Yes they were an 80′s pop group. No that is not what this post is about.

Did you know that your team has a culture? Well it’s true. And whether or not you are aware of it there are certain things about your team and the way it works that are defined by it.

How your team work together, the hours that they keep, the way that interact with their peers, approach deadlines, socialise, interact with management, deal with sickness, understand clients, think of the environment, and any other part of office life are influenced by the culture your team.

Organic produce

A culture will develop organically if you let it. However it seems to me that the impact of a teams culture has such far reaching consequences that it is not really something that you would want to leave to chance.

If left to it’s own devices a culture will very quickly be set by the strongest personalities in your team.  For example, if a strong character take to playing games at lunch time you will see it very quickly catch on. Likewise, it only takes one or two to start eating lunch at their desk for this to be a norm. Something which I’ve noticed at Headscape is an increasing number of people cycling to work rather than using the car.  Considering that #theBarn isn’t the easiest place to cycle too I can’t see how this would have happened if it hadn’t been instigated by a couple of strong personalities in the team. No bad thing in this case.

There are many things that make up the culture of your team that you shouldn’t try and interfere with but there are some that, as a team lead, you can shape for the good of all. But first of all you need to decide what you want your culture to be.

It’s ok to medal

If you would like an open situation where all members of staff feel happy to interact with even the most highly “ranked” members of the team, then leaving your office door open is a very simple example of how you can encourage this. If you want team members to communicate more, don’t put big desk dividers in the way. It’s amazing how open plan offices can be the quietest places of work with everybody in their little castles (cubes).

As a team lead you have a lot scope to set a culture in regards to working hours. If you always work late then it will be seen to be expected to keep long hours. Is this what you want your team culture to be? If you always have lunch at your desk then the culture will become this throughout the team over time. Is this what you want to happen?

If as a team lead you are open with the questions that you have, and the things that you don’t understand, then your team is also much more likely to comfortable in doing the same. Whereas if you give off the aura of always having the the right answers then your team will struggle to admit their own weaknesses.

Be deliberate about what you are trying to achieve. Consider the culture that you would like in your team and think about how you facilitate this.

Do you have any experience of this?

Have you been a part of culture that, while organic, was unhelpful? Do you have any helpful culture development tips?

Paul Boag, one of the founders and directors of Headscape, once said; “We specialise in sh*t projects.”

If, like me, you run projects for a normal, every day web agency. If you do not always get the opportunity to be working with the latest cool technology or utilize the next whizz bang idea. If you don’t build sites for rock bands or the latest cool technology start-ups. How do you keep you team excited and enthusiastic about their day jobs? After all, if your team is not interested in the work that they are doing then they will not produce the high standards that you need and that they are capable of. This in turn is demotivating and you end up in a downward spiral.

How do you get your team excited about a project for brown paper bag manufacturers?

It doesn’t belong to you

The first thing to do is to promote ownership of the project within your team. Let them in on the solution. It can be tempting at times to solve (or try at least) all the problems yourself. It is much better to get your production team (designers and developers) in on the act as early as possible in the project. Do not present your designers with a list of things to do. Instead, give them a collection of problems that their design needs to solve. Do not dictate the technology that your developers must use. Instead give them the information that they need to choose the most suitable tools for the task.

Allow your team to shape the solution and they will take pride in the result. Let the project be their project. Not your project.

Express yourselves

The second thing to do is to allow your team the time and space to express themselves. Allow them to be creative; to try a new technique in a real project situation. Even if it is something very small in the grand scheme of the project it can act as the signature of your production team. This mark of ownership will inspire them to make sure that even the most mundane of projects can be the best that it can be.

Allow your techies to experiment with the new features of the latest programming language release. Allow your designers to put in that extra fun element that will only work in in the latest cool browsers. Give them the space play with a real project in a real life situation.

