Organisational leadership and project management

May 30, 2023May 30, 2023 Linky

What does Organisational Leadership have in common with Project Management?

By Jessica Pearman

Project Managers often engage with Organisational Leaders at their organisation, since organisational managers are usually sponsoring the strategic projects that they are working on. As part of their governance function on Steering Committees they need feedback about the projects that project managers are responsible for.

The question is: “What does organizational leadership have in common with project management?”

First, you need to know what the term, organizational leadership, really means.

Organizational leadership is both a description of a position and a requirement in business, in government, in academia, and in non-profits. OL serves to create a unifying source of vision, coordination, and support in achieving an organization’s mission

OrganizationalLeadershipEDU.org offers a more in-depth definition of what exactly organizational leadership (OL) is and how it’s used. And it offers an important set of resources for understanding how OL is viewed and taught today, and how project management is both part of it and a unique domain that benefits from it.

Project management itself is a sort of leadership position. But the values and education in the field borrow from the toolbox of leadership skills and project managers use the very same types of skills that are taught in organizational leadership training:

Communications
Creativity
Analysis
Problem solving
Motivation and management

At the same time, project management is itself a critical skill that is taught in every organizational leadership program. The essential ability to make the trains run on time, to delegate and communicate, to plan and adjust, is critical to accomplishing anything of importance today.

This intersection with leadership functions becomes even more important when you get into the realm of project management.

Devolving decision making and empowering teams to rapidly iterate toward larger organizational goals absolutely requires strong mentoring and interpersonal leadership skills. It’s melding together the fields of project management and organizational leadership more closely than ever. And that means that project management professionals and organizational leaders each benefit from more familiarity with the details of both roles.

Reasons for Project Managers to consider Organizational Leadership training

The shift in many industries to online, or virtual, project management consulting has put a new emphasis on leadership skills for project managers. It’s one thing to organize and manage a team all working under one roof. As many PMs have learned, however, it’s quite another to forge the same connections, keep accurate tabs, and coordinate between a team scattered across a dozen locations or even different time zones.

When everyone on the team is just a job title and a picture in a Zoom or Teams window, communications and motivational skills need extra depth.

It can be acknowledged that project leaders already exercise many OL skills and take on key leadership traits. And organizational leaders lean heavily on the kind of practical tools and techniques that were pioneered in project management.

Differences

In most cases, the difference between them is simply one of scope. Organizational leaders need a broad vision of their industry and the environment it operates within. They come up with big plans that account for all the pieces on the board, and they have the communication and team-building skills to get an entire company behind them to execute those plans.

Project managers tend to focus more on the details of execution, reporting progress, updating Gantt charts, or calculating burndown and running stand-ups if practicing Scrum. They report into senior leadership, but may not spend time worrying about larger concerns of markets or budget.

Organizational leaders have to keep the big picture in mind. They have to understand not just how projects in their own organization are progressing, but how those projects fit into the larger scope of market, the economy, and technical and social evolution. They make the hard calls on killing and cancelling projects, initiating new ones, and distributing resources to their best effect.

Yet project managers are business leaders in their own right. The position is rarely the last stop on their career path. With a demonstrated ability to pull a team together, to plan and achieve goals in the face of adversity, project leaders are already training for top jobs, even if they don’t realize it.

So the formal education that can come along with a degree in organizational management can be the perfect next step for a project manager moving up in the world.

Find answers to all your Organizational Leadership questions

OrganizationalLeadershipEDU.com revolves around understanding the skillsets that effective modern leadership takes, and how to cultivate them. It offers:

Write-ups that outline the career paths for organizational leaders in dozens of different industries and specializations
Specific degree and skill development tracks useful for any leadership role
A deep dive into the skills that build organization leaders themselves
Ways to fine-tune your own continuing education in leadership theory and practice

There’s even a resources page for degrees specific to project management leadership roles.

It offers resources that build your understanding of the science of leadership itself. It’s a critical first stop on your leadership degree planning. It guides you through the many choices on offer. Frequently asked questions cover topics as diverse as the 7 common leadership styles, change management, corporate social responsibility, extrinsic motivation, and strategic communications. Regular blog posts on OrganizationalLeadershipEDU.com keep readers up to date with the latest developments and newest areas of interest in leadership education.

Making Planning for your own leadership education easy

Beyond giving you a clear picture of the best and most affordable schools in the country offering organizational leadership degrees, the site also breaks down the different degree and certificate options that are open to you. It’s important because organizational leadership has become highly specialized to different industries.

A nurse manager aspiring to higher qualifications and more senior leadership roles is looking at a far different degree track than an education administrator—your educational plans have to match your career goals.

You will find a breakdown on how each different concentration or degree type is used in the field. It includes critical pieces of information like:

The type of coursework you can expect
Common internship or practicum options
Information about capstone project or thesis expectation
Different degree levels and their uses in each field or industry
Accreditation considerations to look out for
Cost data for each degree
Jobs that you will qualify to fill and typical salary levels you may achieve

It also delivers carefully curated lists of schools and programs offering those degrees. You can find options not just in every category of concentration or major, but also those that fit different budgets and career stages. You’ll find degrees that can be completed fully online, through traditional on-campus classes, or those with a hybrid option that combines both formats.

You’ll also find that not only have the editors at OrganizationalLeadershipEDU.org identified and classified the very best bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in OL in the country, but that they have also put together a list of the most affordable options. So no matter what your budget, your project management specialty, or your industry, you will find the best options to fit your needs.

If you aren’t already incorporating an understanding of organizational leadership, and some of the techniques developed for the field, in your own Project Management work, it’s time to start. If you are thinking about aspiring to senior management levels in your organization, or raising the profile in your consulting business, a degree or certificate in higher education may be just what you need.

April 27, 2023April 27, 2023 Linky

Turning the impossible into a successful project

By Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez

In 2018 there was an incident that became known world-wide due to the impossible odds of survival, yet the unfortunate victims all survived miraculously. Let me tell you why this is now on my list of most amazing projects everyone should learn about.

On June 23rd, a group of 12 boys, aged 11 to 16, and their soccer coach became trapped in a flooded cave complex in northern Thailand. They planned to explore the caves for about an hour, but heavy rains caused the cave system to flood, trapping them inside.

The situation was threatening: the boys were stuck about 4 kilometers from the cave entrance, and the flooded passages made it impossible for them to escape on their own.

The rescue project that followed was a remarkable accomplishment of project management, bravery, teamwork, and international cooperation.

A massive search and rescue operation was launched, with more than 1,000 people involved in the effort, including Thai Navy SEALs, cave diving experts, and volunteers from around the world.

