A recent (and ongoing) debate on domain knowledge sparked a thought that I am considering delving into in more detail, regarding how our personality styles as PMs influence both our capabilities as PMs, and our management style.
A leadership workshop I attended involving personality styles explored the subject of control. Some people are more comfortable in a highly organized environment, and others in a more chaotic one. You can pick up on some of that looking at things like whether their desks are neat or cluttered, so that you can adapt your own style to communicate with them personally. When people fall more to one side of the spectrum, they may become less comfortable when their environment is on the other side.
My question to my colleagues here is how do you think or personality styles affect our performance as PMs when we have to operate outside our comfort zones? For example: Will a PM who is more comfortable in chaos steer stable projects into chaos, and can a PM who is more comfortable in a highly controlled environment operate effectively when the big risk turns into an issue, and the project becomes a recovery effort? Saving Changes...
I think I have said before, nearly all my projects I started with little or no domain knowledge. A PM doesn't have to have all the knowledge or even a lot of it, he/she just needs to know where to find it (i.e. experts). Saving Changes...
Since this discussion is related with the one with the PM's domain knowledge it is important to say that the domain knowledge does play a crucial role when it comes to the style a PM can use while managing a project.
An obvious question arises: if the PM is not an SME then how can he formulate the commands to give to the team? The obvious answer is that he/she simply can't.
Many PMs are forced to be so called servant leaders since they simply lack the knowledge to give commands to the the team members and as such they can't adopt a command and control approach even if they wanted to.
Adrian, I don't want to rehash the domain knowledge debate, but what struck me is that how much knowledge we *perceive* we need is related to our own personality style relative to control.
More knowledge enables more control, but since different people are comfortable in environments with more or less control, that becomes the lens through which we each see our projects. I think most of us have seen people who micro-mange too much, and others who should be more involved in their own projects.
That right there shows that there are different perceptions within teams of how much control vs. trust is actually required, and both our team members and our bosses may have a different lens than our own.
The other relationship between the comfort level is our confidence in our own ability to figure out what we need to know when when we get there. I often describe myself as a firefighter as Tiago aptly described. In that case you may not know what you're getting into, but you will quickly determine how to put out the fire once you get there.
Although you may not have the knowledge going in, you will get up to speed quickly. For this reason I often describe my core competency as: Becoming a temporary expert in something I know nothing about.
Keith
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1 reply by Adrian Carlogea
Nov 23, 2019 11:14 AM
Adrian Carlogea
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Thanks Keith I like your comment. :)
What I wanted to point out is that your "style" as a PM or a manager or leader is strongly influenced by your domain knowledge or should I say the lack of it.
If you have limited or no domain knowledge you can't adopt a more authoritarian command and control style of leadership as this style involves the ability to formulate concrete work instructions to be given to the team members. If you do try the results may be disastrous.
If you put a PM, who can only feel comfortable when he is in control, to manage a project in which he has no relevant domain knowledge then that person may freak out and even panic and may not be able to perform a good job. Also he may annoy the team members by asking irrelevant questions for which he can't even understand the answers.
On the other hand if you have someone that understands the limits of his knowledge and accepts the idea that he can't lead the project team at the technical level then this person may do a much better job as a PM focusing only on the aspects that he can deal with.
In conclusion if you assign PMs with no domain knowledge you must ensure that they can handle managing activities when they lack control over some critical aspects such as the technical decision making process.
A PM with relevant domain knowledge has the ability to choose his style and adapt it as needed.
You're forgetting about the third kind of organization, which in my experience is the most common: the chaotic organization that is convinced it is organized.
Agreed Sante, many - is there a specific term for it though?
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1 reply by Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
Nov 22, 2019 3:22 AM
Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
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Suzi, I would say organizations in denial. I'm not sure if there is a common term for it.
Agreed Sante, many - is there a specific term for it though?
Suzi, I would say organizations in denial. I'm not sure if there is a common term for it. Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Nov 21, 2019 7:22 AM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
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Keith, I think like others that personality of a project manager influences project stakeholders and project execution.
If I know my style, if I am self-aware about my feelings, behaviors, strengths and weaknesses, I will be more self-confident and authentic (since I have less blind spots). I can easily admit mistakes, laugh about myself and as such confer a sense of being in control of myself and hence of the project.
I used many different personality assessments, 360 being the most comprehensive, but also MBTI (IBM), True colors, DISC, 4D (used by NASA). The latter all end up boxing you in, labeling you, do not like that as we are also driven by the situation and might change boxes. I came up to like and use Humm-Wadsworth which assesses along 7 temperaments, of which we normally show 2-3 as dominant.
While I have my 3 temperaments, the team should show all 7. So I try to hire people to the team that we can have all personality styles. For example, if everybody is risk-averse, I try to get someone on board who is more prone to take risks. Then my own personality is not so important since the team is diverse in styles.
One of my beliefs is that the best project manager is the one who seems not needed for project success. It also reduces stress. The team celebrates success because they did it, not because they think I led them.