Using a new technique or a new technology can be enough to provoke the interest of your team. This means that the website for the brown paper bag manufacturers can be the most exciting project that you team has ever been a part of.

Slaves to the time line

Alarm bells are ringing. What about the time line! We have a deadline to meet.

And quite right too. These extra bells and whistles cannot get in the way of real targets and delivery milestones. However, if you build some time into your schedules to allow for this kind of experimentation you will have a happier, more enthusiastic and, ultimately, more productive team.

This will also encourage your team to keep developing their skill set knowing that they will get a chance to use their new found talents in real projects leading to a higher quality of work over all.

Is this something that you have tried? Or as a designer or developer have you tried to sneak little Easter Eggs into your work just to make sure that you still have a pulse at the end of the day? Let me know.

A big, if not the biggest, part of my job as a web project manager is dealing with clients. This is actually the part of the job I enjoy the most and see the client as, very much, a part of the project team. I have found that an honest and transparent approach is best when dealing with query’s and problems and involving clients in the general processes of the project (as much as they are able) leads to a smoother road for all concerned.

I have said this before but I see a PM’s role as one of facilitation. I need to enable people to do what they are good at and I need to, wherever possible, stay out of the way. To some extent, this includes client communication.

The ambassador

I recently read a good post by John Reeve; Project Managers: Why every creative agency needs one. In this article he talks about the PM’s role of ambassador. A go-between between the client and the production team. While I agree that this can be necessary at times I see this as only a temporary role.

As PM I need to be aware of all communications. I need to have  a complete overview of the project and understand what is going on when and who needs to do what next. This doesn’t mean that I need to be a middle man. While I still hold on to my technical routes, the chances are, when a client has a question or a problem of a technical nature I will not know the answer.  I will need to go and ask the tech team. Similarly, with a design based question, I generally have no hope without first consulting the design team. So why should I get in way?

Expose your team

We have found it useful to introduce the client to the team at the earliest possible stage in the process. Wherever possible the lead designer and lead tech on a project will be at the project kick-off meeting.  The team will take a lead in conference calls where questions or discussions are to be had about their area of expertise. As long as I am kept in the loop then there is no reason for me as PM act as messenger boy.

When this process works well the client feels more connected with the process and, as they get to know the team, have a greater level of confidence in the the time-scales, quality control and ultimately, the deliverable.

Obviously, some relationships are difficult. This is where the role of “ambassador” goes on for longer than is ideal. As PM it is important to spot and manage these situations so as to still produce the required results and get the job done. I have found this to be a rare scenario.

Openness and transparency as an approach needs to stretch throughout the structure of the project. This includes exposing your team to your clients.

What is your experience?

As a designer or a developer, what is your experience of  dealing directly with a client? As a client, what is your experience of talking directly to production team members or maybe your experience of not being able to? PM’s, do you have experience of this approach going horrible wrong?

We are in the middle of arguably the deepest recession in modern history. When times are tough it becomes a necessity to cut costs and save money. Often the first thing to go are the fun, social, team building activities. After all, such things are not essential, are they?

While I can understand the thinking behind such a step; the work place doesn’t have to be a fun place, it needs to be a productive place. It needs to win contracts, deliver projects, make products, pay the bills. I would suggest that dropping the investment in your greatest resource; your people, is counter productive and short sighted. Yes, you will save money in the short term. But at what cost?

Important resources

Your team are your most valuable resource. A happy team is a motivated and productive team. When times are tough you want them to be behind you. You want your team to be willing to go the extra mile for the cause. For the cost of a curry and beer you might possible be able to find the extra productivity you need to keep everything afloat when times are hard.

It’s the small things that mean that somebody will want to work for you. If you  have a high turnover of staff it costs more money and time. Recruitment, training, orientation are all expensive activities. These activities are things that you want to avoid.

Happy campers

The best way to save money and be more cost effective is to spend a little time and money on morale. A happy team is a cheaper team.