Project Challenges

The first challenge was to locate the boys and their coach. The cave is vast and complex, with narrow passages, steep drops, and underwater sections. It took nine days to find the group; they had survived by drinking water that dripped from the cave walls and eating snacks they had brought. Surrounded by darkness, the boys and the coach lost all sense of time.

At the start, “no one really had any idea what to do”, one volunteer said. Officials brought whatever equipment they could think of – small water pumps, long pipes, knives, and shovels – but much of it was unsuitable.

Once the group was found, the next challenge was to figure out how to get them out safely. The boys and their coach were weak and malnourished and needed to be experienced, cave divers. The cave system was treacherous, with tight passages and strong currents, and parts were completely submerged. It was clear that a complex and risky operation would be required to rescue them.

Six factors that made the project a success

Several aspects contributed to the success of the rescue project:

Higher and Shared Purpose: Saving the kids’ lives was a higher purpose that everyone in the project team shared, from government officials to the international community and experts around the world. When this level of alignment happens around a project with a higher purpose, there are very good chances that the project will succeed.
The Best Team: The rescue effort involved a multi-national team of experts and volunteers from around the world. Engineers, cave divers, doctors, and military personnel from Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and many other countries, worked together to develop a plan to extract the boys from the cave. This collaboration ensured that the rescue team had access to the best resources and expertise from around the world.
High Performing: The rescue team consisted of highly trained professionals with expertise in various areas, including cave diving, engineering, medicine, and military operations. Together, they became a high-performing team, leveraging their skills and experience for the sake of the project. This helped them overcome the complex and dangerous conditions in the cave. The team was able to adapt and modify their plan as the situation changed, demonstrating their professionalism and expertise.
Executive Sponsor Dedicated and Committed: The rescue project was sponsored by Thai authorities, who provided clear direction and coordination throughout the operation. The leaders were able to bring together the various teams and resources and make quick and effective decisions when needed. They also communicated effectively with the media and the public, which helped to manage expectations and reduce anxiety.
Innovation and Creativity: The rescue team had to develop creative and innovative solutions to overcome the challenges posed by the cave system. They used a combination of diving and walking to extract the boys and their coach and came up with various techniques and equipment to help them navigate the treacherous conditions.
Believe in Success till the End: The rescue team was determined to succeed and did not give up, even when faced with difficult and dangerous conditions. They worked tirelessly around the clock to extract the boys and their coach and did not let setbacks or challenges discourage them.

On July 10th, after 18 days trapped in the cave, all 12 boys and their coach were safely rescued. The story captured the attention of people around the world. It is a reminder of the power of human resilience, the importance of teamwork, and the bravery of those who risked their lives to save others.

We have seen the power of projects, even in the darkest of circumstances, we can come together to overcome seemingly impossible challenges.
Antonio nieto-rodriquez

About the Author:

Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez is known to many as the following:

March 9, 2023March 9, 2023 Linky

Why Business Projects need to be handled differently

By Frank Einhorn

When looking at a project management landscape, why do we need to handle business projects differently? And how do we handle them effectively?

Business Projects

First, we need to look at what can be classified as Business Projects. The best way to understand business projects is to contrast them with a typical construction project (where something is being built to an approved design). There are several aspects:

	Construction Projects	Business Projects
Requirements	The objective is clear. The main tasks are known and can be estimated by a Quantity Surveyor	The objective is probably understood, but how to get there may not be, making estimating difficult
Change	Once the design for the construction is approved, there is relatively little change	Business projects change all the time, including their priority. Rolling-wave planning is common
Size	Construction projects are generally larger and there are people assigned to do scheduling and costing. On-time, within-budget is important to avoid penalties or eroded profit	Business projects are smaller, and the PM does most of the schedule and cost tracking. Nevertheless, business projects may be complex, critical for the organisation, and carry high risk. Business satisfaction with the results is the measure
Benefits	Construction benefits come directly from the deliverable. One can drive over a bridge as soon as it is built	Realising business benefits may take time and need involvement from many people; the PM has often moved on
Progress	For construction, progress is visible and inspected by people wearing hard-hats.	For business (especially IT) progress can be hard to see and evaluate
Location & resources	Most construction tasks happen in one location with dedicated people	Business projects are often geographically spread, with many part-time team members (Matrix management).
Skills	Construction skills, while important, are fairly interchangeable	For business projects key people may have unique skills; to replace them requires a lengthy learning curve
Management	The construction site PM is in charge and has authority	Business PMs need to lead by persuasion, expertise, influence, and understanding of the prevailing politics

Business vs Construction Projects

While the project management principles apply equally to construction and business projects, the way that they are applied may be very different. Documented project techniques simply do not work for some business projects – or need significant adaptation. Clearly, there is a spectrum with some business projects having construction elements. Also, construction, engineering, and mining organisations run many business projects.

What are the essentials?

When managing a business project there is no time for all the text-book ‘should dos’. While the project may be complex, it needs to be managed in the simplest possible way. The essentials include:

Have a business sponsor (not necessarily the money provider). He or she must be a senior person who really needs the project to happen. Without a sponsor’s support there are many problems that can sink a project. So, if there is no sponsor, it’s best not to start the project.
Produce a Project Definition Document or Project Charter, starting in the first week of the project. The headings include things like: executive summary, goals and objectives, scope and deliverables, benefits, costs, risks, resources, roles, and milestones. Gathering input would involve the stakeholders – business and project team. Any significant disagreements might need to be resolved by the sponsor. When done, the expectations of stakeholders should be aligned, and the PM should have an excellent grasp of the project. Planning would then continue after checking that the business case (benefits versus costs and risks) remains sound.
Have a repository where documents can be kept in a structured way, accessible to all. Few documents are confidential.
Flesh out the scope (activities or tasks) and deliverables as best you know it. Often the activities evolve as more becomes known. Check that the team can cover the important activities.
Develop and track (monitor and update) a schedule or task list.
Develop and track a cost budget (where appropriate) – related to work achieved.
Hold regular, short, minuted, team meetings – track progress.
Identify and manage project risks (ongoing) – plan response actions to reduce the probability or impact. Some risks you might consciously accept. Allow contingency (cost and time).
Manage project issues (problems that threaten success) and changes (mainly to scope).
Produce regular reports (1 page is ideal) with a status indicator (e.g. Red, Amber, Green). Doing them regularly, like fortnightly, helps the PM to keep a ‘finger on the pulse’.
Keep in touch with stakeholders throughout – business and the team.
Close the project, checking that stakeholder needs are met. A report, of a few pages, should be produced, with headings like what was achieved, things still to be done, and lessons learned.

Most documents produced do not need to be elegant, but they must give a good understanding. For example, an issue document needs a brief description, alternative solutions, and the resolution – usually all in one page. The thinking involved is vital.

