She was managing one of the most important projects of the company for past 26 months.

One day, the junior most team member asked her if he was smart, she said, “No”. He asked him again if he thinks that he wanted to have him in her team, she said “No”. Then he asked him if there’ll be any loss to the team if he stops coming to the work, she said “No”. He thought he had heard enough and wanted to resign.

As he went back to his desk to prepare his resignation letter, she asked him to stay. She said, “You’re not smart, but you’re TRUSTWORTHY, I don’t want to have you in my team, I NEED to have you in my team. And there wouldn’t be any loss to the team if you move on, there would be NO TEAM.”

Some team members are indispensable. The are the ones who make the team. If there are no such players, there is no great team.

Smartness, wants and striving for acceptance are NOT the traits that make you a key team player but Trust, Being Remarkable and Being Indispensable are.

See Also:

1. Twenty Traits Of Software Project Sponsors Who Have The Power To Screw-up An Offshore Outsourcing Engagement
2. Twelve Traits of Dependable Project Managers
3. Doesn’t Matter Who Does It
4. What’s better? Being able to be specific or being able to do the work?

1. Twenty Traits Of Software Project Sponsors Who Have The Power To Screw-up An Offshore Outsourcing Engagement
2. Twelve Traits of Dependable Project Managers
3. Doesn’t Matter Who Does It
4. What’s better? Being able to be specific or being able to do the work?

That’s the question you need to ask post each confrontation.

Sure, it’s a powerful tool in bringing your team members to the next level but pausing and measuring the progress is even more important.

Confrontation is more of a cost v/s benefits issue so measurement is required. And, the thing about progress is that the progress will be always positive if you let it.

Key here is to look dispassionately at the whole set of confrontation events and take corrective actions whatever those might be.

What’s the point of continuing an activity if there are no returns?

There are a few grounds to stand a team member who makes inordinate requests:

• You anticipated you would;
• His skills are peerless;
• He’s a great grapeviner – has good political influence that you think would help you one day;
• Consequences of informing the client that you’ve sacked him are much worse ;
• He’s indispensible…

It’s probably worth sacking a team member if:

• He intentionally spoils inter-team relationships;
• Your project is suffering from him doing less than great work consistently;
• He’s politically unwise – makes you vulnerable;
• He diverts you from creating win-win-win for the customer, your company and your team members;
• He’s easily replaceable…

Many a time, leaders are afraid to sack their team members, no matter how inordinate or unreasonable their requests are.

Much stupid is to forget that the cost of NOT doing the right thing is ALWAYS to be paid, with interest.

See Also:

1. Zen of Team Handling for Software Projects
2. How To Inaugurate Effectiveness In Your Project Team
3. How Team Relationships Are Affecting Your Ongoing Projects?
4. If You Want to Have a Great Project Team
5. More On Better Team Relationships 12

1. Zen of Team Handling for Software Projects
2. How To Inaugurate Effectiveness In Your Project Team
3. How Team Relationships Are Affecting Your Ongoing Projects?
4. If You Want to Have a Great Project Team
5. More On Better Team Relationships 12

Your crucifying client or your difficult programmer… probably are not dumb, probably just clueless. There’s a distinction between two.

Every person takes actions based on their climate of opinions and the information at hand. If two people have the same climate of opinions and the same information, they’ll take same action, every time, given they’re not dumb.

So, there are lot of times where a lack of information leads to a bad choice. Lot of times where an out of sync climate of opinions leads to an inferior action.

A lot of organizations embrace a melting software development methodology instead of embracing an agile way that leads to better results. It’s probably because each of them started with a climate of opinions about the way projects worked and were going to work. And to that little direct experience, and it’s no wonder they decided what they did. You would too if you were given the same imaginations to begin with.

Changing climate of opinion is extremely difficult and requires quite a bit of efforts. Changing information at hand is relatively easier, and that’s where right communication skills can help. If you, as a communicator, can package information in a way that people with certain climate of opinion can accept, you move the dialogue forward far more quicly than if you just conclude that your unreasonable customer or difficult boss are dumb.

I think, limiting climate of opinions (e.g. I can’t read Objective C code, I have never learned that language, ever.) is the most difficult hurdle to overcome. But a limiting climate of opinions doesn’t mean you’re dumb, it means that you’re playing yourself small.

The easiest way to arise is to inspire people who share a climate of opinion that endorses your point of view. The most effective way to arise even better than that is to inform those that disagree with your point of view-more information in a luscious form.

And, unluckily, it turns out that the best way to make the world less clueless is to extend the boundaries of the persons with limiting climate of opinions.

See Also:

1. What You Can Learn From a Difficult Boss
2. Spotted a Winner
3. I’m not a project manager. Why do I need to learn project management?
4. Prevent Your Project from Collapsing
5. Contribute Beyond Your Title With Assumed Responsibility And Take The Right Decision!

1. What You Can Learn From a Difficult Boss
2. Spotted a Winner
3. I’m not a project manager. Why do I need to learn project management?
4. Prevent Your Project from Collapsing
5. Contribute Beyond Your Title With Assumed Responsibility And Take The Right Decision!

