Project Got the Blues?

Think of a project you are currently managing. Any project. Ask yourself a simple question: "Is my project predominately in a good mood or in a bad mood?"

Most people come up with an answer in a split second; funny how we know this without having to do a lot of research and analysis. We can just feel it.

Jim Lewis, noted project management consultant and author is fond of saying, "Projects are people." That is, "people" as opposed to projects being Gantt charts, issue logs, requirements lists--or all the artifacts put together.

Because projects are people, by definition they have moods and mood swings. But if a project is primarily depressed, the project is in trouble. In my experience, "trouble" usually takes the form of lack of motivation and innovation, which shows up as:

• Frequently missed deadlines
• No-shows at meetings
• Negatively charged meetings
• Poor individual and team-based decisions
• Whining and bad-mouthing
• leading to bad PR for the project
• Persistent interpersonal conflict, even hostility

The bottom line of all this is a low level of commitment among team members resulting in a project that walks around in a zombie-like state. Commitment is made up of two components: desire and confidence. Desire refers to an individual's belief that there is personal gain to being part of this project. Confidence refers to a team member's belief that by working together, we can actually succeed.

When commitment is low (due to low desire and/or low confidence) you might as well hang up your Gantt chart and find something else to work on, unless, that is, you can find a way to elevate the mood of your project.

One of the best management books to come along in my estimation is Primal Leadership by D. Goleman et al. After extensive research into the connection between management style and profitability, the authors found a positive correlation between profitability and the extent to which the organization's prevailing management style revolved around generating positive feelings about one's work. They concluded, "The fundamental task of leaders is to prime good feelings in those they lead."

In the agile or extreme project management view of the world, the role of the project manager is to manage the project's emotional well-being. Good project managers know this, and they know how to do it. And it's not about giving pep talks. And whether they do it consciously or unconsciously, they place their emphasis on managing the project's dynamics over that of managing the mechanics. I'm not saying that the mechanics (timeline, budget, scope, risks, issues log, status reporting, etc.) is not important. It's just that it's secondary to managing their project's emotional well-being.

Here, we can all take a page from the Feelings Facts Solutions (FFS) model.

The FFS model says this: If you want to resolve an emotion-based problem, you must first acknowledge the individual's feelings. Unless these are acknowledged and diffused, the emotional upset will block the ability to effectively deal with the facts of the matter, which will in turn stand in the way of moving toward an acceptable solution.

Shifting Your Project's Mood

If your project could benefit from a mood shift, here are some things that I have seen work well. By the way, this takes courage to do. But if you can't act courageously, little else matters anyway in project management.

1. View yourself first and foremost as a barrier buster.

Most project managers see themselves as primarily score keepers who stay on top of what's going on. That's called managing. But there's a difference between managing and leading. Leading means to stand behind people by making it possible for them to do great work. And this invariably means clearing obstacles that get in the way of progress (see items 2 and 3 below).

2. When the team is together, routinely and continually find out what the barriers are.

Simply ask:

• What's working well on this project?
• What's getting in our way?
• What can we be doing differently?
• What can I be doing differently?

3. On a one-on-one basis, routinely find out what would make the project more attractive.

Ask:

• What would make life easier for you on this project?
• What would make this project more appealing to you to work on?

4. Become their champion.

There's magic in taking a genuine interest in the project's emotional well being and doing something about it. Just the fact that you ask will go a long way to improve the project's mood, even if you can't eliminate every barrier. You don't have to bat 1000 to be successful. For those who are managing extreme projects (high speed, high change, high volatility, high stress), managing the project's mood is not an add-on to the job of project manager. It is the job. Everything else is an add-on.

This Article Reprinted Courtesy of http://gantthead.com