Business Project variations

How the above items are done might depend on the project. For an Agile project, a Kanban board might be used instead of a schedule. Also, who plays the PM role might vary. It could be done by an experienced PM, a ‘scrum master’ for Agile, or a business person with good people, communication, and problem-solving skills. But, whatever the situation, it is important that the essentials are done consistently and well.

About the Author

Frank Einhorn has over 40 years of project management experience. He graduated as an electrical engineer and later completed an MBA at UCT. He worked with customers in many industries, but mainly banking, insurance, mining, and public sector utilities.

Frank has been a PMP since 1995. Frank has convened programmes and lectured at Wits Business School since 2011. His PhD was completed at UJ in 2018.

Recently his book ‘Managing Business Projects: The Essentials’ was published internationally. It is available in South Africa

May 17, 2022May 17, 2022 Linky

Three Ways to Prepare for Remote Job Interviews

By Joe Higgins

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced businesses across the globe to reassess how they operate. One area that has seen significant changes, is the way in which companies conduct interviews. In the past, most interviews took place in person, with both the interviewer and interviewee meeting in a shared space. However, with the rise of video conferencing platforms and remote working becoming a new norm, more and more businesses are opting for remote job interviews.

With more companies being open to recruiting the best candidates, even remotely, the trend of doing remote interviews, will continue. A candidate who has secured such an interview, need to prepare well and the purpose of this article, is to help you do that.

Trend for remote interviews

There are at least three good reasons for this trend.

Remote interviews allow businesses to reach a wider pool of candidates, as candidates are no longer restricted by geography.
Remote interviews can also save time and money, as there is no need to travel to meet with candidates.
Finally, remote interviews allow businesses to get a good sense of a candidate’s personality and communication skills, as the interviewer can see how the candidate interacts with technology.

Challenges with remote interviews

Although remote interviews have become more commonplace as the world continues to adapt to the new normal, they can still be a bit daunting for job seekers. Since you’re not meeting face-to-face with your potential employer, it can be difficult to create a good impression.

However, here are three steps you can take to set yourself up for success. By following these recommendations, you can ace your remote interview and improve your chance to securing your dream job.

#1 Make sure you have a solid internet connection

It’s always important to make sure you have a strong internet connection before you start any kind of online meeting or interview. A weak connection can cause your audio to cut in and out, or your video to freeze, making it difficult for both you and the person you are speaking with to communicate effectively. In a remote interview situation, this can be even more damaging, as it can make you appear unprofessional or unprepared.

That’s why it’s essential to take a few minutes before your interview to test your connection and make sure everything is working properly. Once you’re confident that your audio and video are of good quality, you can proceed with your interview without worrying about technical issues getting in the way.

Also make sure you have a quiet, well-lit space to work in. You don’t want any distractions or background noise during the call, and you want to be sure the interviewer can see you clearly.

#2 Dress professionally

3 ways to prepare for remote job interviews

Dressing professionally for a remote interview is just as important as dressing professionally for an in-person interview. First impressions are everything, and you want to make sure that you give off the best possible impression when meeting with potential employers. Additionally, dressing professionally helps to create a sense of professionalism and respect. It shows that you are taking the interview seriously and that you are willing to put in the effort to present yourself in a positive light.

Dressing professionally can also help to boost your confidence levels, which is essential when meeting with employers. By dressing appropriately, you will be more successful, not only with having good interviews, but also during your ongoing career.

#3 Be prepared

There are many ways to prepare yourself adequately for remote interviews.

It is important to prepare answers to common interview questions. Stay calm and positive during the interview, even if things do not go as planned.

Remote interviews can be a bit more challenging than in-person interviews, but it’s still possible to make a good impression by being professional and prepared.

Make sure you have a quiet, uninterrupted space to conduct the interview, being aware of your body language and cues, and speaking clearly and concisely.

It’s also helpful to have a list of questions prepared in advance, in case there are any awkward pauses during the interview.

Overall, remember that the interviewer is just trying to get to know you better and assess whether you’re a good fit for the position, so stay calm and be your best self.

If you’re feeling nervous or flustered, try to take a few deep breaths and relax and be yourself. The more comfortable you are, the better able you will be to sell yourself and to land the job.

Author bio Joe Higgins is a career advisor who has been focusing his attention on the remote working trend. He has seen first-hand how this way of working can benefit both employees and employers, and he is passionate about helping people find the right career for them. Joe has also worked as a manager in several different industries, so he understands what it takes to be successful in the workplace.

March 8, 2022March 8, 2022 Linky

How to bring more creativity into Project Management

By Rhylan Jozelle

You wouldn’t immediately associate creativity with project management. When professional project managers have been leading projects for many years, the desire to be creative around many aspects of project management, is either a well-honed skill or it can be weak. In this article you will see how a creative approach will engage teams and make a notable difference in outcomes.

Opportunities for creativity

There are multiple opportunities in which creativity finds a way into a successful project manager’s portfolio –– from innovation when handling budgets, to organizing schedules, to effectively steering a team.

Encouraging creative suggestions and ideas from your team members is always an advantageous approach. When we assess unsuccessful projects, the lack of success more often than not comes down to ineffective communication, poor support, and unclear instruction –– all of which can be improved by infusing a degree of creativity.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at how to bring more creativity into project management.

Bringing Out the Creativity in Others

Often on many projects, you will find team members who are considered to be creative. For project managers who are more analytical and task driven in nature, it could be challenging to manage creative types who are always full of ideas. Creative people are in fact valuable members of any project! When a creative person’s ideas and suggestions are stifled or unheard, you are likely to experience dysfunction within the group. Indeed, as is explained in “Herding Tigers” by Todd Henry, much of the negative behavior we see in workplaces can be traced back to inattentive leadership. However, allowing your team to express their creativity, encouraging them to bring forward their ideas, and acknowledging their input as valuable, will provide a better result overall.

Inspiring Emotional Involvement

It’s paramount to the success of any project to invite collaboration. What is also important, is to allow team members to participate individually. Encouraging them to share personal thoughts and ideas will foster emotional connections to the project. As mentioned in “Engage” by Linda Holbeche & Geoffrey Matthews, to encourage positive engagement, all staff must be treated like human beings rather than units of production. When you treat team members as such, they are more likely to engage and produce their best work within the team structure.

Visualizing Processes & Success

In addition to energizing and valuing creatives on the team, it’s also wise to embody some creative traits as a leader. Visualizing the journey and end result of a project, is a skill often associated with creativity. This is an extremely useful tool for keeping a program on track. This is an aspect of creativity popularized by Marc Silber’s book “Create” in which mastering visualization is discussed as part of the process of unleashing creativity. In short, training the mind to envision outcomes or strategic steps can help you to work out how you want to organize processes and inspire progress. It’s the same trick many creatives use to bring, say, an original story or painting into being.

