It's Not Enough to be a Xerophilous Program Manager: How Are Your People Skills? - Personnel Management

Program Manager, Sept-Oct, 2001 by Elizabeth Lunch

Its not enough to be a xerophilous Program Manager (PM) these days Sure, you can calmly sit in a Congressional Hearing and expertly answer rapid-fire questions with cameras rolling and 50 angry, vein-bulging senators slicing and dicing every program decision you've made over the last three years. You can single-handedly turn a mere 24 software lines of code into a fully functional "whizbangit" and simultaneously write the maintenance manual that will leave users gasping with admiration. You can recite the Federal Acquisition Regulation in 10 minutes and competently calculate the next six outyears' budget in five minutes. But, how are your people skills? Do you have any? Do you care? (Hint ... you should care!)

Personality Attributes vs. Managing People

The PM'S functional and technical abilities are important, as those competencies guide the project. Besides the project, though, what or whom does the PM manage? Obviously, people. Now, people are a quirky commodity. They like to be considered as contributing, valuable, unique specialists -- not as merely tolerated, impersonal, expendable resources. Remember the expression "cold pricklies" and "warm fuzzies"? People, for some amazing reason, respond better (translated -- they'll work their keester off for you) to kindness, recognition, and fairness ("fuzzies") than to arrogance, disregard, and favoritism ("pricklies").

Therefore, with so much to gain, why not stop for a moment, relax, and take a really good look at yourself. Do you have the people skills and attributes that will enhance not only your professional relationship with your team, but would markedly increase team productivity as well?

Some of those fuzzy-producing skills and attributes PMs would do well to cultivate are listed here from A to Z:

Acknowledge Accomplishment

Fuzzy PMs recognize accomplishments and take the time and energy to acknowledge verbally or with a formal reward both large and small feats. They pass fuzzies to all their team members, and they ensure no one is overlooked.

Believable/Credible

Believable PMs are credible. Their word is their bond. They don't tell a story one way for one group of individuals and change it again for another, while hoping the various groups won't compare notes.

Communicate

Instead of fostering the game of Gossip (where one person hears something and passes it on to another and after awhile the data bear no resemblance to the truth), people-skilled PMs relate information to the entire team at once, not just to select individuals. Whether through e-mails or all-hands meetings, PMs tell their team members the same information simultaneously.

Delegate

PMs who know how to delegate and do, earn their team's respect. They then find themselves free to concentrate on the programmatics better suited to their office. Though PMs may be able to handle every task, by delegating to others they demonstrate their trust of others' abilities.

Ethical

Let's face it. It's just too complicated to remember the exact lie you told to whom, and when, and how to cook the books medium well. Ethical PMs "tell it straight" and "walk the talk." Adhering to the highest ethical standards is not always easy, but PMs who practice ethics in all their dealings can look others in the eye with a clear conscience.

Friendly

How hard is it to say "hi" to people or to acknowledge them with a smile, especially if they are members of your team? Since when was courtesy declared evil? Friendly PMs catch more flies ... er, teammates, with honey than with vinegar (didn't your Mom ever tell you that?).

Giving

Fuzzy PMs give of their time (they attend meetings when they say they will) and of their project money (they give time-off awards or cash awards).

Honest

When honest PMs chop down the cherry tree, they admit it. If five people have to be let go from the team, honest PMs do so in a straightforward manner. They don't lie, but they aren't brutal with the truth. They balance kindness with honesty.

Inspirational

Fuzzy PMS inspire people to do their best through their own inspirational actions. They set a good example (Mom would be proud).

Just

Just PMs are fair PMs. They listen to both (or more) sides of the story and make a just determination. They refrain from rushing to judgment, and everyone is treated as equals.

Kind

Kind PMs send a personal note (or even an e-mail) to congratulate a birth, offer condolences to the bereaved, or offer thanks for a special act. They take an interest in their team members and talk to (or e-mail) each person as often as possible. They keep up with the temperature of the team -- are there problems they can help solve? Does someone need anything that they can provide? Is anyone being "hung in effigy" in the parking lot?

Listen

Are you listening out there? Effective communication is an important asset for any PM, and so also is effective listening. Listening is willfully receiving those radio waves that strike your ears, internalizing and transmitting them further to your "gray matter," thus achieving comprehension. When listening to someone, say the speaker's name and recap what he or she had to say Be courteous and listen to what is being said.