Dear Thomas
Here, in your reflection, you raise four very interesting questions:
1. Bring team members together according to their personality traits and / or roles
2. How to achieve this when it is not always the project manager to select and recruit the people on your team
3. How to train people to take on a specific role
4. Who bears the costs of recruitment, selection and training Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Nov 21, 2019 7:22 AM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
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Keith, I think like others that personality of a project manager influences project stakeholders and project execution.
If I know my style, if I am self-aware about my feelings, behaviors, strengths and weaknesses, I will be more self-confident and authentic (since I have less blind spots). I can easily admit mistakes, laugh about myself and as such confer a sense of being in control of myself and hence of the project.
I used many different personality assessments, 360 being the most comprehensive, but also MBTI (IBM), True colors, DISC, 4D (used by NASA). The latter all end up boxing you in, labeling you, do not like that as we are also driven by the situation and might change boxes. I came up to like and use Humm-Wadsworth which assesses along 7 temperaments, of which we normally show 2-3 as dominant.
While I have my 3 temperaments, the team should show all 7. So I try to hire people to the team that we can have all personality styles. For example, if everybody is risk-averse, I try to get someone on board who is more prone to take risks. Then my own personality is not so important since the team is diverse in styles.
One of my beliefs is that the best project manager is the one who seems not needed for project success. It also reduces stress. The team celebrates success because they did it, not because they think I led them.
Dear Thomas
Have you heard about EGOS MAP?
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1 reply by Thomas Walenta
Nov 22, 2019 6:15 AM
Thomas Walenta
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Luis,
this was new to me. It seems to be another tool that is providing boxes for judging people, with 16 boxes similar to MBTI.
It can be helpful, as it make us think about people, as such working on our empathy and emotional intelligence. And it can be dangerous if we believe it represents the truth. Boxes will change with the situation and probably the underlying criteria may not be relevant. I found 16 boxes compared to 4 too complex and inaccurate.
Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Nov 22, 2019 4:15 AM
Replying to Luis Branco
...
Dear Thomas
Have you heard about EGOS MAP?
Luis,
this was new to me. It seems to be another tool that is providing boxes for judging people, with 16 boxes similar to MBTI.
It can be helpful, as it make us think about people, as such working on our empathy and emotional intelligence. And it can be dangerous if we believe it represents the truth. Boxes will change with the situation and probably the underlying criteria may not be relevant. I found 16 boxes compared to 4 too complex and inaccurate.
...
1 reply by Luis Branco
Nov 22, 2019 7:10 AM
Luis Branco
...
Dear Thomas
I just mentioned the EGOS MAP model which, for me, has a relative value
A few years ago, with the aim of creating "perfect teams" I had contact with the model proposed by Belbim which, I say, I find a very interesting approach
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Nov 22, 2019 6:15 AM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
...
Luis,
this was new to me. It seems to be another tool that is providing boxes for judging people, with 16 boxes similar to MBTI.
It can be helpful, as it make us think about people, as such working on our empathy and emotional intelligence. And it can be dangerous if we believe it represents the truth. Boxes will change with the situation and probably the underlying criteria may not be relevant. I found 16 boxes compared to 4 too complex and inaccurate.
Dear Thomas
I just mentioned the EGOS MAP model which, for me, has a relative value
A few years ago, with the aim of creating "perfect teams" I had contact with the model proposed by Belbim which, I say, I find a very interesting approach
Adrian, I don't want to rehash the domain knowledge debate, but what struck me is that how much knowledge we *perceive* we need is related to our own personality style relative to control.
More knowledge enables more control, but since different people are comfortable in environments with more or less control, that becomes the lens through which we each see our projects. I think most of us have seen people who micro-mange too much, and others who should be more involved in their own projects.
That right there shows that there are different perceptions within teams of how much control vs. trust is actually required, and both our team members and our bosses may have a different lens than our own.
The other relationship between the comfort level is our confidence in our own ability to figure out what we need to know when when we get there. I often describe myself as a firefighter as Tiago aptly described. In that case you may not know what you're getting into, but you will quickly determine how to put out the fire once you get there.
Although you may not have the knowledge going in, you will get up to speed quickly. For this reason I often describe my core competency as: Becoming a temporary expert in something I know nothing about.
Keith
Thanks Keith I like your comment. :)
What I wanted to point out is that your "style" as a PM or a manager or leader is strongly influenced by your domain knowledge or should I say the lack of it.
If you have limited or no domain knowledge you can't adopt a more authoritarian command and control style of leadership as this style involves the ability to formulate concrete work instructions to be given to the team members. If you do try the results may be disastrous.
If you put a PM, who can only feel comfortable when he is in control, to manage a project in which he has no relevant domain knowledge then that person may freak out and even panic and may not be able to perform a good job. Also he may annoy the team members by asking irrelevant questions for which he can't even understand the answers.
On the other hand if you have someone that understands the limits of his knowledge and accepts the idea that he can't lead the project team at the technical level then this person may do a much better job as a PM focusing only on the aspects that he can deal with.
In conclusion if you assign PMs with no domain knowledge you must ensure that they can handle managing activities when they lack control over some critical aspects such as the technical decision making process.
A PM with relevant domain knowledge has the ability to choose his style and adapt it as needed. Saving Changes...
