Random thoughts to help you enjoy life and stay sane.
Peacocks are the worst type of sponsors. No-one can counsel a Peacock: they will not accept feedback or advice. But are there some advantages of working with someone whose behaviour stresses you out? Indicators from my on-going research from sponsors, governance groups and project professionals highlight these traits of Peacock sponsors: Co-workers describe them as
Project sponsors, have you ever been an avoidant Ostrich? Would you like some engagement strategies? Project professionals, have you worked with an avoidant Ostrich sponsor? Would you like some strategies to work with them more effectively? The archetypal image of an ostrich is it burying its head in the sand at any sign of trouble.
Have you ever had to make a decision when you didn't have much time to think? During April and May I ran a series of courageous sponsor webinars and workshops to help project sponsors and leaders with Decision making under pressure.
Questions Executives need to ask when assessing their organisations’ project health A trillion-dollar problem According to joint research by the project world’s peak body, the Project Management Institute (PMI) and consulting groups such as Gartner and BCG, about 40% of projects fail.
Ask curious questions to dig beneath their first answer. Once you’ve asked the question, please be quiet, listen and wait for their reply. The six sigma tool, the “5 Whys”, is useful in this context.
Famous culture expert, Dr Edgar Schein says in many of his books, “Personize it.” Find out what matters most to the person with whom you are building a relationship. It might be their family, a hobby, a skill, a cause. I struck up a relationship with an extreme introvert by finding out he was passionate about cycling.
Listen to understand, rather than listening to respond. Are you waiting for a gap in the conversation so you can jump in with your point? Or are you hearing and processing what your speaker is saying to you? One courageous team I worked in was filled with extroverts and one introvert.