Warm body syndrome

Posted by on Mar 16, 2009 in leadership, management, recruitment, team | 3 comments

We’ve all been there. There is a hole in your team, a job that needs to be done. Maybe somebody has moved on leaving a vacancy or your activities have expanded to such an extent that new skills or more resource is needed. And what’s more, you need it now!

The temptation is to fill the vacancy as quickly as possible. The first person who is willing and able is given the job. The nearest warm body is plucked out of the air and put in place as soon as possible. You just succumbed to ‘warm body syndrome’.

Ok, so you might get lucky. Somebody was in the right place at the right time and they are perfect for the role. They have all the skills, they have the temperament, you get on well, everything is a roaring success and all live happily ever after. However, sadly, this isn’t the norm. A simple rule to remember is; “just because they can, doesn’t mean they should.”

A few things to bear in mind:

1. You are not doing anybody a favour by asking somebody to do a job they can’t do. 
2. You are not helping anybody out by agreeing to a request from somebody to do a job that they are not able to do.
3. Making a wrong decision is expensive!
4. Making a wrong decision is waste of time!
5. Making a wrong decision just upsets all involved.
6. Making a wrong decision will mean you just have to go through the whole process again.

It’s best to take your time over such things. Don’t appoint somebody just because there is nobody else. If they are not right for the role then that’s it. End of story. Remember that undoing this decision is going to be a drawn out and painful process. It’s worth taking your time and getting it right first time.

This can be difficult. There is a temptation to either put somebody in post because they really want the role. Or to appoint because you really need the position filled.  But it is best to not appoint at all then to make the wrong decision. Taking your time and waiting for the right person may mean that the existing team need to work harder for a while. It may me somebody in the team doesn’t get the promotion that they have been after. It may mean the new initiative that you want to kick off will need to wait. But all these things are better than the alternative.

Resist the quick fix. Take your time. Get it right.

Solutions not problems

Posted by on Mar 9, 2009 in culture, headscape, management, project delivery, solutions, team | 1 comment

It’s very easy to indentify when something is wrong. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small one person task or a large project being undertaken by a whole team of people, finding issues is normally…  no, I would say, always possible; even easy to do. By spotting a problem you are nothing new. You are not doing anything different you do not stand out in any way. Solutions on the other hand are a rare commodity.

During my spell as the technical team lead at Headscape I tried to install something of a motto into the team. “Everything is possible, there is always a way.” And a few variations on that theme. When a project manager, or a client would approach me with a new piece of functionality or a new project or even just the beginnings of a new idea I tried to always approach it from the point of view that whatever they were asking for was possible to achieve. It was my job / my teams job to find the solution.

The rant line

Posted by on Feb 12, 2009 in culture, headscape, management, team | 0 comments

It’s good to get things off your chest. Inevitably, during the course of a project things will annoy you. A customer will insist on something stupid, a college will make a hash of something which will add to your work load, a member of your team will do something daft and you will have to pick up the pieces, you will release that you had not thought something through or that you have cut a corner to save time and it’s made everything take three times as long as it should.

It happens. But how you deal with these situations will have a big impact on, not only your project, but your general state of mind too.

A wise man once said

There is an old proverb that goes something like this; “don’t let the sun go down on an argument”. This is good advice; not only for the sake of the relationship involve but also because we all know that you generally feel better when the air is cleared. The same principle needs to be applied here.

There may not have been an actual argument or disagreement but somehow somebody has gotten under your skin and you can feel the tension and frustration building. Of course, it is not always appropriate to ‘have it out’ with the person involved. After all, an offended client is likely to only make your situation worse. A disgruntled team member is not really very likely to up their game either. And after all, your boss may just fire you *smile*.

Get it all out

However, you need to do something. If you are getting increasingly frustrated and don’t have a vent then your productivity, creativity, and general happiness will very quickly hit a downward curve.

At Headscape; amongst the Project Managers at least, we have the concept of the rant line. Essentially, when  something has ‘gotten our goat’ we can call one of the other PM’s and rant.  It’s great! It makes you feel so much better.

This is an informal, and somewhat tongue in cheek, arrangement but it is a concept that is worth considering.

Some organisations have a more formal system. The idea of ‘buddies’, or some sort of mentoring or accountability. The system is tweaked to the situation but the idea is the same. A safe place to unload, without fear of reprisals. To be open and honest. To clear the air when there is no other sensible outlet.

If you let such frustrations build up; your project suffers, your team suffers, and ultimately, you suffer. So don’t let things get you down. Call the rant line! *smile*

Under sell, over deliver

Posted by on Nov 27, 2008 in management, project delivery, sales, team | 5 comments

It’s amazing what we will say to get people to do what we want. Whether it be to win a sale from a new client, convince our boss that our latest bright idea is worth everybody’s time, or to just convince members of your team that this new project or methodology is really exciting, we have a tendency to exaggerate. But this can cause more of a headache than simply an interesting moral dilemma.

Don’t promise the Earth

Promising the Earth, in under six days, is easy. With the right people skills and experience it’s possible to sell any product or idea to just about anybody. The short term gains are obvious; you win the sale, your great idea goes into production, your team get really excited and motivated. But your exaggeration, or slight stretch of the truth, will become obvious pretty quickly.