Generating Ideas

Innovation is essential to the success of any project. The formation of ideas through innovative thinking is not just useful for molding the finished product, but for overcoming obstacles along the way as well. To deliver the product or when facing several risks, a project manager will have to generate various ideas to solve problems, which in turn requires creativity. As discussed in our article on “4 Types Of Task Boards To Make You More Productive”, task boards can be effective for both team member contributions and the general development of new ideas and suggestions. Whatever tool you employ though, a creative approach to innovative ideas is essential.

Improving Day-to-Day Conditions

Alongside all preceding aspects, exercising creativity about working conditions is also an important aspect of project management. When leading teams, consider how to creatively improve working conditions as part of motivating team members. This can mean any number of things, but solutions as simple as off-site lunch breaks or fidget toys for people to use during brainstorming sessions, can go a long way. These kinds of thoughtful gestures will put team members at ease, inspire bonding, and generally keep people happy. This leads to better work contributing to the project goals.

Ultimately, project management is a complex and demanding process often referred to as an art and a science. The points above illustrate, how to demonstrate and foster creativity like:

encouraging team members to be more creative,
inspiring them to be emotionally involved,
visualizing the roadmap and end goal
and improving daily working conditions

By injecting creativity into different aspects of project management, you will help to engage and motivate teams to work toward successful project outcomes.

January 30, 2022January 30, 2022 Linky

The Importance of Demonstrating Leadership Behaviour

In the latest version of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) V7, released by the Project Management Institute on 1 August 2021, there are 12 Principles. Did you know that “Demonstrate Leadership Behaviours” is one of the principles that the standard is based on?

The PMBOK Guide has moved away from the traditional focus on processes, inputs and outputs, and what you find now is an emphasis on Principles, Performance Domains, Models, Methods and Artifacts, and Standards. In other words, there is a shift from process-based standards to standards based on principles; from Knowledge Areas to Project Performance Domains with the focus on outcomes rather than outputs / deliverables.

The purpose of this article is to delve a bit deeper into the Principle of Demonstrating Leadership Behaviour. Since Leadership is a project management skill that has received increasing focus over the years, I wanted to understand how it is positioned as a principle.

Leadership to support individual and team needs

Leadership traits exhibited by people in the project environments include establishing and maintaining a vision, critical thinking and creativity, motivation, encouragement and empathy.

The PMBOK Guide provides an interesting perspective on leadership by stating that leadership is not exclusive to any specific role. It states that high-performing projects feature multiple people exhibiting effective leadership skills, traits and styles to help the team perform and to deliver the required results.

It continues to say that it takes leadership to motivate a group towards a common goal, influence them to align their individual interests in favour of the collective effort and to achieve success as a team.

The Guide makes an important point in favour of situational leadership, which means to tailor the style to meet needs of the team. Therefore, effective leadership is shown when it best fits a given situation. A few examples are given to explain.

When chaos exists, directive action will create more clarity than collaborative problem solving.
In environments with competent and engaged teams, empowered delegation is better than centralized coordination.
When there’s conflict over priorities, neutral facilitation helps more than detailed recommendations.

Something that I definitely agree with, is the Guide’s statement that ‘effective leadership skill is grown’. It is something that can be learned and developed so that it becomes a professional asset to the individual.

Of course, leaders need to be a role model in areas of honesty, integrity and ethical conduct. According to the Guide projects work best when leaders understand what motivates people. Motivators include autonomy, recognition, purpose, growth opportunities and personal contribution.

A last point made as part of the principle to demonstrate leadership behaviour, is that by blending styles, growing skills and leveraging motivators, any team member or stakeholder can motivate, influence, coach and grow the project team, regardless of their role.

Which Leadership skills to develop

Your leadership acumen can be developed by practicing a combination of various skills and techniques. Project managers will recognize this as part of the many activities they perform every day on projects.

Ensure the vision for the project outcomes is well understood and that the team is focused on the agreed goals. Seek resources and support for the project and overcome obstacles to progress.

Negotiate and resolve conflict within the project team and between the team and other stakeholders. Adapt your communication style and messaging to be relevant to the audience.

Coaching and mentoring fellow project team members will take much of your time. Appreciate and reward contributions made and provide opportunities for growth and development. Do this by delegating responsibilities to team members and empowering them for high performance.

Facilitate collaborative decision making and practice active listening. Show empathy for project team and stakeholder perspectives. Practice self-awareness of your own bias and behaviours.

Manage and adapt to change during the project life cycle and facilitate a mindset of learning quickly by acknowledging mistakes.

Interpersonal skills will include many soft skills, like emotional intelligence, recognising our own and others’ emotions, to guide thinking and behaviour. This includes self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and social skill.

Continue to practice all the above while you role model the desired behaviours. As you can see, this is quite a tall order for any project manager, but at the same time, leading is what keeps the role interesting, challenging and contributes to personal growth on every project. The perspective of the Guide is that on high-performing projects many members portray effective leadership skills.

Leadership development

In conclusion, there is no one behavioural or leadership style that will make for success. Rather a flexible and adaptive approach needs to be adopted so that the most appropriate style is used for any given situation. To know the appropriate style to use, comes with practice, years of experience, observing great leaders and a growth mindset for continuous learning.

More information

If you’d like to obtain your own copy of the latest PMBOK Guide v7, you will find it on the Project Management Institute’s website. It is pricey, but a 50% discount is available for PMI members. For a frank overview of the PMBOK Guide v7, you will find the article by Dr Mike Clayton refreshing.

August 26, 2021August 28, 2021 Linky

How to become a credible Agile Project Leader

By Linky van der Merwe

When I first transitioned to Agile, coming from a traditional project management background, I quickly realised that one of the keystones to become successful in Agile, would be to change my mindset. The mindset that needs to be adopted, is the Agile mindset, based on a set of key values and principles designed to better enable collaborative work and deliver continuous value through a “people-first” orientation. This means a huge move away from being very process driven and a focus on output (PMI’s PMBOK has 10 knowledge areas and 49 processes after all); to becoming more people focused and outcome driven. What a shift to make for any experienced professional project manager! Many project professionals rightfully ask how do they become credible Agile Project Leaders? This article aims to answer that question.

Read this article on the challenges and what it takes to be successful as Agile Project Managers.

Shift to Organisational Agility

For the past few years many organisations have been on a mission to improve their Organizational Agility, meaning their capability to quickly sense and adapt to external and internal changes to deliver relevant results in a productive and cost-effective manner. The need to become more agile, has been fast-tracked by the world-wide COVID epidemic.

