Abstract
Today's project manager faces multiple issues beyond juggling scope, schedule and cost. Every area of project management is constrained with one or more human element. The project manager has to cope up with variety of conflicts every day. A good majority of project failures, if analyzed carefully, would lead into the failure to recognize, prevent and address one or more human issues. However, many of these would be superficially looking like other issues, and project managers try to address them without identifying the exact human issue behind it.
Introduction
The question of whether project management is an art or science is quite old. The author feels, project management is basically an art which can be made efficient by scientific methods. When science is done correctly, it can advice us in all of our day to day decisions and actions. However, artistry in project management is neither exact nor precise. .An artist interprets experiences and expresses it in forms that can be felt, understood and appreciated by others. Art allows for emotion, delicacy and ambiguity. Artist frames the world so that others can see new possibilities
When viewed as an art, project management is natural expression of human behavior. It is intuitive, creative and flexible. Project managers are leaders and artists who are able to develop unique alternatives and novel ideas about their organizations needs. They are attuned to people and events around them and learn to anticipate the turbulent twists and turns around them.
The artistic talents of the project manager can be enriched by the usage of scientific tools. However,” A fool with a tool is still a fool”. The artist in the project manager definitely has an edge to use the scientific tools. His creativity and productivity can be magnified by using the correct scientific methods. Success of the project manager depends on how effectively he/she can use the scientific aid to enhance his artistic skills.
Human Issues – General
Human Issues can be classified in many ways. Two of these are lateral and based on occurrence. A brief outline of these will facilitate the discussions in this paper.
Lateral classification
Laterally, Human issues could be categorized into four types: expectation issues, behavioral issues, operational issues and personal issues.
Expectation issues:
Expectation issues could arise due to the flow of information across and around the project chain and expectation due to this information flow. For example, project team members expect salary/grade revision every year end per the company's declared compensation policy.
Behavioral issues:
Behavioral issues could arise due to temperament and cultural background of the human elements. This could influence the communication, attitude and behavior. This is especially important during change management. For example, the expected behavior for changes is quite predictable. Certain amount of resistance creeps in for change, as also certain amount of slack in the vigor shown to progress.
Operational issues:
Operational issues could arise when Human resources of unbalanced skill levels try to come together or when work allocation tends to show imbalance. Even factors like mutual competition can initiate operational issues. Operational issues have almost a direct bearing on the Project progress and performance. In fact this issue would extend beyond just the Human resources to all of the Project resources.
Personal issues:
Personal issues have more to do with the happenings in personal lives of the individuals. This may or may not be concerning the organization. It is difficult to find individuals without personal issues in any aspect of life, although a Project would not much be influenced due to this aspect.
Occurrence classification
In terms of the occurrence Human issues can be classified as team related, project related, stake holder related or project lead related.
Team related issues:
These could arise due to mutual conflicts within members of a project team. When the team blend takes a beating due to differences, the teamwork as a whole could suffer. This could happen due to unbalanced skill levels, cultural differences, or personality differences.
Project related issues:
These arise due to the misunderstandings or misfits with respect to projects. This could happen due to a few people overloaded and it is not acceptable to the respective individuals.
Stakeholder related issues:
When the stakeholders develop differences with respect to anything related to the project, such issues arise. For example, seemingly unreasonable comments given by key stakeholders could lead to demoralization of the project members.
Project lead related issues:
Such issues come up due to differences arising between to the project lead and the team. This could arise, due to a number of factors, like cost/budget overruns, miscommunications, ineffective change management, or bad team relations handling. Each project is a new experience for a project manager no matter however experienced he/she is.
Avoiding vs. Addressing Human Issues
Many issues can be avoided should there be effective project management system in place, right from a well thought out and spelt out project plan. When unexpected project changes happen, swallowing and digesting quickly and in systematic way can avoid many related issues.
In general the right information at the right time avoids both expectation issues as well as the operational issues. In fact it also mitigates many of the project related issues and behavioral issues. However, as the world cannot always be perfect, often project managers have to grapple with issues. An early detection of an issue is always beneficial. Some issues may become very obvious within a short time, and some others take longer time to show effects. In either case, the project manager needs to have professional maturity to effectively and efficiently address them.
Key Areas and Practical Tips for Handling Human Side
This paper discusses some very practical tips, which you won't generally find in management books, for handling Human side of project management. These simple looking tips are generally neglected by many project managers thereby loosing great opportunities of project success
Communicating Clearly
It's always said that, “Good communicators are better project Managers”. Effective communication happens when people understand your meaning and reply in a way that moves the exchange forward; preferably in the direction you would like it to go. There are three conventional rules governing good communication.