The damage this causes can be long lasting or even irreversible. If you company gains a reputation for under estimating time scales on projects it will soon start to count against you. If you have exaggerated the potential benefits of your new structure or methodology, your next idea will not be so easily received. If you have told your team that this next project is earth shatteringly exciting and it turns out to be the same old dirge, you will have a problem motivating them in future.

The element of suprise

The positives of doing the reverse are massive. To surprise your new client by delivering a little early or providing an extra little feature can make the difference between them giving you those all important repeat sales. To be known as an individual who takes the extra care to double, triple check everything before it goes higher up the food chain can be the difference when that coveted promotion comes up. You get the idea.

It’s a very simple lesson really, but one which we so often ignore. If we over sell something; a product or our own skill set, we are digging ourselves a big hole. You create disappointment and negativity that had no reason to be there. What you provide might be just what’s needed but because it’s less that you promised it will not be as well received. Whereas if we under sell what we are providing, the positive impact of the delivery far outweigh what was delivered on its merits alone.

It’s a difficult balance to get. If you under sell too much, then nobody will want you. But that said; under sell, over deliver, is a good little motto to live by.

Management: productively unproductive

Posted by on Nov 11, 2008 in leadership, management, team | 1 comment

Confidence plays a major part in leading a team. I’m not talking about a blind arrogance that assumes that you are always right but instead a confidence that leads you to feel that you do not have to constantly prove yourself. A Manager serving his owns needs is not much use to the team they are supposed to be leading.

We’ve all been there at some point. You’ve just completed a fantastic piece of work or have come up with a great idea only for your manager to do all they can to take more than their slice of the credit. Such behavior de-motivates team members and leads to an unhappy and unproductive team. 

Measuring the un-measurable

I can understand why even the most self aware, confident managers can slip into this behavior. A need to justify your existence stems from that fact that mangers don’t really produce anything anymore. Their success or failure is not something that is easy to measure tangibly. Even those managers who are still involved in the practical side of their area of expertise are often distracted by other duties and so when an opportunity comes up to prove that they are still worth the salary the temptation is to milk it.

Such behavior, can, cause irreparable damage to the relationship between manager and team and ultimately the team will underperform; eventually falling apart. But team leaders are human just like everybody else. They need to feel of value and that they are a useful part of the whole or they quickly become de-motivated too. So how do we resolve the conflict?

Becoming self aware

A team leader needs to be aware of what their role is and how they should measure their success. Often managers are promoted, not because of their ability to manage but because they top of their field. This can mean that an organization not only loses their best people from the shop floor but also gain some bad leaders into the bargin, but that is a subject for another time.

Essentially, a team leaders job is to make everybody else look good. A good manager is able to create an environment where those in their team are able to grow and develop, bringing the most from whatever skills and talents they have. A manager who is more interested in making stars out of the individuals in their team rather than themselves, is much better placed to get the most out of those around them and in their charge.

For this to happen it’s important that a manager firstly understands what their role is, secondly understand that their success should now be measured, fundamentally, on other peoples performance, and finally that they are secure in their position; not worrying about how they look or needing to prove themselves.

Like breeds like…

Posted by on Nov 3, 2008 in culture, leadership, management, team | 0 comments

If you have ever wondered why your team is what it is, then it is possible that you should look no further. Just like children often pick up traits, characteristics, and mannerisms of their parents, and “best friends” will find that they think and behave alike, teams will often take on the personality and ethos of their leader.

This is obviously a big generalisation but it is very useful to remember if you are in leadership of some form. The team leader sets the culture of team as a whole. If the dominate characteristic of the team leader is that they are competitive, then do no be surprised if you end up with a team that is guarded about their knowledge and skills and individuals are more interested in proving themselves than cooperating for the greater good. If the team lead is a joker then expect a “playful” environment in the team. If the team lead is reserved and quite…. You get the idea.

The point is that if you not happy about a particular part of your teams culture then the first place to look is at yourself! Your personality; your ethos, will be imprinted on the teams that you lead. This is also worth remembering, if you are a new leader of an established team and wonder why things are as they are. Finding out a little about your predecessor might be a useful exercise in understanding what might be involved in taking your team forward.

The ‘Super Hero’ Legacy

I found a good example of this in a previous post. The lead of the team I was in had set themselves up as something of a superhero. Everything they did was correct, every solution was as elegant and effeiciate as it could possibly be. And, of course, mixed in with the perfect amount of flair. They never had a question, they never had a doubt, they always had an answer. The end result was a team who were afraid to ask questions for fear of looking foolish and not appearing good enough to be a part of the super heros team. Team members were not very good at sharing experience and knowledge as the assumption was that eveybody already had the knowledge, else, how would they possible be in this “super team”.

This culture had been set as an unconscience response and reacation to the personality and ethos of the team lead. This was important to understand if any atempt to change this culture could be successful.

If you want to develop an area of your teams life then the first place to look is how you operate as an individual. There is no point in expecting an open working environment, with the free sharing and exchange of ideas, if you are less than transparent in what you do yourself. 

A major part of the role of a team leader is to set the culture of team. This is done not only by what you say, not even only by want you do, but also, who you are.