Masonry Magazine May 2008 Page. 44
Full Contact Project Management
FULL CONTACT
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
By "Coach" Gary Micheloni
The PM as 'Survivor'
Become the Leader Your Team Needs for 2008
It had been a long, busy day, probably a lot like the days you have. I got home, kicked back, had something to eat and turned on the tube. Time to get a little space from the whole construction "thing". You know what I'm talking about.
"Well," I thought, "let's get far away. How far can that possibly be?"
I picked up the remote and clicked my way through some programs, until I came to one about this group of people trying to survive on an island for 39 days. All right, good, mind-numbing stuff: a dozen or so city slickers trying to get by and make it to the end. Surely, this will take my mind off of project management stuff for a while.
On this TV show, the people are divided into two "tribes." The object of the game is to be the last person "surviving." You have to do stuff like make fire, boil water, and catch and eat food. But guess what? Some people are much better at these things than others. Plus, each tribe has to compete against the other for necessities like flint and a day at the spa. (Really!) These competitions take strength, skill and mental ability, just like your own tribe at work.
So, it seems obvious that the people who can do these things the best would be the most important members of the tribe - the guys who can lift the most, run the fastest, and use the tools to make fire. Well, I'm going to tell you something, and you're not going to believe it. The talented people are not revered and valued on these tribes. They are feared, seen as threats. They are viewed as contenders to be the one who outlasts the others.
Okay, let's stop here for a moment, and take stock of where we are with our own tribes and teams at work. Are we always looking out for our teams or for ourselves? I'm going to take a wild guess that you want to hang on to your most valued craftsmen. That would be the sane thing to do. So, it's a good thing you're not on that island! You'd be wearing a target right about now.
You see, with these two tribes, nobody trusts anyone else. Some of these guys and gals mope around, don't do much work, tick off some people, and, generally, live in fear of getting a pink slip and being sent home. They try and avoid it by getting by "under the radar day by day.
What's worse, they gossip, they conspire, and they plot to get rid of anyone who shows too much creativity, leadership, strength or ability. They'll send an athlete packing for home, keeping the low-abilitied weakling, because they believe they can more easily beat the weakling and become the ultimate survivor. Is that crazy, or what? What a way to build a team. Yikes!
Maybe I just painted a bizarre picture. It couldn't possibly happen at your place. You're too smart to keep the slacker and send away your good guy. Your company probably prides itself on how good and strong the team is. You'd never cannibalize your field team. You'd never do anything to hurt it, would you? Maybe you would!
"But Coach, but Coach, we're not stupid; we wouldn't shoot ourselves in the foot like that." Really? Let's think about how smart we actually are sometimes.
How do we typically measure the abilities of our teams? By quality of work? Sure. How about by finishing on time and on budget? An even better measurement.
Well then, what happens when something crops up on the jobsite, something
COACH GARY SAYS:
"Don't look that gift horse in mouth! Ride it to the Winne Circle instead."
The Voice of the Masonry Industry