A few years back, I was working on a couple of large and highly visible projects for a financial firm. The projects had tight timelines and were closely tracked for all issues known and unknown. We had great teams and team leads assigned for both of the projects.
In spite of the highly demanding timelines, there were several unknowns that needed to be resolved along the way and I was pretty impressed at how these two teams performed and met their timelines.
Over a period of time, I started noticing the differences between these two teams. When I look from a project management perspective, both the teams were meeting the dates and are delivering what they were supposed to. But there was quite a lot of difference in the team spirit and team dynamics between these two teams. As I worked closer and was getting to know each member of these teams, this difference was more evident.
I noticed that one of the teams was quite enthusiastic, energetic and also relaxed while working on this high demand project. They were having fun and it seemed an easy effort for them.
The other team, I noticed was quite stressed out. Though they were delivering, they lacked enthusiasm that the other team showed. They looked stressed out, constantly. And as the time passed, the stress was quite evident on all of the team members.
I knew both of these projects were equally challenging and they both had their issues. The team leads had a good technical skills and experience were quite competent enough to handle the unknowns within these projects. Both the teams had management’s support and all the resources they need to complete these projects. Yet, I could see a difference in the morale of the teams.
It was clear that the problem was not about lack of competency or resources. It is something more than that – behavior oriented. I wanted to find out what the problem was and help the team. I wanted the team to be enthusiastic about the project they were working on. More importantly, I didn’t want them to be stressed out day in and day out. I decided to dig deeper to find out what was happening.
I then spent a day with each of the team to observe the team dynamics. I wanted to see if there were differences within the team and how they worked with each other in demanding situations. The teams did not know what I was observing, all they knew was I was involved in the projects as their Project Manager. That day, I spent more time working with the team leads and team members, observing how they interact with their each other, the problems they encounter and how they handle them. I was observing the typical day in each of their teams.
I observed that the both teams faced critical, unknown and unexpected challenges that day. They knew how to handle most of them, but they struggled on some of them. The team leads gave technical direction to the team members on each of their tasks and issues. That day, I noticed a major difference in these teams, as they handled their day to day problems.
I saw a difference in how the team leads approached the problem.
Here’s how the team lead of the first team handled a situation
- Patiently listened to the problem that was bought up by the team member
- Assured the team member that they can easily find the solution ( even when he did not know how)
- Worked with the team member to analyze the problem.
- Discussed with the team member the various options they have for the solution.
- Supported the team member to implement the solution.
Here’s how the team lead of the first team handled a situation.
- Patiently listened to the problem that was bought up by the team member
- Thought that it was a bigger problem than it was, created a sense of urgency and anxiousness about solving the problem and finding the solution.
- Worked with the team member to analyze the problem, anxiously.
- Discussed with the team member the various options they have for the solution, anxiously.
- Supported the team member to implement the solution.
Both the teams did find a solution to the problem and they did follow similar steps to arriving at the solution. The major difference, as you notice is how each of the team leads look at the problem.
The first team lead made the problem look like a trivial task and supported his team all the way through making the task seemingly easy. He started solving the problem by assuring them that they can find a solution. This approach made his team members relax about the situation. They were able to think calmly and arrive at an effective solution. They looked up to their team lead as he helped them handle the unknown with ease. This is the optimistic perspective.
The second team lead, was anxious about the problem himself, did not give his team the assurance and the confidence they need to solve the problem. He started solving the problem by saying it is a difficult problem. He is the one who sees the glass half empty. This way of looking into things stresses out everyone around you. This very nature of him made his team stressed out and in the long run, could have affected the team’s performance.
We find such situations in our day to day lives. We come across some people who give us the strength to handle difficult situations, no matter how difficult they are. They make us feel that just being around them makes our life easy. We also come across people who exaggerate every single situation and make it more complicated. They make our lives harder.
As a leader, it is very important how you see things. Your vision and your perspective show the road for you and others that follow you.
If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. —Wayne Dyer
While, a mix of both perspectives is need, to be able to inspire and motivate others you need to show them the good side of things. You need to be optimistic about the future so they are able to put in their effort to make it a reality.
In this article, Jim Clemmer says that effective leaders are unreasonable optimists. They learn optimism. Optimism energies and empowers teams.
What is your perspective? Which group do you belong to?
Were you part of a team which had similar experience? Let us know in the comments below.
IC – flickr.com/creative commons