- Be clear in your own mind about what you want to communicate.
- Deliver message concisely.
- Ensure that the message is clearly and correctly understood.
Giving Feedbacks: Feedbacks are essential to check if one has understood the other person's message and to react to what they have said and done. It is necessary to state reasons for your praise with any positive feedback. We all know that, giving negative feedback is generally difficult. However, it's bad management to avoid any negative feedback. However, making them formally and professionally will make it comfortable for both parties. Here are some good tips for making negative feedbacks.
- Aim to express your negative opinions honestly, but in a positive manner.
- Clearly project an understanding of what went wrong and why.
- Draw out ways to improve poor performance / behavior.
- Take the negative feedback away from the emotional zone by being objective and not personal.
Briefing to the team members: Balancing the effectiveness and efficiency in briefing is an area where lack of expertise on the part of the project manager adversely affects the project performance. Avoid over-briefing your staff, to ensure that they use their initiative. Briefing generally involves delegation of power. The project manager should clearly outline the delegated person's areas of responsibilities, how much he/she expects to be kept informed and whether further instructions will be issued.
Practical tips:
- Make sure you are not unintentionally wearing a hostile expression.
- Do not waste time on people who refuse to understand you.
- Avoid using complicated, unusual words or abstract terms, which may obscure your meaning
- Be aware of your team members' problems through informal communications.
- Try to use humor to some good extent. But only when it's appropriate.
- Let your PR / administrative team handle sensitive situations with external agencies.
- Attend social events at work to get informal feedback.
- Talk honestly to your team to expect honest answers and feedbacks.
Assembling and Managing Project Team
A true team is a living, constantly changing, dynamic force in which a number of people come together to work. Apart from the proficiency in the specific field, following other key aspects also need to be considered while assembling the team together.
Mindsets: Bodies fill spaces; minds fulfill objectives. There is a traditional saying “for one who is a hammer, every problem is a nail”, and this causes a potential problem because the objective of most projects is to create a new product, service or facility. Here the agility and flexibility of mind and working style are major positive factors to be encouraged.
Regression to prior learning or experience: Psychologists agree that when people under the influence of stress or some other distraction, tend to revert into the learning experiences that they are familiar, because they were successful in the past. When accepting new members into project team, the project managers need to make sure that they are trained to operate in the right way, and should also monitor them for any signs of reversion to prior experience.
“Best” project team is always a dream!!
It's never possible to put the best project team together due to many constraints. However careful and effective initiative and planning can contribute a lot for the most practical outcome. There has been a lot of talk about the need for “work – life balance” and the risk of “burn – out” in recent years. The team size needs to be adequate to avoid overwork, except very occasional, to avoid fatigue and stress caused by it..
If the project manager does not integrate the team well, different members or groups will talk different and everyone will be right which in turn will end up in arguments and disagreements. The project manager needs to formally remind the members that they are all team participants. He/she needs to fix measurable goals to keep the team focused and make the great power of friendship to strengthen the team towards achieving these goals.
Conflicts:
Studies show that project managers spend nearly half their time in managing conflicts. Existence of disagreement is unavoidable, but to some extent it is desirable. Conflicts by it are neither good nor bad. However, their outcomes can be. Therefore conflict is a process to be managed and not eliminated. The first lesson to succeed with conflicts is to learn continuously, from everyone around us, and quickly apply our experiences in real life. The second lesson is to own our problems and take decisions. Our decisions may be right or wrong, but they take us forward. Even when wrong, we learn from our mistakes if we owned our decisions. Many project managers do not own their decisions, and feel happy passing on the blame. They are unlikely to learn from their own mistakes or creatively try out a different option. Next time round, these people would make the same mistake; only the object of our blame will be different.
Here is a simple framework for handling conflicts given below as exhibit 1.
Exhibit 1: Framework for handling conflicts
Anticipate, Plan for Conflicts:
It is about anticipation of where risks of conflicts lie and planning for them. Some situations have a higher risk of conflict than others and we run into them unless we make mitigation plans. Half the battle is won, if you have anticipated the conflict.
Recognize Conflicts:
Recognition of conflict includes deletion of the source of conflict.
Choose the approach:
There are six different approaches possible.
- Prevent it: Once a potential conflict situation is anticipated, we could be pro-active to prevent it. Open sharing of issues with involved parties, keeping back-up plans, involving third parties etc are ways to prevent conflicts.
- Live it: World around us could be crazy, we need to learn to live with it. We need not resolve every conflict. Eg. You have to cover heavy traffic on your way to office. So don't get stressed. Leave home early, switch on the music of your choice and drive carefully. That's living a conflict.
