Doing Unpleasant Things Because You Should

If you are a project manager, hard project management skills such as planning are essential to the success of your project, but equally important are soft skills involving people. How you interact with the people on your project, and with sponsors and the other parties involved, can make or break an otherwise technically perfect endeavour. Often, these will involve doing unpleasant things such as performance management, or overriding the wishes of some members of the team or the customer for the sake of the project. Because they are unpleasant, they often don’t get done properly or at all, and the project suffers. Why ?

Firstly, people like to be liked. They like those around them to like them, and working in an atmosphere where there is dislike can be draining. In your private life, you may be able to choose who you associate with so as to avoid this, but this isn’t necessarily so in the world of work. Your main responsibility is the success of the project: most other things are incidental, including whether you are liked or not. So if you have to make unpleasant decisions or say unpleasant things to people, so be it. The best project managers can manage to make decisions and remain popular, but if you can’t, go with project success. It is, ultimately, better for all.

Secondly, people don’t like conflict. Some are happier with it than others, but most find it stressful. Unfortunately, if you avoid conflict, your project will suffer. There are always opposing views which must be resolved, and this will involve conflict of some sort. If the team can’t make a decision, then you will have to do it, and override at least some of them. Again, your main responsibility is the success of the project, and timely decisions must be made. This may make you unpopular, but again, it’s ultimately better for all.

Some tips for dealing with unpleasant subjects within teams:

• Be open and transparent as much as is possible. If you make a decision, tell everyone why, even if it’s only “because that’s the way I want it done”. Accept negative comments gracefully, but don’t waver.

• Deal with performance problems immediately. Don’t let them linger: it’s not fair to coworkers, or to the individual concerned. Nip resentment within the team in the bud. Again, you may receive negative comments from the person involved: accept these, but don’t waver.

• Be positive where this is possible, and demand evidence. People may speculate negatively about others within and without the project, and impute motives to them which they have no evidence for. This creates inactivity: they may cease working with individuals because they think they’re not going to perform, even when they have no knowledge about their situation. Demand evidence, and encourage your team to talk in order to understand.

• Be prepared for emotion, but try to remain factual. When dealing with others, present evidence and seek to understand their view, but remain firm and calm, even if they are angry or upset.

In all cases, you should do these things because your project will suffer otherwise. And that remains your main responsibility at all times.

We can enhance your soft (and hard) project management skills, either one-to-one or as a group. Contact us for further details.