Observe the conversation below:

“When I say that Jack is the Module Lead and anything that goes right or wrong in the module, Jack is responsible, I’d like to know how you acknowledge it, Jack?”

Jack replied: “It means that I’m the Module Lead and anything that I code or test is my responsibility. For the items I couldn’t have a look, the person who has written the code, is responsible.”

“Vikram?” I asked Jack’s peer.

“It means that Jack should do most of the coding and testing within the module.”

“Peter?”  Finally, I asked Jack’s immediate manager.

“It means that we should tell Jack about anything that happens inside that module. After all he is the module lead. ”

I hear what you guys say. Now, let me ask you this: How should I communicate if I mean that Jack owns the module. That’s why he’s the lead. He owns good and bad things that happen inside the module. If it succeeds, all credit goes to him and if it fails, he bears all the consequences of the failure. How?

“You might say that Jack is the Module lead and anything that goes right or wrong in the module, Jack is responsible.” said Peter and Jack together.

“I hear what you say…” I said.

People respond to their own images of the past rather than the facts represented by the words. Recognize that “Not being specific” is a bigger problem than having mere skills to write the software code.

Reward who’s able to be specific and reprimand who’re not or else you’re gone.

See Also:

1. Can I work on this project while I’m on vacation!?
2. What Matters Most? Hard Work or Getting It Done?
3. Importance of Being Specific While Stating Requirements
4. Are You Limited by Your Own Creativity (Which used to work earlier but now not)?
5. Are You (too) Searching for Someone to Check Your Work?

1. Can I work on this project while I’m on vacation!?
2. What Matters Most? Hard Work or Getting It Done?
3. Importance of Being Specific While Stating Requirements
4. Are You Limited by Your Own Creativity (Which used to work earlier but now not)?
5. Are You (too) Searching for Someone to Check Your Work?

Most projects don’t collapse sensationally.

They collapse slowly.

But you wouldn’t know that for sitting in at steering meetings or reading monthly project status reports.

Same way, businesses, countries and families collapse. Slowly.

Good and bad thing about this is: It involves people. Most people have tendency to respond to urgency. People take  massive actions only when encountered with an urgency.

If we change our learning systems, perhaps, people’s tendencies can be altered to respond to important stuff instead. But, I’m not sure when.

To combat with such slow collapsing, most project managers take an unsubtle, wider shot: A team revamping program or totally redesigned collaboration software.

The solution, more probably than not, is to consistently stop the slippage. To continuously improve the uninteresting stuff (e.g. how people respond to newly discovered information in project discussions and how they can do it even better).

Projects fail slowly. Success might come faster, though. That’s where the role of a dependable project manager comes in.

That role is beyond the classic definition of the project management. Person in this role  ‘leads’ the project, not just manages it.

And one of the most important activity of ‘leading’ a project is to prevent a slow collapse by getting into the vertical depth of the matters and do everything possible to get every small thing right. Easier said than done.

See Also:

1. Dependable Project Manager 9
2. I’m not a project manager. Why do I need to learn project management?
3. Project Environment Analysis 8
4. What Every Project Manager Wants to Know About Vacation-Planning?
5. If You Want to Have a Great Project Team

1. Dependable Project Manager 9
2. I’m not a project manager. Why do I need to learn project management?
3. Project Environment Analysis 8
4. What Every Project Manager Wants to Know About Vacation-Planning?
5. If You Want to Have a Great Project Team

What, exactly, does a project manager do?

In the software development, the project manager doesn’t always write code, create architecture, perform system tests, or provide funding.

And yet, no project manager, no project.

The project manager asks questions, “How do we deliver as per the scope?” “What customer satisfaction survey says about the latest release?” The project manager is always focused on delivering results, whether the result is quality, revenue or customer satisfaction.

The job you do, obviously, has nothing to do with whether or not you have the mindset of a project manager. I’ve seen talented people who are clearly project managers…and no-hopers who were just doing something for the sake of doing. I’ve worked with people who always want to get things done…and with those who have an excuse ready when something doesn’t work out.

Project management is not limited to the discipline of project management professionals – all of us can learn how to practice it for getting things done.

If you intend to produce a unique product, service or result that adds value, project management is for you – excellent beings always keep getting better in project management, regardless of their job titles.

See Also:

1. Prevent Your Project from Collapsing
2. Twenty One Project Management Tips On How To Get Co-operation of Senior Management
3. Project Manager Who Loves Chatting with the Client At Her Convenient Time
4. Dependable Project Manager 9
5. What Every Project Manager Wants to Know About Vacation-Planning?

1. Prevent Your Project from Collapsing
2. Twenty One Project Management Tips On How To Get Co-operation of Senior Management
3. Project Manager Who Loves Chatting with the Client At Her Convenient Time
4. Dependable Project Manager 9
5. What Every Project Manager Wants to Know About Vacation-Planning?