Conflicts and how they are managed are elements that every Project Manager has to face, eventually.

Each project necessarily involves different individuals working together to complete a complex task.

Let’s see, then, how we can best deal with them.

The source of conflict in team management working on a project can be related to several factors: values, attitudes, needs, expectations, perceptions, resources and personality.

Proper conflict management skills can help project managers and other members of the organization to manage and resolve conflicts effectively.

Solving conflicts therefore means making a company more productive as a whole.

What is a conflict?

The term conflict has several definitions.

The most common definition is related to the sociological aspect, which defines conflict as “a particular type of social interaction in which one or more individuals involved experience an incompatibility in purpose or behavior“.

Essentially a competitive scenario in which the parties are aware of the incompatibility of potential future positions and in which each party wishes to occupy a position misaligned with the wishes of the other.

The conflict situation must include elements of interdependency, emotions, perceptions and behaviors.

However, conflict can actually be constructive and healthy for an organization and can help empower people and improve the organization.
The conflict can lead to deeper problems, forcing people to deal with possible flaws in a solution and choose a better one.

The understanding of real interests, goals and needs is improved and continuous communication about these issues is prompted.

Constructive conflict happens when people change and grow personally, cohesion is formed between team members and a solution to the problem is found.

However, if the conflict is not addressed properly, it can be detrimental to an organization by threatening unity, business partnerships, team relationships and interpersonal connections.

Deconstructive conflict occurs when a decision has not been found and the problem remains, energy is taken away from more important activities or issues, team or individual morale is destroyed, and groups of people are polarized.

Conflict dynamics

When a conflict breaks out, the first reaction is to try to solve it, diving into the situation that has been created.

Instead in this specific moment it is strategic to stop and listen.

It is important that the project manager understands the dynamics of the conflict before being able to fix it.

The motivations that result in conflict include the perception of the objective, the perception of the other, the vision of the actions of the other, the definition of the problem, communication and the internal group dynamics.

Goal perception becomes a problem when success gets overly competitive.

The other’s perception can create conflict when the attitude becomes “us against them”. In this case, similarities and differences are emphasized causing divisions within a group.

The perception of other people’s actions can be an issue when the situation is competitive rather than cooperative. Any behavior can be suspicious in a competitive environment.

The problem definition can lead to a conflict when the scale of the problem is increased or wrongly interpreted.

The communication in a competitive environment can cause mistrust and information may be hidden or missing.

Internal group dynamics can be negative when the team structure is centralized and rigid rather than flexible and open. Compliance is emphasized and activities dominate the individual needs of team members.

Conflict resolution approaches

Here are five ways to solve conflicts and the specific situations in which they are best used.

1. Confrontation

This includes conflicting parties meeting face-to-face and working together to reach an agreement that meets the interests of both sides. This means having an open and direct communication which should clear the way for problem solving. The comparison should be used when:

• Both parties must win
• Costs must be reduced.
• A common power base needs to be created.
• Le competenze sono complementari.
• Time is sufficient.
• There is trust.
• Education is the ultimate goal.

2. Compromise

This is also referred to as a “give and take” style. The parties in conflict negotiate to achieve a mutually acceptable solution. Both parties sacrifice something to reach an agreement and leave with some degree of satisfaction. Compromise should be used when:

 

• Both sides must win.
• You are in a standoff situation.
• Time is not sufficient.
• You want to maintain the relationship between the parties involved.
• You will not get anything if you do not compromise.
• Stakes are modest.

3. Smoothing

This is also described as obliging or cooperative style. With this approach, areas of agreement are emphasized and areas of disagreement are minimized. Conflicts are not always resolved using this approach, but one party may sacrifice its own concerns or goals to satisfy the other party’s concerns or goals. Smoothing should be used when:

• The goal to be achieved is global.
• You want to make an obligation for a compromise at a later date.
• Stakes are low.
• Responsibility is limited.
• Any solution is suitable.
• You want to be harmonious and create willingness.
• You want to gain time.

4. Forcing

This is also known as competition, control or domain style. Forcing happens when one party does everything in its power to achieve dominance while ignoring the needs and concerns of the other party. This results in a win-lose situation where one party wins at the expense of the other party. Forcing should be used when:

• There is a “do or die” situation.
• Stakes are high.
• Important principles are at stake.
• Relationship between the parties is not important.
• A prompt decision must be made.

5. Annulment

This is also referred to as a retreat style. This approach is regarded as postponing a problem for later or retiring altogether from the situation. It is considered a temporary solution because the problem, and the conflict as a result, will continue to recur over and over again. Annulment should be used when:

• A win cannot be achieved.
• Stakes are low.
• Stakes are high, but you are not prepared.
• You want to gain time.
• You want to preserve neutrality or reputation.
• It is believed that the problem will disappear.

Conclusion

Conflicts in project management are not necessarily unfavorable and negative if handled appropriately.

