Jaeger Consultants Ltd

When a project is already ongoing or a team is already working well together, then have a new team member join the team it can end up disruptive. If you plan well for it, it does not need to be disruptive.

So what do we do when a new team member joins?

Orientation

Plan well for it, there are several parts:

No.	What	Responsible	When
1.	General Company Orientation	HR	New Staff
2.	Departmental Orientation & Role Orientation	Head of Dept	New Staff / New to the department
3.	Project or Team specific orientation	PM / Team Lead	New team member
4.	Introduction to clients, vendors & other contractors	PM / Team Lead	New team member
5.	Integration into the team	PM / Team Lead	New team member
6.	Roll specific orientation	PM / Team Lead	New team member

From the 3rd column you can see who is responsible and you as Team Lead or Project Manager are responsible for No. 3. – 6. This does not mean you do the work necessarily yourself, but you ensure it is done and is done effectively.

Team Building

This is your time to get creative. You can turn the introduction to the team into a little team building activity where all team members share something personal about themselves as well as their role within the project / team. Do it in an informal setting, where you have tea / coffee, maybe some snacks and people can relax a bit. This particular session should NOT include any work related introduction. It is the team getting to know each other.

Team building can be fun little activities that do not require you to spend a lot of money.

In actual fact any activities that are competitive can divide teams instead of building them. The loosing team will always have one person they blame.

Having your team work on something fun, without having to win over another team, will pull them closer together and get to know each other much more. No need for a costly outing, if you have no budget. Just schedule some time and do it during a team meeting.

Even watching a game together or going to a concert will build your team. Main aim is for the team to get to know you and each other in an informal surrounding away from work.

Work Orientation

The orientation for the actual job the new team member will be doing, needs to be planned well. Decide who will do what, who will be the buddy and who will show them what the rest of the team does. A buddy is a team member, who helps the new team member through the first 2-3 months. The person they can ask all the questions, the one who checks on them etc. It is also essential that the new team member gets to know what the entire team does so that they know where they fall within the system. Swim Lane Flowcharts can draw a picture of it, but having team members explain what they do and how it fits into the bigger picture makes it more practical and relatable.

Orientation is a very important phase for a new team member and sets him / her up for success. You can turn it into a team building activity and make it fun for lasting effect

#createavision #leadership #projectmanagement #teamleader

Take a little time at the beginning of each project to pull your team together, even if your core team remains from the same group of people. Have a brain storming session where you create the bigger vision of the project and create the team charter. The vision will help pull them together under a common purpose and the team charter will guide how the team engages with each other, how you as a team handle meetings, how you handle conflicts and what you do with errant team members. The team charter is an internal document no one outside outside of the team will see it.

Create a Vision

The bigger vision, creates a picture that goes deeper than the project scope. You are not building a simple house, but building a home, where the family will create memories. Or you are not building a simple office, but creating a space where innovation and future vision will happen. Make sure all rally around that vision and buy in. Just like the cleaner at Nasa, who when asked what he does responded he is helping putting man on the moon. No he was not overambitious, but he knew his work is important to enable the technical team there work. Just imagine if there would not have been any cleaner in those Nasa operations offices in 1968 – a lot could have gone wrong. Can you imagine the mess dust etc could have done in the computer systems….. Yes, the cleaner & tea cook are part of the team and need to be part of the vision.

I also remember when we were doing medical camps along the railway line to Kisumu treating people in the railway stations. Often we did not have time to get up and have tea, since there were simply too many patients. Our chef took it on himself, to ensure he brought us tea, soda and snacks to our workstations and then ensured the bosses put people in lunch hour shifts, so that everyone got a chance for a lunch break. When asked why he is going over and above, he said the doctors and nurses need fuel, like a car, if there is not enough fuel, they may misdiagnose people and he does not want to be responsible for such a disaster. Talking about being responsible and part of the team, no matter your position! I personally will never forget this young chef.

As a Project Manager, you are the Leader who needs to create this vision in the team.

Team Formation

The 5 good old stages of team formation apply every time you do have a team member or several team members who have not worked with the others. The team will go through these 5 stages and you can support them to get to performing faster.

