Motivating the Team

Your team looks to you for more than just directions on what tasks should be completed next, settlements of issues, and updates on the project. Your team also looks to you for motivation. Motivation is more than a pep speech and a positive quote in your outgoing e-mails. Motivation, in project management, is the ability to transfer your excitement to your team members and have them act on that excitement.

No matter how wonderful your smile, your ability to talk with your project team, and your passion for the project, not everyone will be motivated. Much of the motivation of the project doesn’t even stem from the project manager! The motivation and level of excitement will come from the company itself, the working atmosphere, and the overall commitment to the organization of each project team member.

Fred Herzberg, a management consultant and business theorist, conducted a study in 1959 that resulted in his Motivation-Hygiene Theory. This study arrived at the conclusion that workers are impacted by nontangible factors that are called motivating agents and hygiene agents. Hygiene agents are elements we expect in employment: a paycheck, insurance, a safe working environment, vacation time, and a sense of community. Motivating agents are elements such as opportunities to learn new skills, promotions, and rewards for our hard work. The presence of hygiene agents does nothing to motivate employees—only motivating agents motivate them. However, the absence of hygiene agents will demotivate workers.

Herzberg theory also believes people are either motivation-seekers or hygiene-seekers. Hygiene seekers take comfort

Company policy and administration
Supervision
Salary
Interpersonal relationships
Working conditions

These employees like to feel safe, guarded, and secure in their job and their organization. They are not overly excited by opportunity, growth, or the challenge of the work. Inversely, there are five factors that motivation seekers take comfort in:

Achievement
Recognition
The work itself
Responsibility
Advancement

The contrast between the two workers is startling. The hygiene seekers take comfort in, for example, the health insurance policies, sick day allowance, and the number of vacation days allowed per year. While motivation seekers appreciate the company policies, they find more comfort in the challenge of achievement, growth, and opportunity for advancement.

Which would you rather have on your project team? Chances are you’ll encounter both types of workers, so the actual motivation for each type of employee will vary. Perhaps for the hygiene seekers, time off for work, a bonus, or the opportunity to travel on the project will be their reward. Motivation seekers will look for more long- term rewards than a free day from work and will be motivated by their achievements, their opportunity for advancement, and public recognition of the work they’ve completed.

In all of us, there is likely a mixture of both the hygiene seeker and the motivation seeker. The trick for you is to determine which personality type is predominant in your project team members and then act accordingly.

)Interview with Tom Robinette

Name: Tom Robinette
Title: Project Manager, Director of Infrastructure
Company: Paragon Consulting Service
Years as an IT project manager: 6

Tom Robinette is the owner of Paragon Consulting Services, a Houston, Texas–based firm. Paragon's clients include Cummins Engine, Eaton Corporation, Dana Corporation, ArvinMeritor, and others. Mr. Robinette specializes in the design and implementation of large, complex infrastructure–based UNIX servers, storage array implementations, and high-demand technology centered on Oracle solutions. You may contact him at Twrobin@aol.com or at 713-703-8658.

Q: What is the key to successfully managing a team?

A: I think it's imperative that you have functional control of the team members; the project that you are managing must be their number one priority. A critical success factor for project managers in general is to understand the real business problem that you are trying to solve and then provide a solution for it.

You have to do a sales job with management to ensure that whatever time you've determined is needed to meet the scope is the time you get. One of the most difficult things you'll face as a project manager is when a team member's manager assigns the team member additional tasks outside of the project. The team member's manager takes away time from a resource that you needed.

Q: What must a project manager do to ensure that his team is committed to the project?

A: You have to work with the team member's manager to ensure that part of the team member's performance evaluation includes a reflection of the milestones and deliverables that are part of your project. Cash is always a great motivator. All others not withstanding, performance reviews can directly touch a team member's pocketbook. It is a great motivator to reward based upon the quality and speed of the deliverable.

Q: How can a project manager inspire the project team?

A: I think you have to lead by example. A project manager has to be in the trenches helping the team to get the work done, helping them solve problems. One of the things that has made me successful is that this is how I manage: I am a resource for the team members. My job as a project manager is to make their jobs as smooth as possible. Not only do I manage the project, but I also attempt to do everything I can to support the people on the project team. When you do that, people will do everything they can to support you, people will die to finish their objectives for you. It behooves you to develop a personal relationship with every member of the project team. If you are friends with your team members, then they will go a lot further than if you were rude and unapproachable.

Q: What is the most difficult part of managing a project team?

A: It's not as difficult managing a project as some might think. For me, it's plan your work, work your plan. The most difficult part of the project isn't the execution of the plan at all; it's the conflicting priorities business sends your way. It's always a squeeze between the budget, the project scope, and the timeline. Management must understand that those things equal a triangle, and if one side is increased, then all of the sides must increase as well. You can't nickel and dime the project and expect the project to get done on time and with the same deliverables—just like the sky is blue and the grass is green, and there's no changing it.

Q: How does a project manager lead a team when team members are geographically dispersed?

A: I've found it to be fairly easy; the key to doing that is to provide a clear structure of the way you communicate. You need a clear plan of how you'll have meetings, and how you will include each of virtual teams as part of the entire team. Don't let remote teams feel as if they're off on their own swinging in the breeze without support or communication. Most of the projects I've worked on have been in manufacturing throughout the U.S. and Mexico. We would always very early on in the process define set meeting schedules and work on practically overcommunicating to get people used to the communication channels through e-mails, memos, meeting schedules—stressing the importance to be on time and committed to the project. We would do things to periodically get people collated. We'd offer day-long work sessions that were planned early on in the project so everyone could meet and focus on the project's goals. Once you set the lines of communication, they become very efficient.

Q: How do you handle team members who are disgruntled and unpleasant?