The benefits are different and relevant, such as increasing personal growth and morale, improving communication and producing better project results.

However, conflict can also represent the decline of a project or, in more serious situations, of an entire organization if it is not managed effectively.

The challenge for project managers is therefore to try to maintain the right balance and intensity of the conflict in project management.

Employing project management principles, understanding conflict dynamics and learning conflict resolution approaches, project managers are able to create an environment where creativity and innovation are encouraged and project objectives are successfully achieved.

The role of the Project Manager, according to the developments of Project Management, is in continuous evolution, driven by new technologies, new business models and a continuously developing workforce.

The tasks and responsibilities of the project manager are evolving. Today’s project managers do much more than supervise certain lists of activities that are part of a project.

Their role today has progressed significantly. Nowadays, a project manager works with more people, teams and suppliers and is faced with new challenges every day that the project manager of 10 years ago would never have believed possible.

So here are the five trends that are helping to change the role of the project manager, turning it into… a “modern” one.

A younger workforce

Technology is not the only field in which there is a growing shortage of talent.

A research conducted by the Project Management Institute, stated that employers will have to fill nearly 2.2 million project management positions on an annual basis until 2027.

Otherwise, the talent gap could result in a potential loss of approximately $207.9 billion.

What does that mean? That older project managers are retiring, making way for a new generation of professionals.

There has also been a significant increase in the number of jobs requiring project-oriented skills, which means more jobs in more fields and in different roles.

Artificial intelligence will play an increasingly major role

The role of the Project Manager will be influenced by artificial intelligence.

Sure, we are still decades away from an era in which artificial intelligence will outperform human intelligence. Many people wonder that one day something similar will happen, but it is also a fact that artificial intelligence will play an increasingly larger role in everyday life and, consequently, in project management.

The purpose of artificial intelligence will not be to replace human workers, but to increase their skills and capabilities.

Artificial intelligence will make the work of the project manager leaner than ever before.

Many project managers know from experience that prioritizing activities and allocating resources is one of the most nightmarish parts of the job. In addition, researching and analyzing data is always a “headache”.

So wouldn’t it be nice if someone (or “something”) could take care of all this in a couple of minutes?

This is what artificial intelligence promises to do – indeed, what it is already beginning to do – for the profession.

Unstructured data generated by the daily activities of project team members can be entered in an analysis tool that will automatically re-elaborate them according to chosen criteria, thus increasing the visibility of the project and providing more in-depth information on performance and workflows.

This will allow a project manager to better target the efforts of team members, identifying weaknesses and efficiency opportunities.

Perhaps most importantly, activities such as daily reporting, progress monitoring and budgeting can be simplified through automation, freeing up the project manager’s time for other tasks that require completely “human” intervention.

As projects become increasingly complex, the efficiency of artificial intelligence will not only be a convenience, but will become a necessity.

“Journeys”, not projects

Many years ago, projects had a clearly set deadline. Once the desired output was achieved, the project was completed.

Of course, projects could be redesigned from time to time to release a new version, but the path from start to finish was more or less fixed.

Now it is no longer like that.

Today’s projects, rather than being static and unchangeable, are flexible and dynamic, with the potential to change shape and scope quickly.

They are processes that require a new and more flexible approach, combining traditional “cascading” methodology with “agile” development.

Variation and diversification of the PM’s skills

As the role of the project manager expands, so does the required skills.

Organizations are increasingly focusing on people and their skills.

Now more than ever, it is necessary to understand people just as it is necessary to understand projects.

This in itself is not entirely new, since project managers have always been leaders, coaches and mitigators in one way or another, but what has changed is the focus on emotional intelligence.

Knowing what the members of the project team can do is no longer enough, a project manager must also understand how they feel.

They need to be able to relate to people from different cultural and religious backgrounds, to find common ground between people even when, at first glance, there seems to be no common ground.

In addition, the growing range of different tools and platforms available to project managers requires constant training and updating their skills.

The Internet of Things

This is arguably the most disruptive trend of all: the Internet of Things (IoT) is increasingly becoming part of our lives, and so is the world of business and project management.

Combined with artificial intelligence, IoT is driving a hyper-connected work environment where project managers can equip themselves with faster reporting tools, deeper insights, better process management and more extensive project data collections than they ever imagined possible.

At the same time, this scenario isn’t free of challenges.

The security risks of the aforementioned hyper-connectivity are well documented. In addition, project managers will have to navigate through a minefield of potential legal, ethical and privacy issues.

• How much monitoring is acceptable for a team member?
• What are the controls for preventing a system error resulting from a single error?
• What controls are in place to protect sensitive data and ensure that the organization does not violate the law?

These are not questions that project managers might traditionally ask themselves, but the IoT will definitely ask for an answer.

 

Ultimately, the role of the project manager is changing.