Forming

This is an easy phase since usually people are exited and at their best behavior. You get to see your team together and it may look like a interesting bunch, now it is your job to turn them into a performing team.

Storming

This is a critical phase, where you watch your team closely. You will see the strong characters who may undermine the others and you need to steer them in the right frame of mind, where they will allow the others to shine.

Norming

Make sure you do not get stuck here, since this is the stage where they expect you to make all decisions and be in charge of everything. To really perform at the best, your team needs to get into the next stage

Performing

To reach the highest performance you need to think outside the box. Don’t just think about traditional job roles, but think about each team members unique character, knowledge and background. How and where do they fit best within the team? Where can they contribute the best? Involve the team in these decisions.

Once your team has each found where within the puzzle they belong, has developed some synergy and has started respecting each other they are now ready to perform

Adjourning

This is often forgotten or felt unnecessary. It can be detrimental if you leave this stage out.

If a team has worked together under the pressures of a project, they need some formal adjournment. They are all moving on to different work or other projects, but they had been a tight knit team that performed. Create some adjournment for them. Do an informal lessons learned, where you encourage them to talk about personal experiences and what they especially enjoyed. Let them talk about what they appreciated in team members etc. It will really help them to end on a good note without the empty feeling that can be left. If the company has not budget for a Get Together, you can pool your funds and still meet, it is not an issue.

Work with your team, pull them together and then bring out the best in them, by stepping back from directing and letting them self govern. Become part of the team. It is more fun and brings better results for all.

#projectmanagement #reportswriting #communicationskills #easytoread #leadership

Writing effective Project Reports that are understood by all is an art that takes time to learn. Let me give you a few tips today, that I wish I had had when I started out as project manager

1. Agree on a reporting format and the frequency with your client during the Kick-off, but you give the suggestions. Have a sample format ready for discussion
2. Keep it simple & short – Your client’s Senior Managers are busy people, they do not want a 30 page report. And any report longer than 5 pages including pictures and graphs, is not likely to be read
3. Include graphs and infographics, but only 1 or 2
4. If it is construction or creation of something visible, you can include some photos, but again stick to 2-3 key photos that demonstrate the progress or showcase something. When there are too many photos it becomes overwhelming and the readers tend to skip the photos.
5. Remember that your client is most likely not a subject matter expert, so keep the language simple, avoid industry jargon.
6. Explain any acronym you use, since they can have very different meanings. I remember looking up one acronym that I had been told by my technical team that it is self explanatory, and it had 30 different meanings, 3 of which were in the industry we were working in. Never assume someone else knows what we mean by an acronym
7. Preparing a report is team work. Involve your team in the report, but give them the format, so that they clearly know what information you need from them

Lesson Learned

I think we can all learn from the Agile World. Reports there are compressed into essential information and are often only 1 page long. Keep reviewing your format and simplifying it until you have condensed it to the essential information.

I learned a lot from a boss, who complained about my wordy reports. He tasked me to do my reports in 3 bullet points! What a challenge!

Let’s keep working on improving our Report Writing skills! Involve your team and get creative!

#leadership #networking #professionalism #leadership

Did you know that Networking is a longtime investment in your career and part of the long game? Most think it is like instant gratification. However, it is about establishing yourself as a professional. You are creating the impression and image of the professional you want to be known as.

Networking has many facets and is hard work. But it is fun too!

How do we Network effectively?

If you handle networking effectively you will get amazing outcomes. Should you handle it wrongly you may put off potential essential connections and loose out.

