Chapter 20 - Softskills¶

4. Working in the Project Team¶

Short story…¶

Success diary¶

The success diary is a means of consciously recording achievements and adding weight to personal perceptions of these. Obviously, the success diary should not prevent people from reflecting upon and learning from their mistakes.

Most things can be put in either a positive or negative light, according to the principle of a glass being either "half empty" or "half full". People who learn to derive benefits from negative experiences and view problems as opportunities are able to cope more effectively with difficult (project) situations. With a little training and discipline, it is easy to change personal perceptions.

Personal success diary¶

The personal success diary should accompany its owner at all times, irrespective of whether it is in electronic or paper format. At least three successes should be entered every day, however small or insignificant they may seem (e.g. a successful presentation or a milestone that is achieved on time).

The benefits of the personal success diary are:

• A positive basic attitude is developed.
• You learn to be motivated by even minor successes.
• You implement personal knowledge management by recording successful strategies (this can be used in the future).
• Your confidence grows because you can prove to yourself and others (e.g. at meetings with superiors or finance providers) how successfully you work.

Team success diary¶

All members of the team should have easy access to the team success diary (e.g. it could be kept on the meeting room table or integrated on the project website). Ideally, you should remind the team to enter team achievements in the diary at every meeting. Each member of the team should contribute at least one entry each week. You can also read out entries from the success diary at the beginning of each meeting to create a ritual that the team members will soon learn to appreciate and which reinforces their collective identity.

The advantages of a team success diary are:

• Short-term enhancement of team atmosphere and motivation.
• A positive team sentiment is permanently established and teamwork becomes more pleasant (which enhances team performance).
• Listing successes prevents "off time" in the team.
• You can get the team on your side with the assistance of a success diary (it helps you to prove that you register and appreciate even minor achievements).
• Diary can be presented to the customer or senior management at the project handover workshop.
• It functions as a record, documenting the commitment and efficiency of the team in an unconventional way.

Problem solving¶

Understanding problems¶

Problems can only be solved by somebody who understands them. Every team member involved in the process of problem solving must be precisely aware of what the problem is. 'W'-questions and graphical representations (e.g. flow charts) are effective tools that help people to understand and tackle problems.

Obstacles to problem solving¶

It is more difficult to solve a problem if the project personnel

• fail to recognize it,
• do not understand it,
• misinterpret it,
• do not analyse it or only analyse it superficially and
• if they perceive the problem differently.

Problem solving methods¶

Normally, problem solving is a process consisting of several steps. The development of a problem solving procedure is one of the most important aspects of conducting negotiations. It is a good idea to stick with the chosen method until the process has concluded. Switching over to another method involves the expenditure of time and effort on learning and coordination, with which some smaller project teams are unable to cope. One important aspect of any problem solving process is information procurement, for which there are various methods:

• Collection (e.g. studies, statistics, user reports)
• Surveys (e.g. interviews, questionnaires)
• Monitoring
• Forecasts
  • Intuitive (e.g. survey, Delphi method)
  • Analytical (e.g. simulation, extrapolation)

The three basic approaches for solving problems involve the use of either sequential phase models, problem solving cycles or form-based systems.

Problem solving cycle¶

The problem solving cycle is nothing more than a sequence of activities - e.g. the Deming cycle that you've already learnt.

Unlike phase models (which are linear, sequential and take place only once) problem solving cycles continually repeat the involved steps. They are iterative (i.e. repetitive) processes. Each time a cycle is completed, the team comes closer to solving the problem. The starting point of each cycle is the result of the previous cycle.

Form-based systems¶

Form-based systems are suitable for problems that are being solved by more than one person. Various forms are used throughout the problem solving process, from the situation analysis, through the problem analysis to the decision and the documentation of the solution. In this standardised procedure, the next step in the process is more or less automatic. The disadvantage of form-based systems is that they tend to be bureaucratic and complex, which means they are not appropriate for small-scale projects.

Cause-and-effect diagram¶

The cause-and-effect diagram helps the project team to break down the problem and identify possible causes. The team identifies the possible factors of influence (causes) of a problem (effect), for example, in a brainwriting session. Then, the causes are categorised as main or contributory causes and entered on the diagram. The subsequent evaluation identifies several key areas that need further investigation.

The fact that this cause-and-effect diagram is produced in a team enables the combination of different perspectives of the problem. The team focuses only on the specific problem and its solution and the interests of the individual team members are accorded subordinate importance.

Procedure

Creativity techniques help the team to identify possible causes of the problem. If the team groups these causes in the main boxes, they can use the cause-and-effects diagram to create a structured overview. The diagram also shows the various interdependencies between the different causes. This procedure eliminates the customary restriction to one or two causes and enables a comprehensive overview of the problem.

First of all, the content, time, location and extent of the problem are described. The definition of the problem is written on the right-hand side of the chart by the facilitator. In the next step, the boxes for possible causes are filled. Often, the causes are grouped under the 4M & E categories:

• Machine (e.g. tools, equipment, plants)
• Method (e.g. work method, process)
• Material (e.g. production materials, raw materials)
• Man (e.g. persons involved, degree of familiarity, qualifications)
• Environment (e.g. work environment, air humidity, temperature)

There is no generally applicable number of categories. The solution can be established in a problem specific and individual way. All categories are noted on the arrows on the chart (= fish bones). The team then allocates possible causes to these fish bones. The facilitator can ask questions to bring team members' attention to categories that they have overlooked. Querying individual causes leads to the definition of contributory causes, which adds further branches to the diagram. The question "Why?" should be asked three times in connection with each cause.

When the team finds no further causes, it evaluates those found, for example, by affixing adhesive dots, indicating significance, to them. The causes with the most dots are then investigated further in order to conclude a solution.

Creativity techniques¶

Project marketing¶

Projects need the support of senior management to get funding. They also have to earn the respect of the line managers because they are dependent on them to assign their best staff to the project and they have to earn customer approval to get follow-up orders. Projects also compete with other projects. In this case, the project that makes the most noise attracts the most attention. This is true even if another project is more complex, generates higher profits or is more beneficial to the organisation for other reasons. If you, as the project manager, remain silent, you risk going away empty-handed.

The objective of project marketing is to inform the stakeholders of the project's goals, the approach to achieving these, the consequences (opportunities and risks) and, most importantly, the benefits. It publicises a project and generates maximum acceptance in order to rule out risks due to opposition and information deficits. Project marketing is one aspect of stakeholder communication. In turn, press, media and PR activities are central aspects of project marketing. Those external public activities can be helpful for the future of the project. This includes the proactive development of media contacts, continuity and the ability to react to incidents. Everything published must be well thought out, as it can have not only a positive but also a negative impact on the project and the company. Therefore, everything that is published must be in line with the interest of the target group, the corporate identity and the reputation of the company.

Many project managers are not aware of the content and purpose of project marketing. Many have scientific and technical backgrounds and are unfamiliar with a discipline that they simply call advertising because they don't know any better - and advertising has a negative image. This is one of the reasons why project marketing is often considered to be counterproductive and unnecessary. However, professional, project-specific marketing is just as important as other central methods of project management such as cost budgeting and financing plans. This is why the project marketing team should have comprehensive knowledge and skills, as well as the appropriate character traits. For example, good interpersonal skills are essential.

Summary¶

To summarise the keywords of that chapter, here is a quick overview:

Test yourself!¶