Project Mind Games - The Importance of the Psychological Contract

As well as a written work contract, project team members will have also defined a psychological contract that will influence how they contribute to a project. The psychological contract consists of a set of mutual expectations that team members and project managers have about satisfying a set of mutual needs. It is part of the mind games of project management. Team members will typically expect: Safe working conditions Fairness and respect Equal work distribution Clarity of role and responsibilities Clarity in work assignments Opportunities to develop Participation in project decisions Adequate rewards Recognition for achievements The project manager will typically... Read More»

The Humble Flipchart - a Project Manager's Best Friend

I was part of a workshop recently and I can honestly say that it was one of the best brainstorming sessions that I have been involved in for quite a while. Afterwards, I got to thinking about why the session worked so well and what dynamics were at play that resulted in all of the participants participating in a way that led to so much insight and creativity. I quickly came to the conclusion that the single most important factor was the use of a flipchart.This proved to me once again that when it comes to series brainstorming, the humble... Read More»

Project Managers - are you Micromanaging your way to Failure?

Micromanagement is still pervasive in projects even though it does not add anything to the chances of project success. On the contrary, micromanagement is the death knell of your project as it kills off the very things that are needed to make success likely. This post explains how micromanagement is dumb and why you're negligent if you are guilty of this heinous crime. Micromanagement can be defined as managing with excessive control. It is still commonly used by project managers who think that if they define and monitor project tasks down to the molecular level, there is a much better... Read More»

Forget About Feedback

Project management is a tough job. Where else would you be expected to manage something that is temporary, has not been done before, is loosely defined, is constantly changing, is laden with complexity risk and unrealistic expectations and is set within fixed constraints including resources, budget, time, process, organisation and culture? Projects depend very much on the team and teamwork. One of the fundamental roles of the project manager is to provide feedback to team members on their performance. Feedback is supposed to show someone the impact of their behaviour with a view to helping them improve performance in the... Read More»