What things encourage you as a member of a team? What makes you happy to go the extra mile? What keeps morale high and you motivated?

Confidence plays an important role in many areas of our lives. You will often here it said of footballer, for example, that they are a confidence player. I know from my own inability to play golf that I become marginally less rubbish if I have confidence in my next shot. Leaders who lead directly and with confidence are people that we want to follow. If you offer somebody direction, with confidence, they will, most likely, blindly follow. And the opposite is also true. Even if you know what you are talking about, if you do not present a confident argument, you will generally be ignored.

The same is true of your team. A team, full of confidence, will be more efficient at finding solutions to your problems.  If confidence is low, time will be wasted while they decide even if they can solve the issue. The idea that; there is no such thing as a problem without a solution, goes out of the window.

When a team questions their ability to solve a problem. The problem is in danger of not being solved.

Building Confidence.

It is important to be active in building the confidence of your team. This includes being on the look out for things which will damage the confidence of individuals.

1. Public praise.
   Be vocal about the successes of your team and the individuals within it. Publicise the good activity that is going on all the time. This is especially important if an individual  has been struggling for confidence. Inform other areas in the organisation of your successes. When a project is completed or an important milestone is reached, spread the word. Send an email highlighting the work and the individuals involved. Twitter is also a great tool for this and especially useful in the web world where what you are working on is often in the public domain. When your team does something well, hold it up for all to see.
2. Do not allow individuals to dominate a team.
   A certain way to knock the confidence of an individual is if they are in a team with one or two unapproachable ‘experts’ . When one member of a team is perceived to always have the best solution others will be less willing offer suggestions.  Remember, a quite individual does not equate to an incompetent individual.  It is important to build the confidence of such individuals otherwise you will lose their valuable input. If you identify this situation your can try to build their confidence and their standing within the team.  Ask them specifically for their opinion. Take them aside and seek their assessment of an issue. Public praise can also be a useful tool for individuals  as well as teams. If somebody doesn’t have the confidence to contribute then you will lose their contribution.
3. Do not set people up to fail.
   Be realistic with the challenges that you set for your team. If you consistently set an unrealistic target which ends with your team not achieving their goals, then their confidence and eventually their effectiveness will suffer. Break larger tasks into achievable chunks. Give people the opportunity to achieve something small along the way to a larger success. Failure is a demotivating experience. If it happens too often it can become habitual. Make sure that your team has a fighting chance of success. Do not set them up to fail.

A confident team is more productive. They are also more innovative in their solutions because they expect to not only achieve their goals but to excel at what they are doing.  It is important to not go too far and breed arrogance and complacency but a team of confident individuals will make your job a lot easier.

Have you had the experience of being in a team that has lacked confidence? What other ways of building the confidence of the team, or an individual, have you come across?

I’m often asked questions about the differences between working with designers and developers. Today an article I wrote for boagworld.com was published which takes a brief look at this question.

Don’t Reduce Your Designers And Developers To Stereotypes

“I don’t know” is actually a valid answer to a problem.

“Let me think about that” is not an excuse to waste time.

“I think I should discuss this problem with my peers” doesn’t present you as incapable.

No need to be infallible

We all want to be seen in the best light. We don’t want to be seen to make mistakes. We want to be appreciated for what do. We want acknowledgement for all we put in and what we can achieve. We definitely don’t want to be seen as the weak link. We want to give an impression that we are in control and that we are ready for whatever challenge may come our way. We want people to know that they can trust us; that they can rely on us. We want to inspire confidence that we know what we are doing.

To achieve this we do not need to be infallible.  We need to be honest; with other people and ourselves.

It can be too easy to try and have an answer for everything.  If you are presented with a problem you want to solve it quickly. Most problems that come up in my world as a web project manager do not have instant answers and I’m typically very suspicious of off the cuff solutions.  When I pose a problem to my team I would expect an answer that is something along the lines of; “Give me some time to consider that” or “I’m not sure, there could be several solutions, let me do some thinking and research”.

