Amany NuseibehSpeaker, Global Leader | Optimal ConsultingSydney, Nsw, Australia
As project managers, leaders and "change makers", we motivate our team members and reward them. What If three members of a five-person team did all the work, do you give those three members proper credit while pointing out that two members of the team did not pull their weight? Do you single out the non-performing team members in a negative light? Or do you give equal praise even though only a selected few did the real work? Saving Changes...
Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
Publicly shaming team members is rarely beneficial to anyone. In public I'd generally praise the team, and I would make special mention of the contributions made by the three who really did the work. That way the useful members get the recognition they deserve, and I didn't create a negative atmosphere of recrimination. I'd then have a talk with the two non-productive team members in private.
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2 replies by Amany Nuseibeh and Henry Hattenrath
Jul 14, 2018 5:02 AM
Amany Nuseibeh
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Thank you Eric. Shaming publicly is definitely not on.
Jul 15, 2018 10:51 AM
Henry Hattenrath
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Eric I agree. Your response was concise and right on target.
If it's a true team, one would hope that social pressure would (over time) get the laggards to improve.
I'm a fan of balancing team and individual recognition rather than emphasizing one over the other. As such, the team accomplished certain goals, but during a retrospective or post-milestone review I might ask the team members to recognize those who they felt had gone above and beyond.
Kiron
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1 reply by Amany Nuseibeh
Jul 14, 2018 5:03 AM
Amany Nuseibeh
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Thank you Kiron for your insight.
Saving Changes...
Anish AbrahamPrivacy Program Manager| University of WashingtonAuburn, Wa, United States
I concur with Eric on this.
I would give credit to the team members and everyone else who contributed to its success, and acknowledge those team members by name.
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1 reply by Amany Nuseibeh
Jul 14, 2018 5:04 AM
Amany Nuseibeh
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Thank you Anish.
Saving Changes...
Dinah YoungProject Manager / Software Asset Manager| Prince William CountySpringfield, Va, United States
It is a balancing act. If you praise all equally, those who did all of the work may feel resentment. If you only praise the three, then the other two may do even less work in the future.
I think Eric's approach is better. I may also have a private talk with the productive members of the team to let them know that I am aware of what happened and to also get some input. Were the non-productive member incapable of doing the work, was the problem in team work or was it a matter of not wanting to do the work. There can be many reasons why 3 members of the team did all of the work and it may or may not be the "fault" of the other 2 that they did not contribute. Sometimes team members are "frozen out". Or they were improperly assigned to the team. It is best to get all of the information to find ways to improve.
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1 reply by Amany Nuseibeh
Jul 14, 2018 5:06 AM
Amany Nuseibeh
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Thank you Dinah for your insight - agree with getting all the information to assess and uncover opportunities for improvement.
I will go with Eric + using the tool of (interpersonal skills and team& root cause analysis) to see the issue of other two members and talk to them in privite.
BR,
You have to be very careful when you are saying that just X people of a team have done all the work and the rest of Y have done nothing or have contributed very little. In order to properly asses the work of a person you must come from the same line of work as that person and you must be able to do the work yourself.
Imagine 5 surgeons all performing the same surgery on 5 different patients. Let's assume that only 3 patients survive. Would it be correct to say that 3 surgeons have succeeded and that the other 2 have failed? Of course not, patients unfortunately die even if the surgeon does an extraordinary job. Our bodies react differently to diseases and injuries.
Even if a team member apparently is unable to finish the work in time this does not mean that he did not contribute. On the contrary he may be the most productive worker.
Unless the PM comes from the same line of work as the worker he should not evaluate the productivity of the project team members. Imagine yourself as a team member that works on the most complicated tasks, you manage to complete the tasks but in more time that estimated, thanks to you the project succeeds but the PMs that understand nothing of your work comes and tells you that you are not productive.
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1 reply by Amany Nuseibeh
Jul 14, 2018 5:10 AM
Amany Nuseibeh
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Thank you Adrian - As PMs/Change Makers and Leaders, we naturally do not know every speciality that the team members undertake. However, we can measure outputs and quality. In this instance, the two members output is extremely low and lacking in quality, However, as the team pulls together, they fill the gap and accomplish collectively the desired outcome.
Saving Changes...
Shweta PaiScrum master| ResMedHalifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Another thing in addition to everything mentioned above is your retrospective. If you follow scrum/agile, you 'd have a retrospective at the end of the sprint. If 3 people are carrying all the weight then you could have consequences too like those 3 people getting burnt out etc. or some stories taking longer than necessary. I 'd also expect these to be called out in the retrospective leading to the team coming up with some action items involving the non-functional team members.
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1 reply by Amany Nuseibeh
Jul 14, 2018 5:12 AM
Amany Nuseibeh
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Thank you Shweta for your insight.
Saving Changes...
Amany NuseibehSpeaker, Global Leader | Optimal ConsultingSydney, Nsw, Australia
Jul 03, 2018 10:43 AM
Replying to Eric Simms
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Publicly shaming team members is rarely beneficial to anyone. In public I'd generally praise the team, and I would make special mention of the contributions made by the three who really did the work. That way the useful members get the recognition they deserve, and I didn't create a negative atmosphere of recrimination. I'd then have a talk with the two non-productive team members in private.
Thank you Eric. Shaming publicly is definitely not on. Saving Changes...
Amany NuseibehSpeaker, Global Leader | Optimal ConsultingSydney, Nsw, Australia
Jul 03, 2018 10:43 AM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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Amany -
If it's a true team, one would hope that social pressure would (over time) get the laggards to improve.
I'm a fan of balancing team and individual recognition rather than emphasizing one over the other. As such, the team accomplished certain goals, but during a retrospective or post-milestone review I might ask the team members to recognize those who they felt had gone above and beyond.
Kiron
Thank you Kiron for your insight. Saving Changes...
Amany NuseibehSpeaker, Global Leader | Optimal ConsultingSydney, Nsw, Australia
Jul 03, 2018 11:02 AM
Replying to Anish Abraham
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I concur with Eric on this.
I would give credit to the team members and everyone else who contributed to its success, and acknowledge those team members by name.
