Why Projects That Feel Right Usually Are Right

I was out walking the dog early in the morning, as I do most mornings. It was cold, with a nip in the air. I was regretting putting my shorts on. But I knew it was going to develop into a good-weather day. I had a sense.

Walking the dog is when I do a lot of my thinking about what to post on LinkedIn. So I naturally followed my train of thought.

How do we know when something is going to turn out OK?

You can sense when it will and it’s not just the weather. You can also sense when a project is going to be OK, even if it isn’t tracking well just yet. It’s not the data that tells us. We get a sense before we see the data. What is that?

I think it’s behaviours.

I think there are behaviours we spot that give us a confident sense of calm. Behaviours that make us believe the project will be OK. Because when we have experienced those behaviours in the past, projects have been OK.

That raises some questions.

What are the behaviours?

If we show those behaviours, will the project be OK, or is it that the people that show these behaviours have other skills that make the project OK?

Can we train these behaviours?

What are the behaviours that give us a sense the project is going to be OK?

For me, there are 3 behaviours that are most important

1. Proactivity

2. Collaboration

3. Alignment

Are these behaviours universal, or do they differ for each of us? Are they context dependent, in that different behaviours are needed to create the calm sense in different sorts of projects and different sorts of companies?

There’s nothing scientific here, so the honest answer is “who knows”? But I do know when I’ve delivered in a ton of different environments, the behaviour-set I look for doesn’t really change. So maybe the context is me and the behaviours I like to see, rather than the company or the projects. If that is the case, we should each ask ourselves what are the behaviours we like to see on our projects and we should monitor and educate for those behaviours.

If we show these behaviours, will the project be OK?

Can we, a priori, assume that teams showing these behaviours will deliver better projects? Or is there something more complex going on here?

My logic tells me that every project that shows these behaviours is going to be better than a project that doesn’t.

A project that shares issues early, to shine a light on them and get a resolution while there are more options available, is always going to do better than a project that hides the issues until it’s too late and all the good options have passed.

A project where the team rally around and support each other, each bringing a different set of skills and experiences to a problem, is more likely to find quick and effective resolutions than the team that relies on one person and their singular skills and experiences.

A project that is aligned on where they are going and why is more likely to move in a straight line to the target state than a project that has people pulling in different directions, or that doesn’t have the direction correctly defined.

Again, not scientific, but my experience tells me that encouraging our projects to show proactivity, collaboration and alignment will lead to better results for that project than if the teams were not showing these behaviours.

So, can we teach these behaviours?

Absolutely! And this is the call to action, this is the thing for each of us to think about. If these behaviours are likely to lead to better project delivery, better project results, what can each of us do to create an environment that encourages these behaviours?

First, we have to model the behaviours ourselves. Modelling the behaviours we want in others is a good way to influence others to exhibit those same behaviours. Have you ever noticed when you get a team with a shout-y leader, how the team members are also a little more aggressive? Teams model themselves on their leader, even subconsciously. So, first, we have to be the good we want to see in our projects. Are you modelling these behaviours? How could you model them even further?

Second, we have to reward these behaviours. When someone comes to you proactively with an issue, do you react badly? Let’s be honest, it’s easy to do. Afterall, you’ve just learnt about a problem you didn’t know about 10 seconds ago. It’s not a good thing. Except it is. Because the problem was there whether you knew about it or not. Now you know about it, you can do something about it. It’s on you to have a positive reaction. Thank the person who brought you an issue. Reward the team that collaborated well around an issue. Give the team some slack if they didn’t hit all their deliverables because they downed-tools to support a colleague on resolving an issue. How well do you reward these behaviours? Do you do it consistently?

Finally, have a conversation with your team about the importance of behaviours and what behaviours are going to be used during the project. Build them into a team charter. If alignment is one of our behaviours, even better if we get aligned on the behaviours that are going to make us successful. Have you agreed on your behaviour set as a team?

As I finish my walk I can just see the sun rising. It is going to be a good day. A day when I focus even more on encouraging everyone to show these behaviours.