“Project management is the science of managing process and the art of leading people.”
Gary Heerkens, Author
I often reflect on this quote for two reasons.
Firstly, because it’s a great reminder of how important it is for project managers to have a methodology for executing their projects. Whether you’re using a waterfall methodology, Agile or a hybrid of the two, having a process to follow helps to take the guess work out of how to deliver a successful project. Secondly, the art of leading people is vital, and this aspect of project management can often be neglected.
When we favour “process over people” this can lead to dysfunctional project teams, poor outcomes and a disproportionate amount of time spent dealing with issues that could have otherwise been avoided or resolved through effective communication and collaboration. Projects are about people and without the right people skills to lead a project you might find you are at risk of being one of the 97% of projects that never get completed.
Not all projects run smoothly. We encounter internal politics, team members who don’t perform to the expected standard and stakeholders who don’t support your project in the first instance. The best way to avoid “people issues” from derailing your project is to invest time in developing the critical people skills you’ll need to lead a project. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®), the go-to book for project managers, states that project managers need skills in leadership, conflict resolution, motivation, negotiation, team building and influencing. Without these skills, the project manager can be left trying to solve complex issues with an incomplete set of tools. Having the right methodology for executing your project and being task oriented is important but unless you can motivate people to “want” to complete tasks you can be left with a schedule that is never completed and a disproportionate amount of time spent trying to solve people-related problems.
The good news is that people skills can be learned. The first step is to recognise that our careers as technical experts don’t always prepare us for the responsibility of leading a project team. Take some time out to reflect on your people skills by asking a trusted colleague or manager to help you to identify opportunities for improvement. Reflect on the following questions to help you gauge whether you need to invest time in developing the art of leading people to ensure your project’s success.
Seven Reflection Points to Help You Explore Your People Skills
- How might I be perceived by my stakeholders? Do I come across as someone who has a high degree of self-interest or as someone who is interested in the other person’s needs, wants and values?
- How flexible am I when I communicate with others? Do I communicate in a way that reflects the needs of the other person or do I stick to one way of communicating regardless of whether it’s effective in helping the other person to understand my message?
- What is my attitude towards different personality types? Do I see personality differences as helpful or a hinderance to teamwork? How do I reconcile personality differences?
- How easy it for me to build rapport with people? Do I build rapport easily with people who are like me and therefore favour these relationships or am I able to build rapport with a diverse group of people?
- How do I build trust and influence with stakeholders? Do I expect stakeholders to follow my lead because of my position or because they trust me to lead them in the right direction and to help them to solve their problems?
- How well does my team collaborate with myself and other project stakeholders? Do I create a team environment in which people feel safe and willing to share ideas, resources and solutions or is my team more interested in self-protection?
- How aware am I as to how my behaviour might impact my team and other stakeholders? Do I take a moment to reflect on the quality of my interactions with people and whether I have been effective at engaging people or do I assume that unless someone says something to the contrary, everything must be okay?
Reflecting on these questions can help to gauge whether you need to invest in developing your people skills. Throughout this blog series we will continue to explore the tools and techniques that can help you to improve your people skills.