Similarly, in an environment of peers, if you don’t know how something works, ask your team mates. Share the knowledge around. It’s sounds obvious but many people are too afraid of what people my think of them if they ask a seemingly obvious question.

Honesty is just fine

Acknowledging areas of weakness or gaps in understanding, far from creating a negative picture you, will actually increase your standing with people around you. Understanding who you are and what you can (and can’t) do is a sign of strength. It will produce self confidence which others will feed off. And if you can pin point the areas where you need to improve then you are in a much stronger position to do something about them. People around you will recognise this and therefore have more confidence in you.

A quick answer that,  further down the road, proves to not the be the best solution, causes problems. It might make you appear to be on top of your game at that moment in time but it will leave people with less confidence in you in future. However, a more considered approach, which yields good results, leaves everybody with greater confidence in your ability. It will breed trust.

Fear can be a big issue; both for team members and team leaders. We are afraid to appear weak, or slow, or unreliable. We are concerned that our boss or our peers will think we do not know what we are doing.

It’s worth remembering that asking questions and saying, “I don’t know”, are not a sign of weakness. In fact, they are a sign of strength.

Working with a team can be hard work. It’s made even more difficult when you are not all pulling in the same direction. This is true whether you are running a small project team or a whole organisation.

You have two real approaches available to you. The first to to push on with your wonderful plans and try and take people with you whether they like it or not. The second is to work with your team to formulate your plan and, as far as is possible, take them all with you as you go.

The problem with the first option is that while you may get to run your team exactly as you’d prefer you do run the risk that the members of the team will be less than committed to the cause. In a worse case scenario they could be disruptive or even disappear all together.

Taking your team with you; allowing all involved to feel like they own the plan is by far the best approach. There are a number of ways to help facilitate this process.

Communicate

Open and honest communication is key. Be clear and transparent with all members of your team about what you are trying to achieve and by when. Also make it clear, right from the start, what restrictions there are in formulating the way forward and why these restrictions are in place.

There may be a tool that has to be used. Or hoop that needs to be jumped through. Make the team aware of these restrictions.

Listen

Whether you have a clear idea or not about the way ahead, seek the opinions of your team members. Allow them to be a part of the planning process and formulate  a plan that can be owned by the individuals in your team. Other people will think of things that you have missed and others will be more skilled in some areas that you are. Good leadership is about knowing when to take advice and not to be afraid of the areas where you are not as strong as others around you.

Use the individuals at your disposal to asses the risks to your plans. The different perspectives are essential in predicting the future problems that your team will face. If you can predict issues early, you can prevent them.

Playing to your strengths

By drawing on the skills and experience of your team members you are not only more likely to come up with a better, more thought through and thorough plan but you are also more likely to have a team who is more committed to it.

If people own the process they will work harder in an attempt to make it succeed.

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.

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.

It sounds quite obvious really. We are a “solutions” business. Our job is essentially to solve our clients problems (even if they don’t see it that way). But this is not a concept that everyone has grasped. I’ve been involved in a number of teams who almost seemed to pride themselves on indentifying why a particular request wasn’t possible or was a silly idea.  Often talking themselves out of work in the process. In fact, thinking about it now, I wonder if that was the aim of the exercise. *smile*

Now I’m involved in project management I don’t want to hear about problems. Problems don’t help me. I want to hear about solutions.  Obviously there are often many issues with a particular request or piece of work. I’m not suggesting we just run along like a collection of blind robots and try to implement any idea that comes our way. But rather than just listing all the reasons why a given piece of functionality is a silly idea, think it through and offer an alternative solution.

If you approach every situation “knowing” that everything is possible and that there is always a solution then, in my experience, you will find it. And in a room full of people who are very capable of, and often very eager to, point out the issues you will stand out as the person who offers solutions.

It is very easy to find problems. The key is to find the solutions.