- Avoid It: Some conflicts can be left to be resolved themselves out. However, we need to be careful here, as avoidance of certain small issues can lead to major conflicts later.
- Accept it: A projects is running 3 months behind. It's time to make realistic assessment and accept it. It would make more sense to take the heat now by announcing the bad news, rather than remaining still optimistic and lading into inevitable disaster.
- Deal with It (confront it): Finding ways to approach the conflicts selected to be confronted.
- Rise above it: Younger members in a team struggle with issues at work. The project manager doesn't jump into it, ashe/she knows they will sort out by their own.
FACE the Conflict: An attempt is made below in exhibit 2 for simple understanding of this, in the author's view. If the entire project team understands this concept, overall life on the project will be more than comfortable.
Exhibit 2: Illustration of author's views on facing the conflicts
Practical tips:
- Always appreciate and remember that each member has something to add to your team.
- Team members can do really a lot if they do not worry about who gets the credit.
- Ensure that each member is fully aware of the talents and experience available within the team.
- Formulate team objectives very carefully and always take them seriously.
- Do not delegate any un-necessary work, which may be scrap.
- Find easily accessible way of displaying team progress on a daily basis.
- Acknowledge, publicize and even celebrate team successes.
- Never reject a team idea without explaining the reason frankly and convincingly.
- Always appreciate that everyone deserves some fun during working hours.
- Conduct a thorough open analysis when your project goes wrong.
- Promote informal discussions. Even in the coffee room.
- While merits have to be rewarded, no error should go un-remarked
The project manager needs to promote an open culture within the team. If two people always agree one of them is not required. However, if two people always disagree, both are not required. A project manager's success is not only in finding the right people, but also in being the right person.
Motivating People
Motivation in the simplest definition is the “Will to act”. It is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do. The project managers must realize that the art of motivating people starts with learning how to influence individual behavior. Different people are motivated in different ways. Project organization and the manager must replace “Command and Control” with “Advise and Consent”. Money is never a long lasting motivation. The real excitement shall be “playing the project game”. Project managers must appreciate that, for any team member including him/herself, the best thing in the life is the chance to work hard at a work worth doing.
It is highly essential for the project manager to have the skills to establish what the needs of the team members are. Applying Maslow's hierarchy of needs is easier said than done, for this purpose. The system needs to be so open where the project manager feels comfortable in asking any of his team members “what motivates him”? In many of the complex projects “making the work fun” itself will be a great motivation. This does not mean making it easy.
Departures and absenteeism are always results of de-motivations and the project manager needs to analyze the reaons. If people know exactly what they are supposed to do and exactly when they are supposed to do it, they would be satisfied with their jobs, become motivated, and be more efficient. Ambiguity in the areas of scope definition, scope planning and responsibility matrix would contribute towards de-motivation.
Empowering people:
If you want to get the benefit of the employees you have, you've got to free them and make everybody a participant. Everybody has to know everything, so that they can make the right decisions by themselves.
To “empower” literally means “to give power to”. Empowerment leads to increased commitment, motivation and satisfaction resulting in high levels of performance of team members. Project manager should encourage calculated risk taking, so that team members feel comfortable in seeking opportunities.
However, before people can be empowered, they should be prepared for the demands and challenges it poses. The approach should be to build up competencies and share information in a transparent environment so as to provide maximum support for individuals to utilize the opportunities for growth and success. Knowledge and information are keys to power. Trainings and competency development initiatives enhance the knowledge base.
Empowerment is complete only when team members get to share the rewards associated with making right decisions. Rewards and recognition (monetary and non-monetary) coupled with the incentive mechanism reinforce desired behavior favorable to the culture of empowerment.
An empowered project would be one where the project manager does not have to tell the team members how to do things. Just tell them what to do and the team should surprise the project manager with ingenuity. A project ideally must have empowered team members running front line activities, and visionary project manager integrating the team's efforts.
Practical tips:
- Ensure that the team members know their roles and importance.
- Involve your team to the best possible extent in decision making, including setting of targets.
- In case of poor results, assess your own motivation levels before assessing the team members'.
- Formally praise work well done, even if some targets are missed.
- Be as natural as possible, and tailor your approach to each member.
- Confront trouble makers as soon as you become aware of their presence.
- Do not wait for annual appraisals to talk about individual performance.
- Assess reasons for de-motivation before considering any action.
- Pay your members for the responsibility and contribution, not only for seniority.
- When an idea is accepted, let it's creator to implement it.
- Establish and maintain a close link between company's corporate strategic plan and project to ensure top management support for effective motivation system on the project.
