Project Management or People Management?
How to manage people for better team chemistry
Written by Ben Kuo, Project Manager at Cloud Interactive
When people see the term PM, they typically think of a Project Manager or Product Manager. Although both are correct, PM, for me, is more of a People Manager.
No matter what kind of projects you’re managing, the “people factor” is usually the most important factor that the PM needs to handle. If the PM has a few tricks up his sleeve for managing the client and the team, it will make the project a lot smoother. In this article, I’ll share some I’ve time-tested skills and lessons I’ve learned at Cloud Interactive about creating good project team chemistry to manage people better.
Having worked on projects for different companies around the world — ranging from multinational corporations to up-and-coming startups — I’ve learned that the following four skills are what makes a good Project Manager become a great People Manager.
1. Be a good listener.
People often think being a good listener just means letting other people speak without interrupting. But a good listener usually tries to elicit more information by asking the right questions.
So how do you know you’re asking the right questions? When the other person is talking more than you and you can tell from their facial expression that they’re not annoyed or tired, you’re on the right track.
When you’re listening to other people speak, your brain needs to both process and decide what questions to ask next. This simultaneous processing will not only help you elicit more information but will also let the other person know that they’re not wasting their time talking to you.
Being a good listener means you can understand people’s needs and problems, and a PM should always understand every stakeholder’s needs and problems within every project. If people know you understand them, they’ll be willing to share more information with you. Ultimately, when you need their assistance in the future, they’ll be more inclined to pay back the favor.
2. Be empathetic.
A PM is a leader within a project team, and a good leader has empathy for his team (instead of just bossing them around). The PM should know what difficulties each project member faces and be willing to work with them to find solutions together.
Remember, don’t let your team feel like they’re facing problems alone — let them know that you all work together as a team, and no matter what happens, you and the team are in this together.
Now, how to be more empathetic? First, you need to be a good listener to understand people’s needs and problems. Then look for personal connections to similar situations you’ve faced. When people know that you were once in their shoes, they’ll feel a special connection to you.
On top of understanding people’s problems, you also need to think: “What can I do to help them? Maybe I can adjust some priorities or allocate more resources for temporary support?” Discuss this with the other person so they know you’re doing your best to help them.
3. Give good compliments.
It’s human nature to desire compliments, and often giving the right compliment at the right time will encourage people to perform better. A PM should offer smart compliments to different stakeholders when the time is right.
What do I mean by smart compliments at the right time? You don’t want to give compliments too often because your words will mean less to people over time. On top of that, try to compliment people in front of others, which will boost their confidence.
A good compliment is not just merely a “Good job” or “Well done.” It’s better if you can be more specific. That might sound something like: “Good job, your suggestion for this feature will really enhance the overall performance of the system.”
A PM should not only give compliments to the team but also to the client. Even better, compliment the client in front of their manager. This will strengthen your relationship with the client and make them more willing to help you with issues you face in the project.
4. Be transparent.
Last but not least, a PM should be as transparent as possible with the team when it comes to information you’re allowed to share. The first three skills were about understanding others better, but this last one will make people understand your job better.
As a PM, you have pressures and responsibilities that not all team members know about. It’s important to communicate these issues to your team so they can understand the difficulties you face. If you execute the first three skills well, people will feel like you understand them, and they’ll be more willing to understand you in turn.
No member of the team should face problems alone, including the PM. Thus, all team members need to be transparent about the issues we face so we can try to solve them together. A PM is responsible for building a sharing culture within the team so that people feel comfortable sharing their feelings and issues.
These 4 skills above will take a long time to practice and master, but don’t give up and keep trying as this will for sure give a fruitful outcome. Every single PM will have their own version on how to execute the 4 skills themself, but if you can stick to these principles, you will find your life easier when managing projects. I guarantee that these 4 skills will help you improve the team chemistry over time.
About Cloud Interactive
Cloud Interactive is an AI, Software Engineering, and Design consulting company founded in 2010.
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