best way for you to impart or gather a particular type of information. The reason for calling a meeting should not be because it's the easiest way to give information or to get input. If you do find that you must meet, consider having several smaller meetings in small spaces that engage your core audience. Invite three to five people instead of a huge group. You can even adopt the agile practice of having 15-minute stand-up meetings to encourage groups to focus and get through agenda items quickly. Sitting in a room waiting to be engaged is bound to lose anyone's attention. If you keep your attendee list short, even if the meeting is long, there is more audience engagement and less individual downtime. Most importantly, there is less opportunity for someone to tune out because they feel no one is paying attention to them. How do you engage team members during meetings, and do you care if they use digital devices? Read more posts from Taralyn. Read more about project planning. |
How Project Managers Can Execute Force Majeure Clauses
Categories:
Best Practices
Categories: Best Practices
| The revolutions and demonstrations last year in the Middle East and North Africa, dubbed the Arab Spring of 2011, was a trying time for project managers in the region. As we near the first year anniversary of these historic events, we face more uncertainty. We have witnessed the evacuation of expatriate staff, the relocation of operations, and an unmotivated local workforce. Project managers still see strikes, riots, civil disobedience and tension. Some projects have been derailed, failed to meet their objectives or are late. Customers have faced contractors, suppliers and developers absolving themselves of their contractual responsibilities by pleading "force majeure." "Force majeure" is a common contractual clause that frees parties, bound by a contract, from liability or obligation if an "act of god" happens. Unless these acts are clearly defined, they are assumed to be extraordinary events with an extremely low likelihood of occurring. If used, force majeure clauses shift risk allocation from project contractors to their customers or other contractual stakeholders. Organizations with projects in regions where force majeure events have taken place should prepare for ongoing conditions. To reduce the potential for conflict and ambiguity, organizations should add more contractual detail and definition to force majeure provisions in existing and new contracts. It eases tension and increases the prospect of sharing the responsibilities of cost and impact from these events. Project managers can follow these good practices to add detail and definition to force majeure clauses in the following way: Define what circumstances and events constitute a force majeure. What constitutes force majeure in my region seems to be open to interpretation. My advice to project professionals is to provide as much clarity to this clause as feasibly possible by listing examples and inclusions. Depending on the project's nature and location, the list might highlight political unrest, riot, war, invasion, terrorism, civil war, rebellion, revolution or insurrection. Other events could be radiation leaks, nuclear accidents, toxic explosions and natural disasters. Define what constitutes the end of a force majeure. A demonstration or strike would have a start and end time, for example. However, this event may have ongoing implications that could disrupt project work. This may include changed work conditions, reduced resource and productivity, or loss of utilities, materials and equipment. The force majeure clause should detail whether these impacts are the reasons for non-performance and non-liability for damages. Agree on a formal process in the event of a force majeure. There should be additions to the clause on:
Project managers should identify risks and responses associated with continuing the project work such as:
Read more posts from Saira. |