According to the PMI Report: Achieving greater agility, 2017, companies will be successful if they build a culture of Agility. Culture is a critical enabler. It needs to be a culture of readiness that supports flexible processes and employee training in support of agile practices. Those who succeed gain considerable efficiencies.

The Report goes further to state that 88% of organisations with high agility realise significant benefits including more efficient and effective processes and higher customer and employee satisfaction. These organisations are more likely to align their projects with strategic objectives which is critical to benefits realisation and success.

The Role of Project Leaders and the PMO

In addition to executives to advocate agility, project leaders could become evangelists for greater agility. In organisations with high agility, it is noted that 77% have an agile PMO or agile working group who are leading Agile Transformation. Successful transformation commonly requires new approaches in fundamental areas of business. Those include budget cycles, hiring practices, procurement practices, and role delineation.

An agile oriented PMO has a customer-collaboration mindset. In many cases, this means the PMO operates as an internal consultant, tailoring project delivery approaches to accommodate resources, timelines, and overall business needs, even as they change. Based on a documented case study in the PMI report, of TD Bank, the PMO can continue to perform similar functions than before, like:

Establishing standards
Serving as the Centre of Excellence
Educating the organization
Training and building talent

To achieve the above there are practical ways for a PMO to support and lead an organisation’s agile transformation. The PMO leaders need to become subject matter experts in agile. Develop and/or acquire the expertise to help guide agile practitioners, develop training, and establish a community of practice that provides coaching services. They need to define the value proposition of agile and the PMO’s role in agile delivery. Help the organization define the agile target state and a roadmap to get there. Drive the change beginning with successes in project delivery and extending it beyond projects to business agility. Build the capacity by acquiring and/or retooling the workforce with the necessary agile skills, build a culture of agile within the project delivery organization, apply agile concepts to all projects regardless of delivery method.

The Agile Project Manager

Where does the Project Manager fit in and continue delivering value in the agile context? Project Managers need more than technical skills. To sense change they need to be well informed about an organization’s strategic objectives and how their projects align. They need to forge strong relationships with business owners who request projects as well as with the functions that support them (e.g., finance, legal, risk management, and HR). Those with leadership skills and strong business acumen, can lead strategic initiatives and play a role to ensure projects stay aligned with strategic goals. Agile Project Managers will help to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of how work gets done, including identifying unnecessary steps in work processes, as well as to share essential information broadly with all stakeholders.

The PMI Report: What’s next? Identifying new ways of working, Dom Price, a Futurist and Head of R&D at Atlassian is of the opinion that Project Managers will take on a more strategic role by managing for complexity, ambiguity, agility, and communication. As knowledge workers they will continue to learn and grow their strategic value. Project, Program and Portfolio Management will drive innovation and change by playing their role to enable the organisation to navigate change every day.

In a case study from AstraZeneca, they have evolved their PMO and Project Management capabilities by demonstrating the value of project management to build trust across the organisation, by:

involving project managers to identify smart and efficient processes,
improve ways of working,
streamline key areas such as risk management, planning, and control.

Enterprise-wide agility really requires everyone to understand what agility means—that it’s the capability to quickly sense and adapt to external and internal changes to deliver relevant results in a productive and cost-effective manner. Everyone also needs to adopt agile practices. The PMI Report conclude how project leadership can facilitate and advocate organisational agility by supporting the following:

Understand technical project management activities
Remove impediments and streamline processes when working with other areas of the business, such as HR and finance
Expose and communicate bottlenecks
Align stakeholder needs
Advocate for training in agile practices

How to be a credible Agile Project Leader

How do Project Managers become credible experts in Agile? To answer this question, I’m going to use guidance shared by Jo Ann Sweeney, a transformational change consultant based in the UK.

“To be viewed as a credible expert, you need to know the subject inside out, but expertise is not just about our knowledge on the topic. Substance does come first; close behind comes sincerity and passion.”

She explains that you don’t need to know everything about a topic. You need to be honest about the gaps in your knowledge, respect expertise in others and have a passion for your topic aligned with a passion for sharing. Credibility comes from three things:

your confidence – how you view and present yourself
your character – the innate qualities that make us unique based on your trustworthiness, respectfulness, responsibility, fairness, caring and social responsibility
your capabilities – your knowledge, skills and aptitudes; the natural talents you’re born with and develop throughout your life when you interact with others as well as learning through academia, training, mentoring and coaching

What’s next

I would say that experienced project managers (often PMP’s) have confidence based on their past experiences and ability to lead projects. They are able to display character, based on upholding the ‘Code of Ethics’ and professional conduct expected of project professionals. And any gap in capability can be addressed by training and coaching. There are various good certifications to consider for Agile, see this article for more information.

In a Techrepublic.com article, Allen Barnard stated that tech-savvy project professionals with business skills are highly valued for their ability to understand and facilitate change. The trend is to solve problems by using a design-thinking perspective. This means you view challenges from different stakeholders’ point of view and generate ideas to address them with clients. To facilitate these types of problem-solving approaches, project managers will need to develop leadership and technical skills, as well as empathy to build the strong relationships that are required to support organizational change.

There is a massive contribution to be made while helping organisations to build their Agile culture. An Agile Project Leader can help with establishing standards, to educate, to train and to align stakeholder needs. Do use your strengths of improving processes and enabling teams towards high performance. In a world with so much change, Agile Project Leaders are ideally positioned to help executives to turn their ideas into reality.

Sources

PMI report: Pulse of the Profession 2021 Beyond Agility
What’s next? Identifying new ways of working, 2018
Forbes.com: Agility, not efficiency, is the key to business success In 2021, by Sherry Suski. December, 2020.
TechRepublic.com: Project managers playing larger role in organizational agility. February, 2020.
PMI Thought Leadership Report – Achieving greater agility, the critical need for cross-functional support, 2017

May 7, 2020February 14, 2022 Linky

How to Deal with COVID-19 as a Project Manager Part 2

By Linky van der Merwe

This article follows from the previous article: How to deal with COVID-19 as a Project Manager, published on 16 March 2020.

In light of this crisis, some of the best things a Project Leader can do, is to arm yourself with information and to be a pillar of strength for your project team(s).

By now we all know that the Coronavirus, known as the COVID-19 pandemic, has serious implications for economies all over the world and is causing a huge business impact in every country where it is spreading. Countries, organizations, and individuals are faced with extremely serious risks, uncertainties, challenges, questions, and decisions—in many cases existential in nature. It is important to arm yourself with accurate, comprehensive information to manage your organization and teams through this crisis by making informed, thoughtful decisions.