Here are some examples of outcomes that I have experienced myself or been part of:

• Some one approached me for advice over LinkedIn and I gave professional advice freely. Friends told me I should have charged, but I felt this is not something one should charge. The same person approached me several times over the years. Then totally unexpected I actually got a job offer at a time, when it was just what I needed
• One of my contacts on LinkedIn approached me if I would know any project manager with Engineering back ground. I had just received a CV from a Kenyan who wanted to get a foot back into the Kenyan market after having been out of the country for years. Subsequently I forwarded his CV to the person who asked me for connections. Since I did not know this project manager, I mentioned this and indicated that the CV seems to be a fit, mentioned that the person approached me in a very professional manner through the professional network, and said that I felt confident to forward the CV. The person seeking to employ contacted him, took him through an interview process and he first became a consultant and later was employed.
• Over time I have connected many project managers with potential employers successfully
• I got into contact with someone through a leadership program. She gave me 2 coaching sessions as part of the program. Then she contacted me 2 years later when she was looking for a Co-Author. We connected and started initial work for a book on a topic both of us found intriguing. This did not pan out in the long run, or not yet, due to personal circumstances, that hindered us to proceed.
• Through my conduct in certain social circles and the perception people get of me, I have gotten several job offers over time. Yes even your conduct in the running club is important
• I have many more stories like this

Dorie Clark

Dorie Clark, one of my go-to authors for #leadership and #entrepeneurship write the following in her most recent book “The long Game: How to be a Long-term Thinker in a Short-Term World” :

• Be creative in your networking – she for example hosted networking dinners for years, where she would invite people, who did not know each other yet
• Networks need to be build with peers, potential vendors, potential clients, potential employer organizations
• If you meet someone do not bombard them with business ideas, job requests etc immediately, it is a long game. Build a true relationship first – as a rule of thumb she suggests that for the first 1 year you should not propose any business related things.

Yes you heard that right, for the first 1 year! You need to build a relationship first. Connect on a personal level, find something you both enjoy or identify with, then you can take it to the next level. Dorie explains each step in her book and gives an indication how long each step will usually take.

So when you attend a networking event, do NOT expect to go home with a contract offer or job offer. You are getting to know people and are trying to establish yourself as a professional.

A few more tips:

• When reaching out to new people on LinkedIn or similar professional networks, attach a short note to the connection request and explain briefly why you want to connect. Your chances of being accepted are much higher.
• During a conference or networking event purposely sit with people you do not know, exchange names & contacts. Then the next day reach out to them and express your appreciation to have met them
• Start discussions with others during conferences, professional events and networking events don’t talk to much. Ask the other person, get discussions started. You can for example ask what they think about the topic of the evening, or if they have a practical example of the topic at work. Express your opinion, when the others have already talked, or when someone asks you
• Establish yourself as a specialist in your professional corner. You can not be a specialist of every aspect of project management, but you can identify a corner that suits you. Then offer to write blogs, articles etc or give a talk. These are not about earning money, but about putting your name out
• Use Hashtags # and @ or other links when talking about the topic you want to be known for. If properly used, these are very powerful tools

Use your tools

We live in the time and age of the internet of things. We have so many more tools at hand, that our predecessors couldn’t even dream of. Let’s learn to use them.

Networking is one such tool and we need to learn how to do this. It is about giving and the receiving will come as a fruit. Have fun with it

#Coaching #Mentoring #Leadership #Servantleadership #projectmanagement

A very important question and often misunderstood. If you check in the table I shared 2 days ago in my blog, you see that a Coach does not even need to be a subject matter expert. Coaching is taking it a notch higher and teaching the person you are coaching how to think and figure out things by themselves. A coach is a facilitator, not a teacher.

I remember how surprised I was when my first professional Coach gave me “homework” and then didn’t even want to see it. She explained it was not about me doing things right or wrong, but about understanding on how to do these things. So she gave me practical homework to experience it. I came to appreciate this approach, because I no longer was worried about whether my research / homework is right or wrong, but was able to fully concentrate on it, enjoy the journey and even started to venture going deeper into things that interested me.

A Coach knows that the individual has the answers in him / herself and the coach helps to bring them out and unlock the true potential. That also explains why a coach does not need to be a subject matter expert.

I have had a few coaches in my life, who were there to help me sort through my thoughts and ideas, they would only give a few comments to probe me further and make me think further. The outcomes I came up with through the help of the coaches have been amazing. I never thought I could reach where I have reached these days.

We all need a coach at different stages in life reach out for one and enjoy the journey.