Lynn BollowProject Manager | TekSystems/ State of New Jersey Certification Orange, Nj, United States
I am in the process of gathering ideas on ground rules for the project I am currently on. It has been three months and there are some issues and unacceptable behaviors. I feel with grounds rule some of the issues can be easily corrected. Saving Changes...
Do they perceive the same unacceptable behaviors as you do?
If so, perhaps they will be on board with coming up with ground rules to address the issues.
Ideally coming up with working agreements is facilitated early in the life of the team to help accelerate the team's transition through storming and norming.
In order to impose anything to a group of people you need formal authority over them. If you don't have such authority (you are not their line manager) better forget about ground rules as you are not the boss.
You could try to impose the ground rules by influencing the line managers but if they don't like the idea it can make things worse.
I am not sure what you mean by unacceptable behavior but if it is HR related then this is not for the PM to resolve but by the line managers and the HR department.
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1 reply by Lynn Bollow
Oct 25, 2019 9:15 AM
Lynn Bollow
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Hi Adrian, It's not HR related. It's all the behavior PMBOK and all of PMI best practice suggest we shouldn't do. Like speaking badly about other team members. Undermining the PM and team decisions in front of clients.
I feel colocation and team building activities should help to change/move from unacceptable to acceptable behaviour.
Of course, the structure and overall control /authority over the team also matters. Saving Changes...
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
"Ground rules" is a vague term because ground rules can be applied to anything. What are you trying to control? Team behavior related to individual interaction, work ethics? For these types of things, I would leverage on existing policies. Somewhere in your matrix, there is an organization to which you are all accountable to. Approach HR for these policies and then direct the team to them. Even the smallest companies have rudenemtery policies to keep people in check i.e no stealing, no coming late, play nice with others etc. Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Lynn,
often unacceptable behaviors can be tracked down to violations of human values that are detailed in Codes of Ethics / Conduct. If your company does not have these, you can use PMI's Code of Ethics.
Human values have been proven by research to be ubiquitous, they are respect, responsibility, fairness and honesty as to PMI's code. On top of that, research has shown that community, compassion, autonomy and humility are further values most humans can agree to.
For groundrules, it is important to formulate specific expected behaviors that have been identified to be shaping the team culture (e.g. punctuality for a meeting, listening to others, raising concerns, ..). As a rule of thumb, these should be 10 or less, otherwise they are easily ignored. In diverse teams, I found it worthwhile to conduct a cultural workshop and let the team identify potential gaps in expectations, which then can be closed by a ground rule.
As a project manager, you might not be able to impose rules to the team (and this is a questionable approach anyway), but since you are in charge of success and it only can be achieved with a performing team, it is your responsibility to shape the teams behavior.
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1 reply by Lynn Bollow
Oct 25, 2019 9:31 AM
Lynn Bollow
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Hello Thomas,
Words of wisdom, Thank you kindly. I am hearing complaints From one team member after another. The goal is to present the idea
Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
One thing I am in line with is @Kiron comment : "Do they perceive the same unacceptable behaviors as you do?". Remember that reality is a matter of perception, and perception is a mix between what our sense take and the process of those signals mainly because our past expriences. I had the opportunity to work for companies in different cultures and world places and I saw important differences of you can call "ground rules" between them. So, while I can write a lot about the matter, remember this: a rule is a matter or interpretation and is not a matter of debate. That is the differences with policy and laws. If you state a rule then it must not be broken, it must not be interpreted, it must not be debated. If you need something difference then you have to state a policy which are "actionable" rules. Saving Changes...
As Kiron and Sergio point out, the rightness of behaviours is in the eye of the beholder. At what point does confidence become arrogance? At what point does analysis become paralysis?
Not only would I let the team set the ground rules, I would also let the team enforce them.
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1 reply by Lynn Bollow
Oct 25, 2019 9:24 AM
Lynn Bollow
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Hello Mr. Parent,
I absolutely agree. The goal is to have the team decide on what Ground Rules would be best for this team. I want to be clear that this is not a perception. Out of 20 team members I've hear from 14 with the same complaints.
Thank You
Saving Changes...
Lynn BollowProject Manager | TekSystems/ State of New Jersey Certification Orange, Nj, United States
Thank you, Steve I will look at these sites. Saving Changes...
Lynn BollowProject Manager | TekSystems/ State of New Jersey Certification Orange, Nj, United States
Oct 24, 2019 6:33 PM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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Lynn -
Take it to team.
Do they perceive the same unacceptable behaviors as you do?
If so, perhaps they will be on board with coming up with ground rules to address the issues.
Ideally coming up with working agreements is facilitated early in the life of the team to help accelerate the team's transition through storming and norming.
Kiron
Hello Kiron, Thank you for your reply Saving Changes...