Let’s look with a broader lens before we try to understand the impact on project teams.

How to restart national economies

Recently McKinsey reported on the scenarios under which economies will need to restart, called: “How to Restart National Economies during the Coronavirus Crisis.“

Based on the rapid, exponential spread of COVID-19 across the world over the past month, McKinsey has revised its Scenario Analysis (as shared in the previous article) to include 9 potential scenarios. These scenarios capture outcomes related to GDP impact, public health response, and economic policies.

McKinsey Report - How to restart national economies

McKinsey Report - How to restart economies

Stages of Recovery

Different countries have had different levels of success in handling this crisis, therefore McKinsey is proposing 4 stages of recovery readiness.

Overview of the 4 Stages of Recovery

To understand what state of readiness a country is in, the 9 scenarios are mapped to the 4 stages of readiness. The best prepared areas are in the upper right box.

For every country and territory, there is a path to recovery—before parts of the economy can be restarted, you must first slow the spread of the virus. If you prematurely restart the economy prior to truly containing the spread, you risk re-starting the spread. Most countries expect to experience significant decline in GDP in Q2 of 2020, which would be the first time since WWII. In fact, GDP drops to its lowest point globally in Q2.

COVID-19 Scenarios Overview

Based on the COVID-19 scenarios, here are the proposed paths to recovery.

If you examine the Stage 2 scenario: A3-Virus is contained, which captures the situation where the virus is contained by mid-Q2, it is expected that public health containment and mitigation efforts, along with a seasonal decline, leads to a reduction in case load.

The result is that by the end of 2020, beginning of 2021, GDP will have recovered to the pre-pandemic levels for most countries.

Under the A1 scenario (medium virus spread), we endure a slow, global recovery—there is severe and large-scale human and economic impact. Most countries will take over 2+ years to recover to the pre-pandemic GDP levels. In this scenario, the GDP shows a gradual U-shape recovery stretching multiple years.

Implication for Companies and Projects

If the Stage 2 scenario (A3-virus is contained) materializes in your country, you have the possibility that the economy should return to normal within a year, with little impact on larger projects and programmes that were able to continue, despite wide-scale lock-down measures in many countries. Of course many small projects would have been put on hold, postponed, or cancelled altogether due to the economic downturn.

However, in the event of a possible A1 scenario in your country, the slow economic recovery, may cause many planned projects to be postponed and multiple cost-saving measures are expected to be implemented by stable companies who will try to survice over the 2+ years that it will take the economy to recover to pre-pandemic GDP levels.

Our response

There is no point in panicking about the situation we as project practitioners are finding ourselves in. Rather prepare for the eventuality that uncertainty, challenges and difficult decisions are lying ahead for most companies.

In another McKinsey article: “Saving our livelihoods from COVID-19: Toward an economic recovery“, they state:

The pandemic could give rise to a new era of human development
McKinsey, April 2020

Recognise the impact of COVID-19 on people’s livelihoods. There will be an increase in unemployment and poverty. This means that some of your team members are experiencing a decline in household income that could last months. This will have a demoralizing effect on families and on teams we lead. We need to raise our awareness and focus on providing emotional safety to our teams. When people feel safe (a basic need) and still secure in their jobs, they will stay committed and motivated to work productively.

It will be the government’s responsibility to help companies to safeguard employment. People will be allowed to return to work under strict health protocols. We need to support those protocols in order to contain the virus and still stay economically active.We can expect that companies will make structural changes during the economic recovery period like leaner operations, digital and industrial reconversions, the introduction of new channels, agile organizational structures, digital innovation and innovative learning techniques. These changes will certainly have an impact on how projects are prioritized and executed in future. As project professionals we need to position ourselves to have market related skills to fill the demands of the recovering economy.

We need to work on being more resilient in these difficult time and keep developing our leadership skills. This is why I’m reading a book called: “Prosper!: How to Prepare for the Future and Create a World Worth Inheriting” by Chris Martenson and Adam Taggart. It gives specific, attainable steps you can take today that can limit your vulnerability and help you to live your life with greater purpose.

Keep yourself informed, be realistic, but stay positive while leading your teams as best as you can through these uncertain times. As long as value is delivered by projects and the outcomes serve companies and their customers, you will stay in high demand.

Please comment and let us know how you are dealing with the pandemic crisis. How are you supporting your teams through this? Share anything that will help others who are in the same predicament.

Please subscribe to Virtual Project Consulting not to miss future articles, tips and success stories!

Sources:

How to Restart National Economies during the Coronavirus Crisis. McKinsey, April 2020
Saving our livelihoods from COVID-19: Toward an economic recovery McKinsey, April 2020

April 1, 2020April 1, 2020 Linky

How to Adapt Governance for Agile Projects

By Christopher Worsley

If you’re working in a structured project environment with a project office, the chances are that you are using a right-size governance approach.

What does that mean? Essentially, the level of management attention and oversight varies appropriately, depending upon the characteristics of the project, such as size and complexity, or the level and significance of the impact of the project on the organisation.

In the example below, projects are classified for governance purposes into three types based upon size and complexity.

Project categorisation

Type ‘1’ projects demand formal ratification of key deliverables such as the business case and project initiation document. They will not be allowed to continue (or at least that’s the idea) until there is real evidence that the legitimate governance stakeholders have given their authorisation to proceed stage by stage.

Type ‘3’ projects? Well, they typically take only a few weeks, a few staff, and not a lot of money, and have a very limited impact on the organisation’s strategy. They often simply require a sign-off as an agreement to operationalise and close the project. It’s not unusual for work to continue while the sign-off is being negotiated.

Ultimately, the choice of governance affects the way the project is controlled, monitored, and the way decision-making is managed.

It all sounds good, doesn’t it? Except that it simply isn’t working.

Right-size governance is failing on so many levels

Twenty years ago, most of us recognised that adopting strict life cycles and gateway processes may well reduce risk, but at a huge cost to the agility of delivery. It didn’t matter how many times PRINCE2 theoreticians told us it was ‘just a framework’ and its strictures must be adapted to the project and organizational context, there were methodologist practitioners who were determined to implement a rigid, formulaic system. This was the era when the joke was:

What’s the difference between a methodologist and a terrorist?
“You can negotiate with a terrorist!”

