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My prodigiously prolific project management peers have several deliciously witty answers to the question; \u201cwhat provides a project manager with the panache needed to stand strong in tough situations?\u201d yet, none walked away with the text book answer. A textbook answer is. . . . (can you hear the drum roll crescendo?)<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Context in which project conversations occur
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Culture in which projects are completed<\/p>\n
Why do these two factors what help us project managers grow into our well deserved swagger \u2013 our panache?<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Context flexibility is adapting responses to environments \u2013 formal conference room or informal team conversations. This is the WHAT & WHY of how we communicate.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cultural awareness is acknowledging nonverbal\u2019s could be different for gender or culture. This may modify the WHAT.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t worry, my panachious peers will get their day in court in future blogs as they had very swell and street smart answers. But for today, the text book answer rules as I have the blogs\u2019 administrator password. So let me explain the WHAT and WHY further according to Dr. Kevin Hogan, author and consultant in body language and how to understand peoples intentions and predict conversation outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What: This is the event. Eyeballs are staring at you as you explain to senior leadership the Chaos Reports\u2019 impact on your project.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Why: This is why they are there and their alternatives. Do they understand their motives e.g., how the project will further their department goals or how the Chaos Report findings may jeopardize their career? Are there better uses of their time or funding dollars?<\/p>\n
If your project overview doesn\u2019t further their “why” their body language will leak their discomfort and then you dump more information on them without realizing that they don\u2019t need information but clarification of why its important. Their discomfort gets worse. Ya know; twitchy stuff, stammering stuff, withdrawing behavior or curt language choices that question your logic. Let me explain according to Dr. Hogan the steps taken to resolve the situation:<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Confusion about you and uncertainty about what will happen.
\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Looking for other information either in the PowerPoint or in your body language or you reading them hiding their chin behind their hand.
\n3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not finding the information and having a negative reaction to you. Ouch!<\/p>\n
So, what do you do? I tend to pose questions that start to address the whys of their attending vs blowing off the meeting or even worse, dismissing me. Examples:<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This project is important because \u2026
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We funded this project too improve\u2026.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A user told me the other day that when this feature is implemented it will improve\u2026<\/p>\n
Are you a project manager or a sales person? Yes! I mean both. I tend to address the unspoken motivation to make their why more obvious. So I encourage you to move away from status meetings that are data dumps and provide quick snippets of why the project was launched and early signs that benefits can be gained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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