Style matters in project management

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Your presenter is:Alison Sigmon, M.Ed., LPC, PMP

When Style Matters Recognizing and Embracing Personal Assets and

Liabilities in Project Management

What’s on tap for our time together today…

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Few of my favorite things – well, sometimes…Nature of project work

Centered leadership: Working from a core

Assets & liabilities: Embracing who you are

Pursuit of the right path: Balancing & partnering with others

Get out of your own way: Techniques, methods, & best practice

Wrap it up!

When it comes to projects, sometimes we have to get out of our own way. The first step in this process is to recognize your assets and liabilities so you can leverage what you do well and also keep your motivation and energy up throughout the project.

Today we’re going to look at how to develop awareness of your assets and liabilities so you can create balance between what excites you and what drains you. Understanding this will help you define and delegate work more appropriately, partner with the right stakeholders at the right time, and put your skills and the skills of others where the project will most benefit.

Agenda

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The nature of project work

A few of my favorite things – well, sometimes…

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Project work responsibilities – process oriented

Process orientedProcess oriented behaviors typically support the development and management of the following project needs:

Budget Schedule Scope Change control Reports Issues Performance Quality Risk identification & response Vendors & contracts

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Project work responsibilities – relationship oriented

Relationship orientedRelationship oriented behaviors typically support the identification & management of the following project needs:

Stakeholders Influence Communication Negotiation Facilitation Engagement Expectations Team morale & motivation Conflict Rewards & recognition Cross-functional activities-

networking Politics

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Pumped or pooped…



Which of these leave you feeling energized?

Which ones make you feel stoked to do as much as you possibly can for as long as you can?



networking Politics

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Pumped or pooped…



Which of these leave you feeling drained?

Which ones can fill you with dread and make you want to postpone doing them for as long as possible?



networking Politics

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Working from a core

Centered leadership

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Not all activities are created equal. The simple fact is some things we do in our projects are more compelling, interesting, and energizing than others and this is VERY normal.

While knowing what revs up your engine is important, it’s just as important to know what can make it stall. Whether it’s numbers or networking, knowing where you happily skip and where you dreadfully fall can help you with prioritizing your work and partnering with others who get energized by doing things that drain you.

Skip or fall…depends on your interests & focus

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The work of a project is typically far larger than can be done by one person. As a project manager, you lead stakeholders to meet project objectives and deliverables, but to get others to follow you must be centered.

Being centered is about operating from a core, which is a stable set of values and principles that guide us in our work and life.

This is what we bring to the project environment, and it is the part of ourselves that affects the people with whom we work which is why knowing our strengths and weaknesses is so important.

Centered leadership

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When a project manager is centered, the following attributes are obvious: Awareness and understanding of how to leverage their assets and liabilities Actively work to grow and practice emotional self-awareness Motivation comes from inside and not outside forces Identify and manage their stress effectively Ability to thrive in change

Image courtesy of http://integrallife.com/

Centeredness attributes

http://integrallife.com/



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With all the busy-ness of work and life today, it might sometimes feel challenging to know what’s coming and going and where you stand among the chaos.

The first step begins with knowing your assets and liabilities.

Centeredness: Where do we start?

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Embracing who you are

Assets & liabilities

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To be fair no one person is good at everything, which is why we have teams to get projects done.

Because we all have different strengths and weaknesses, it’s important to know about ourselves and other people so we can pull together a complementary project team.

A good first step in this process is developing an understanding of your assets and liabilities.

Let’s get clear…

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What is an asset?

An asset is anything that we do well and gives us energy just by doing it.

We lose track of time as we are immersed in the flow of the activity

We anticipate the activity in a positive way

We enthusiastically put the activity at the top of the To Do List

We feel excited about it even if we’ve not done it before

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What is an liability?

An liability is anything that we either can’t do very well or drains our energy by doing it even if it is something we do well.