Right-size governance was introduced to proceduralise the judgements about which governance techniques to apply and when. It makes logical sense. In line with Pareto’s law, you concentrate most management attention on the top 20% of projects. But like so many well-intentioned ideas, it had not factored in the Machiavellian behaviour of organizations and their project stakeholders. In a review comparing the actual governance approach taken by projects against the approach suggested by project size and complexity evaluation, we found over 25% of projects were not in line with the right-size governance recommendations. Here are just some of the examples we come across:

Under-inflation: When projects are misdescribed as ‘simple’ to ensure low levels of governance oversight. “I know I said it was large, but actually it’s quite straightforward – I’m sure it’s a type ‘3’.”
Over-inflation: When project classifications are confused with project ‘status’. Yes, it does happen! “This is definitely a type ‘1’ project. Look how important it is!” Perhaps we should read here – “…look how important I am!”
Process override: When there are clear indications of a project of being one type, but alternative governance approaches are mandated, often by a powerful stakeholder. “I don’t need all this, and I’m not prepared to pay for it.”

Right-size governance so rarely deals with change

In the organisations we work with, the classification of projects for governance purposes is part of the project initiation process. It must be because fundamental decisions to questions are dependent upon understanding the nature of the project. Questions such as:

Who will be involved?
What level of project manager skill is necessary?
How should we register the project?

This works well where the level of simplicity and complexity is obvious, but for those in between, it can be more difficult to predict in their early stages. We don’t know what we don’t know yet. Selecting and implementing the governance for the project at this stage is a problem.

The PMOs we work with report that it is often these projects that get into trouble simply because the management oversight is just wrong. While there may be good intentions to review the project categorisation at stage gates, in reality, what happens is that the project drifts into a governance black-hole with nobody prepared to expose the existing governance regime to challenge.

The PMO’s role

Clearly, with some projects and programmes lasting over several years, the governance approach must be reviewed. In these circumstances a PMO can add real value, monitoring the risks associated with projects in the wrong governance state and highlighting the need for change to occur. We suspect, however, that many PMOs are subject to the ‘magpie effect’ – they become overly focused on large projects and programmes. Strange really, because these are the ones we assign our most experienced (and costliest) project and programme managers to – exactly because of the known risks. It seems an exercise in project manager disempowerment for the PMO to pitch in as well. Rather it is those middle level projects where changes in context are most likely, and where the skills and experience of the managers involved may be more suspect, that the PMO should focus.

Adaptive governance

Reviewing your governance approach is one thing – adapting it is something else. Indeed, one might consider that the whole idea of adapting governance is an oxymoron. After all, the purpose of governance is to give predictable approaches, based upon best practices, to reduce the risks associated with the management of projects. Adapting governance – well it sounds like the sort of can that is best left unopened!

Yet if yours is a complex project environment where the organisational context of projects is varied and varying, or indeed if you are working on Agile projects, adapting governance approaches is exactly what you are expected to do.

As governance is about reducing management risk, it has to remain alert to the sources of management risk, and the first and possibly most important is where and by whom are management decisions being made. So often demanding and dangerous stakeholders are involved or included in the decision-making, and yet good practice means that only the decision-makers should be limited to those who have a legitimate right – which means the decisions are made at the right place by the right people.

A second, and in some ways, more subtle point about adapting governance to better suit changing circumstances was made by Cohn, an early Agile theorist. He pointed out that project governance – far from eschewing change – should welcome it and see change as a positive consequence of having learned something and avoiding the mistake of doing something not wanted. A far cry from the rigid, predictive governance strait jackets of yesteryear that saw the role of keeping to the script and frustrating change.

Agile projects

So in the Agile world, governance matters but it’s a much more consultative process. It’s not just about whether the project is complex, but what the clients’ attitudes and desires are around the way the project should be conducted. If the client is open to exploration and the requirements are difficult to define then the Agile space is a great place to be. But if the client needs and demands predictability in the delivery then it probably isn’t.

Bringing those legitimate stakeholders much closer into the project – moving from a negotiative relationship to a collaborative relationship – is key to shortening decision making time. Scrum practices such as the product owner is a good example of attempts to do this. But, as the use of these practices increases, there is a very real danger that (as per the role of the project sponsor) the business will become project-weary and circumvent the Scrum mandate, allowing projects to run without a genuine product owner in place. You may even know instances of that happening in your own organization right now!

Governance practices must diversify and become change competent

As project management disciplines and approaches extend into more diverse areas, as the product development processes projects encompass become more sophisticated, and the demands made by stakeholders increase, project governance must respond – it too has to diversify without losing its role of providing senior managers – the investors in projects – with the confidence they need to implement their organisation’s strategy.

About the Author

Christopher Worsley has over 40 years’ experience in project and programme management. He is a visiting lecturer on the University of Cape town MSc in project management and is the author of the following books with his wife, Louise Worsley.

Christopher will be talking on the importance of adaptive planning practices at the Project Management South Africa (PMSA) monthly meet-up on the 28^thApril 2020.

Adaptive project planning

The lost art of planning projects

March 10, 2020March 10, 2020 Linky

16 Simple Motivation Tips to Get More Done

We all know how each year can pick-up speed and we become busier than ever. For this productivity to be sustainable, we need a whole lot of motivation.

Especially in the life of a project manager, there are always many important things to do to keep projects on track. Here we think of:

being a leader who needs to motivate others
being a team builder so that your project will have a high performing team
being an excellent communicator, keeping all stakeholders informed and aligned
being a good organiser and planner
being a problem solver of all the inevitable problems that come up
being a negotiator and influencer
knowing how to keep the customers satisfied
keeping your business and industry knowledge current

To all of you who are in the trenches everyday, keeping your eyes on the goals and leading your projects to successful outcomes, I want to share this Infographic, with compliments from Wrike, to bless you with great motivation tips to get more done every day!

16 Simple Motivation Tips to Get More Done (#Infographic)

Infographic brought to you by Wrike

February 25, 2020February 14, 2022 Linky

6 Leadership Skills Required for Project Management

By Jenny S

In many organisations there are distinct criteria that companies use to pick suitable individuals for leading their projects. The job of a project manager is not easy. You need to come up with good project plans, monitor proper execution and ensure that you deliver or exceed the expected results. It is for this reason that project managers require specific qualifications and some years of experience, including the possession of leadership skills. These are the things that often set project managers apart. With good leadership qualities, you will effortlessly lead a team of people who work efficiently. This article will highlight some of the most crucial leadership skills for project management.

Leadership skills for project management

Source: Pixabay

Patience

One thing that often ruins projects before they even start is the lack of patience of individuals involved. Patience is among the essential leadership skills for successful project management. You need to be patient with everyone involved in the project, including stakeholders, suppliers, your employer, and your team members. The moment you lose patience and start rushing the project, is the moment you start making errors. Such errors will ultimately lead to project failure and thus you need to move at a consistent pace.

Team organization skills

Being a project manager involves a flair for team management. A good project manager has to make sure that the entire team works in synchronization in order to deliver positive results. They should be able to organize the team in such a way that it functions efficiently and are able to ensure that the plan is executed in a coordinated way. A good project manager should keep in mind that high performing teams deliver better results.