The project manager must appreciate that if there are things that make one feeling good about working, then these things should also be the things that motivate him/her. The employees' happiness needs to be of real concern. The project manager should not spread a feeling like, “here is a meaningless repetitive job. In return for doing it we will give you money and other rewards. You have to spend eight hours a day here doing this work that you do not like so that you can ultimately have time to yourself and money to spend.”
Managing Meetings
Project managers spend as much as 70 percent of their time in meetings. Nearly all managers complain that they spend more time in meetings than they should and that, for the most part, meetings are a waste of time. If no one likes to go to meetings and everyone feels that they are a waste of time, why do we have so many meetings?
We all appreciate the fact that two heads are better than one, three heads are better than two, and continuing to add people to a meeting improves the chances that something can be accomplished in the meeting. The problem is that as the number of people attending meeting increases, the effectiveness of the meeting diminishes. The cost of additional people in a meeting continues to increase in a linear fashion, and after a certain number the benefit becomes less than the cost. Also bigger groups initiate chances of “meetings within meeting”.
Practical tips:
- Analyze what would happen if a regular meeting is not held for a specific cause.
- Keep meetings as short as possible and provide a clock in the meeting room in a prominent location.
- Circulate any supporting paper along with agenda.
- Place most important items early in the agenda as people will be more alert then.
- Ensure that phone calls are diverted away from meetings.
- If you want to reject a motion, try to find out at least one area of agreement.
- Ensure that minutes notes are read out just before close out of any meeting.
- Let latecomers know that their behavior is unproductive.
- Diffuse anger by inviting participants to express reasons for heir anger.
Most of the meetings that a project manager will have to manage are going to be discussion, idea generation, and problem-solving types of meetings. All of these meetings cost time and money. Therefore a smart project manager must hold it only when it's necessary and ensure that they are concise and constructive.
Negotiating successfully
Need for negotiation arises when someone else has what you want and you are prepared to bargain for it, or vice versa. Project manager must understand that negotiation in some form or the other happens continuously on any project. The project manager can be a good negotiator only if he/she can read the other party's needs. He/she must not negotiate out of fear, and at the same time, must not fear to negotiate. Some project managers sincerely feel that being flexible is a sign of weakness. In fact it's a real sign of strength.
Practical tips:
- Abandon any unrealistic objective before negotiation.
- Bear in mind that incorrect information is worse than no information at all.
- Too many statistics can often confuse the issue.
- Guess the opposition's objectives and understand their strengths, if not weaknesses.
- Hide short tempers and frustrations. Other party can capitalize on it.
- Try to orchestrate strategic interruptions and avoid unplanned interruptions.
- Listen to your opposition carefully to check if their wishes are close to your expectation.
- Adjust your strategy if a compromise is seen early.
- Watch for changes in body languages and adjust your tactics accordingly.
- Consider unconventional suggestions to resolve a deadlock
A clear game plan with thorough preparation is required for successful negotiation. Never try to agree on haste, as you may have to repent in leisure
Managing Change
Change is the single most important element of successful business management today and this is equally true with project management as well. An average human being is generally resistant to change. A good project manager needs to encourage the team to think outside the box, and make them comfortable to absorb changes brought into the system by the upper management and as well suggesting changes by themselves. As a good example, in some cases the advanced project management methodologies itself may be challenged by the team, as some of them may not have the qualifications and skills to work with the proposed system. Such vested interests act as major roadblocks for effective team work. Always appreciate that “Change is the KEY to progress”. The “we don't do things that way” or “we have been doing it successfully for many years” or “we are different” or many similar approaches shown by the project manager or the team would only facilitate lost opportunities.
Practical tips:
- Keep yourself and your team updated, trained and geared up to cope up with and absorb swift changes happening in the fields of technology and project management profession.
- Welcome change initiative from all sources and support for developing it.
- Consider combined effect of different types of changes.
- Encourage the team to aim and surpass the best examples within your own company or the industry.
- Try to change the corporate culture through individuals and not vice versa.
- Aim to bring in a new idea every fortnight / week and formally appreciate it.
Project manager needs to articulate effectively for achieving the best from the team towards initiating, planning, implementing and consolidating changes.
Conclusion
In the modern time of Globalization, and distributed project management models, a project manager would face a fairly large amount of diversity in terms of Human issues. It is evident that a project manager would face Human issues not only from the project resources but also in terms of other human interfaces. A successful project manager therefore needs to concentrate on “HRM” as Human Relationship Management, rather than Human Resources Management.
Nothing fails easily like success. When you are successful and stay successful for long, don't take things for granted. This will lead to a swift failure, in a most unexpected way. When a successful project manager moves closer to perfection he/she should find it as a moving target, and the team should always be taken together in this journey. The project manager must be able to get the team doing common things uncommonly well.