A: Every project I've worked on has had some disgruntled folks to deal with. Almost invariably people who are assigned to a project team but are not happy with the assignment are not going to be happy in general. Disgruntled team members require you to invoke anthropology, dig at the problem, and find a solution. Project managers have to understand where these folks are coming from, and to accomplish that you have to develop a personal relationship. The project manager's job is to act as a counselor, a father, and a confessor to turn the situation around and make it a win for everybody. The reality is that you can't have someone sabotaging your success. You have to find a way to hook that person into the project, even if it takes something personal such as a relationship with the project manager, career advancement, or being able to show the management that gave them the assignment what they are capable of doing. And sometimes there are just situations where you eventually have to have someone reassigned.

Q: What are attributes of a good project manager in regard to leading a team?

A: First off, she has to be able to keep a lot of balls in the air at the same time. I think the key for a good project manager is to understand the subject matter in the scope of the project. The greater the project manager's experience and knowledge in the discipline being implemented, the greater the degree of her success. The project manager is a direct contributor in the success or failure of a project. The more you understand the skill set involved, the better you are at dealing with the problems that arise. Personal knowledge of the subject matter is key, not from a traditional business and project management standpoint, but from a technical standpoint. Another key to success is being a salesperson, being an advocate for your project, and effectively talking to multiple layers of the organization. Having some sales savvy and flexibility in the way you communicate is key.

Just doing the work and selling the project is important. So often projects get bogged down in meetings, and politics, and personal goals to gain consensus. Eventually you just have to start kicking ass and taking names. People respect that, as it is just how things get done. Regardless of how that is perceived, unless you are abrasive, that's how the project is brought in on time, on scope, and on budget.

Q: How does a project manager lead a team when a project is consistently going awry?

A: I think if you are a good project manager, your project won't go awry. I know that sounds conceited, but you will always have difficulty on the project. You have to plan and explain to people what's going on, what the plan is, and how to execute it. Actions in the face of adversity are what separate the excellent project managers from the mediocre. You have to think on your feet and evaluate a variance's impact on the scope and the timeline. Should things need to change, let people know that day—that moment. It's one thing to say there's drama and the sky's falling. Management doesn't like to hear that. Management does, however, like to hear there's drama and the sky's falling—but here's how we're going to fix it. Most of project management is just common sense kind of stuff.

Q: What must a project manager do when new team members come aboard when a project is already in the integration phase?

A: What I usually do is figure what their most solid skill set is. What do they bring to the table? I'll pair them up with someone on the project team on an objective that both team members are qualified to complete. I'll give them tasks and activities to co-deliver for some period of time, perhaps for a few months on a year-long project, or weeks on a project that lasts a few months. While they are working with other team members, I'll try to figure out how to get the full-time equivalent (FTE) out of the new team members, given that they're coming into the project late.

Project managers must interview new team members and figure what they want to do and can do. You may have to shuffle resources around to maximize the amount of resources you have. Typically, though, you can't always do that and keep everyone happy and the project moving forward.

Q: What methods do you use to resolve disagreements among team members?

A: They are many and varied. Copious quantities of alcohol can go a long way toward conflict resolution (laughs). I say that in jest, but it's always easiest to resolve conflict when parties are actually looking for resolutions. Usually, conflicts arise when people are emotionality tied to an area of the project. They are so attached to that area it is to a fault. Generally, people don't like confrontation; they'll scream and cry in private, but they won't approach the people they have a conflict with—usually.

I think conflict creates a better work environment; overall, it creates a better project, a better deliverable. What is productive is to get people in a room, and work as adults. I'll say, “You guys hash this out and we'll meet in the middle.” Ultimately, the project manager has to settle them down and say, “This is my call.”

Q: What types of rewards have you used for your team members to keep them motivated?

A: We've used cash payment, additional vacation time, comp time; we've used tickets to the opera and sporting events, and the real incentive is to deliver rewards right as they're earned. I tend to shy from public recognition because someone may feel left out. If you personalize the reward and recognition and get it out of the business stage, it's less emotional and more personal.

An official recognition requires that you have to be very upfront on the award. It can cause some jealousies. For example, you've got a big plaque in your office and I don't. But I worked just as hard on this project as you, and so on.

Public recognition in team meetings is fine. I slip them in as kudos and a round of applause to team members who have accomplished milestones that will make the whole project team's life easier. I tie it in so everyone benefits from recognition.

Q: Can you share an experience of a project you've managed that required you to go the extra mile to lead a team to a project's conclusion?

A: Which ones don't? On the Dana implementation project, we had a very lean project team, we were scrambling at the 11th hour to finish some things that seemed to be more on the project plan than what they were. We were in the process of rolling out the first plan, and in a five-day period myself and five other guys worked around the clock to complete the project. We were all covering five different bases at once.

Q: What are some pitfalls a new project manager may face in regard to leading a project team?

A: Not knowing which battles he should fight and which battles are worth losing. New project managers should be careful of how to use “tell-assertive” assignments versus “ask-assertive” assignments with project team members. And the converse is true for a new project manager—he needs to know when to be firm and aggressive to solve issues on a project. It's all wisdom he has to gain over time. To get it, he has to learn from his mistakes. The more mistakes you make early in your career as a project manager, the more effective you are down the road.

Q: What advice do you have for aspiring project managers?

A: If you want to be effective as a project manager, you need to start doing the math on how technology really impacts your business. Start putting your name in the hat for technical projects that affect the business. Start small on projects that have a smaller scope, and get your feet wet. Implement some project manager 101 basics, set communication channels, and learn how to expect deadlines to hit on target while not being lax about the quality of work. Go through the motions on the smaller scale and work your way up. If you jump into something too big, it will eat you up. If you don't have the skill set, you will fail.

Motivating the Team

Motivating the Team

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