Source: Pixabay

Risk management skills

Every project manager should have knowledge about risk management regardless of the project type. Such expertise enables you to identify potential problems, identify mitigation strategies and risk owners. You need to consider what the best mitigating actions are and implement them. This ensures that the risks don’t affect the continuity of the project. Your ability to efficiently plan for and respond to any risks, will help you lead your team through complexities that may occur throughout your project. A strategic project leadershipshort course can help you achieve this.

Communication skills

Any experienced project manager will concur that projects requires excellent communication skills. That is because you want team members to understand their roles and responsiblities clearly so that there is no misunderstanding about what is required of them and how to achieve this. You also have to be able to communicate with any additional stakeholders involved to ensure they understand what the project entails, how you will be implementing the project, and what your deadlines are. Remember that project managers spend the majority of their time collaborating with others to keep them engaged and informed about the various aspects of the project.

Source: Pixabay

Negotiation skills

Effective project management also relies on excellent negotiation skills. It is among the best project management skillsthat any project leader should possess. The question is, why is this skill essential? First, project management involves leading a group of people from different backgrounds. That means conflict could arise at any time. Thus, it is vital that you are able to negotiate with the parties involved in the conflict so you are able to diffuse the situation before it escalates. Negotiation skills could also help obtain the best possible agreement with your suppliers, which will enhance the overall outcome of the project.

Source: Pixabay

Critical thinking skills

Critical thinking is a skill that enables leaders to make the best possible decisions in any situation. You need to be able to think critically in order to come up with appropriate solutions to any problems that may arise throughout the duration of your project. Critical thinking skills can also help you create working solutions to impeding problems that will help prevent them from occurring.

Conclusion

The application of the above leadership skills, will help improve your project management capabilities. By developing and practicing these skills you are ensuring that a project runs smoothly and effectively from commencement to completion.

Please let us know in the comments which of these leadership skills do you consider important and what other leadership skills would you add?

About the Author:

Jenny is a passionate writer and guest blogger. Writing helps her to improve her knowledge, skills and understanding about her industry. She loves to educate her audience about education and technology via her writing skills. Apart from writing, she loves traveling & photography.

February 18, 2020February 18, 2020 Linky

5 Practical Steps to Improve your Self-awareness

by Dr Eben van Blerk

Prior articles in the Emotional Intelligence series:

Emotional intelligence has become one of the top predictors of success in life, in the office and at home. Emotional intelligence can be learnt and can be improved over time as we continue to learn from our daily experiences in life. Improving your emotional intelligence will probably be one of the most difficult personal challenges. You will not become more emotionally intelligent without practicing these skills. You have to believe there is room for improvement in managing your own emotions. Developing emotional intelligence skills is not easy. It requires commitment to the cause, ongoing hard work, persistence and acute self-awareness.

Lack of Self-awareness

How do you know you lack self-awareness? Some of the tell-tale signs of a lack of self-awareness may be as follows:

· You are not able to easily read a room and pick up emotional signals

· You find it difficult to put yourself in the shoes of others

· You do not know how you come across to others (and you do not care)

· You do not know who you are and how your behaviour impacts others

· You find it difficult to admit and take responsibility for your mistakes

· You do not react well to feedback and often become defensive

· You often do not know what you are feeling and why you are feeling that way

Where to start

Where does one start? First you have to get to know yourself in order to start understanding how you are coming across and when and how to manage your emotions. Self-awareness is the basis of our relationships with others. Once you have the self-awareness to know when and how to manage your emotions, you can develop the empathy to put yourself in the shoes of others and truly understand their feelings. This will be the ideal position to build and manage interpersonal relationships, manage conflict and effectively collaborate with others. The problem is often people do not know how to develop their self-awareness.

Steps to develop self-awareness

#1 Decide to change

You have to start this journey of self-development because you want to and because you are convinced that there is room for developing your self-awareness. Developing these skills does not happen overnight. If you are not committed and dedicated it will take longer and in all probability lead to frustration with very little personal growth.

#2 Build an emotional vocabulary

Before you can learn the skill to manage your emotions, you need to know what you are feeling. Compile a list of feeling words (emotions) and use the list to label emotions as you experience them. Examples are angry, hurt, inferior, jealous, irritated, happy, frustrated, insecure, anxious, motivated and concerned. Extend the list as you learn to identify your feelings and expand your emotional vocabulary. When you are able to name your feelings, it is easier to start managing your emotions that lead to unproductive behaviour and negatively impact others.

#3 Get to know your personality

Once you have built a level of emotional vocabulary, you need to know why you are experiencing the emotions you listed. This will help to manage your emotions. Get to know your personality. An easy way is to complete some of the many free personality tests on the internet. This will provide you with a good overview to start. Also, start observing yourself in the moment, during happy times and during conflict. What are you feeling in the situation and why are you feeling that way? How do you respond in the situation and how does your body respond? Additional to a personality test, ask others for feedback on how you come across.

#4 Ask for feedback

Ask family members, your spouse, colleagues and friends with whom you have a trusting relationship to give you feedback on how you come across. Ask for honest feedback on what they think of you and your behaviour. How they experience you when you are on top of the world as well as in the moments you are not that proud of? Compare your self-perception with your reputation with your colleagues and your circle of friends. Take their feedback to heart. Reflect and use their feedback as part of your development journey. Continue to ask for specific feedback as you work on specific development areas.

#5 Write your own eulogy

The idea of writing your own eulogy may seem grim and make you uncomfortable initially. This could however provide you with valuable insight to live a more fulfilled life. Take time to reflect on your life. Consider how much you mean to other people, what you do for others and what kind of person you are. Think of what have you accomplished thus far in your life. What will you say about yourself if you had to deliver the eulogy? What do you think others will say? Consider what you want to be remembered for and what you want people to feel and say about you after your passing.

Improved self-awareness

Now that you understand self-awareness better and you have the steps to improve your self-awareness, it becomes easier to commit to growing your emotional intelligence. You will find that improved self-awareness will provide a better understanding of your motives, behaviour and thinking. This will enable you to start making informed choices towards healthy and productive relationships with others.

About the Author:

Eben van Blerk, a Doctor of Technology, has more than 25 years’ practical team work experience. He has published articles and book chapters on leadership and emotional intelligence in local and international publications.

Contact him on LinkedIn if you need a speaker or workshop facilitator on emotional intelligence for your next team engagement. His emotional intelligence talks and programmes are popular in the corporate and private sector. It will equip your team with knowledge and tools for improved communication, effective conflict handling and managing their emotions towards a more productive and fulfilled business and personal life.