We tend to postpone it and procrastinate

We may feel dread when anticipating it

It’s hard to stay focused We feel anxious or

frustrated at the thought of it or while actually to do it

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Don’t think of assets and liabilities as being good and bad but rather as things that motivate and inspire you.

Everyone has their preferences for project activities.

The key is understanding what they are and then matching the right work to the right person at the right time – and that includes you!

If the shoe fits – wear it!

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Determining assets & liabilities

In pursuit of the right path

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There are two steps to leveraging our assets and liabilities:

Uncovering and acknowledging our differing abilities.

Leveraging this information to develop new ways of managing.

Assets & liabilities – how do we know?

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Consider the following activities when assessing your assets and liabilities: Identify the order you tend to complete tasks. Things you are excited to work on when not under a time constraint are probably things you do well and inspire you.

Note your energy level after completing a task. If you are feeling drained after completing the task then it might be a liability.

When you’re hungry for more

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Use others’ feedback at regular intervals. Honest feedback can be very difficult to get but can be valuable. Pay attention to unsolicited comments as well. For example, “He’s really good at the big picture, but he’s scarcely available when it’s time to sort out the details.”

Pay attention. Rate your energy level for them and how much you like them. This will give you some idea of the “goodness of fit” between you and the work you do.

Feedback from the inside and out

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Techniques, methods, & best practice

Get out of your own way

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Uncovering blind spots

To leverage assets and attend to your liabilities means you must know yourself and pay attention to others.

We all have blind spots so watch and listen. Seek feedback from others at regular intervals. Ask team members what energizes them. This way you can match activity to skill/interest.

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Leave work energized. Finish off the day with a win. Do something that will leave you feeling good.

This could be anything – checking off something on your To Do list, a quick conversation with someone, notes in a journal, or creating your To Do list for the following day. It’s up to you to figure out what you can do to feel good when you go home.

Be realistic with end of day and start of day activities.

Focus on a win

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Surround yourself with people who are strong where you are weak.

Be clear with roles and responsibilities

Tell them why you value their skills

Let go – Step back when someone can to step up

Stop feeling inadequate or apologizing for what you can’t do. Work with others so everyone can shine.

Play together

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Learn to ask for help. Ask the right people and understand the difference between asking for help and dumping work.

Address your fears. Shore-up the basics of critical areas (e.g., find someone who can teach you how to read project financials).

Ride the ragged edge of discomfort. If we are working on something that we know is a liability, but we don’t feel uncomfortable, we’re probably not doing it right. We tend to slide back into our assets because it feels better.

Get out of the comfort zone

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This kind of awareness doesn’t happen overnight. Doing the following can create simple reflection points that generate the awareness we need to support projects in the best way possible.

Keep a journal. It doesn’t have to be long or time consuming – 10 minutes or less to capture a few sentences about key events in the day.

Lessons learned upon milestone completion. Ask: “What went well,” “What went wrong,” and “What can we do differently next time?”

Taking the long view

Wrap up…

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Questions???

Few of my favorite things – well, sometimes…Nature of project work

Centered leadership: Working from a core

Assets & liabilities: Embracing who you are

Pursuit of the right path: Balance & partnering with others

Get out of your own way: Techniques, methods, & best practice

Wrap it up!

When it comes to projects, sometimes we have to get out of our own way. The first step in this process is to recognize your assets and liabilities so you can leverage what you do well so you can keep your motivation and energy up throughout the project.

Developing awareness of your assets and liabilities supports you in creating balance between what excites you and what drains you. Understanding this will help you define and delegate work more appropriately, partner with the right stakeholders at the right time, and put your skills and the skills of others where the project will most benefit.

What we considered today:

Thank you!www.systemation.com

Alison Sigmon, M.Ed, LPC, [email protected]

Twitter @alisonsigmonwww.slideshare.net/ahsigmon

www.mindscraping.com

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http://www.systemation.com/

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.slideshare.net/ahsigmon

http://www.mindscraping.com/

Style matters in project management

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