The days of techniques, scope, planning, budgeting, resource allocation and delivery of results on time are over and now it is necessary to include cross-skills such as conflict resolution, leadership and even trends towards additional management skills such as business modeling and strategic analysis.

These new skills are included in the new guidelines of the Project Management Institute (PMI) for the certifications needed to maintain the position: a new triad of skills called the “Talent Triangle”.

In short, the project manager needs strategic and business management skills to remain competitive.

Here are six tips to get a competitive advantage as a project manager in this time of change:

• Develop business sense
• Understand markets
• Know industry trends
• Develop relationships with stakeholders
• Be straightforward
• Know your business model

That’s the nice thing about project management: it has become a flexible and always adaptable discipline.

 

The skills required from project managers are manifold and among them we also find transversal skills, also called soft skills.

Soft skills help a project manager to understand different ways of thinking and to be able to make a heterogeneous group work together towards a common goal.

Transversal skills of a project manager are key to managing projects and people and often make a difference when it comes to retaining key talent, growing business or successfully completing one project after another.

Historically, organizations choose managers primarily according to their technical skills and proven training or certification and the extent of experience are the most common bases for hiring.

However, soft skills elevate hard skills beyond the constraints of merely training a project manager, the disciplines learned and personal beliefs.

So here are the 6 soft skills that are essential for the success of a project manager.

Project Manager’s Soft Skills: Leadership

Leadership is outlined in the PMBoK as “the capability of doing things through others.” In other words, it means inspiring people to do the work.

This is usually done by conveying the vision of the project and the value that team members will create by successfully completing the work.

This vision will lead to a holistic approach and team members will thus be able to understand their importance as individuals to achieve the common goal of the project.

Project Manager’s Soft Skills: Motivation

When people know that their work is making a difference – for stakeholders or even for themselves – then they remain motivated.

Ogni persona ha varie esigenze e obiettivi personali e professionali e questi devono essere soddisfatti.

For some people it might be financial compensation, for some it is a feeling of accomplishment by doing challenging work, for some it might be hierarchical growth and for others it might be official recognition of their hard work.

Knowing what motivates each of the team members and helping them achieve these things is a key task for the project manager to keep the motivation and morale of the team high.

Project Manager’s Soft Skills: Communication

Communication must be a two-way road: an open and honest channel from top to bottom as well as from bottom to top.

This means that when the project manager communicates transparently decisions and information, team members need to feel comfortable sharing their concerns, problems or even constructive suggestions with the manager.

Active open communication builds mutual trust between team members and also between the team and the project manager.

The project manager should then establish efficient channels of communication with each stakeholder, keep cultural differences in perspective and communicate information on a regular basis.

Project Manager’s Soft Skills: Active Listening

This is a communication technique in which the listener provides constant feedback to the speaker.

This way both the speaker and the listener ensure that the message has been communicated as intended and without misunderstanding.

To engage in active listening, the listener should overcome the impulse of wanting to speak immediately and instead focus on real understanding of what is being said by channeling his or her energies to re-transmit the communicated information in his or her own words.

Project Manager’s Soft Skills: Negotiation

Negotiation makes for good conflict resolution.

The project manager should make sure that they listen to both parties, make decisions fairly and justly, and communicate openly with both parties if problems of any kind arise during the project.

During the negotiation it is clear that it may not always be possible to please both parties.

A win-win situation for both sides is one where each side is able to compromise in order to reach a resolution.

Listening to and re-articulating the problem may highlight the presence of an intrinsic solution that neither side had been able to consider beforehand.

The important thing is that the project manager does not side with anyone, at least not from the beginning, and that the solution is objective and not biased.

Project Manager’s Soft Skills: Conflict management

Conflicts are part of any system, particularly when several individuals, different from each other, are involved.

Conflict management could easily be one of the key skills that a project manager needs to have in order to manage projects successfully.

There can be billions of reasons for conflict to emerge in the project team, for example:

• Competition to obtain a poor resource,
• Possible communication gaps,
• Unclear requirements,
• Personnel policies
• Business environment

And more.

If well managed, a conflictual situation can even result in bringing people together and making them more focused on achieving the project’s objectives.

This all depends on a project manager’s ability to resolve a conflict of any kind.

 

So, the project manager through these – and many other – soft skills can create solutions, execute an objective plan to achieve results, build a team and manage a crisis when it occurs.

Successful project management requires more than just mastery of technical skills related to processes, structures and discipline; it requires a special set of skills to direct all resources towards a common goal.

By understanding the role of transversal skills and mastering relevant technical skills, it is possible to achieve improved profitability, less absenteeism and improved stakeholder relations.

Team Building activities can be an amazing asset for a Project Manager who needs to manage a team.

It can be hard to believe that you can have fun at work or with colleagues, but if you had the chance to work with forward-thinking companies you know that this is not only possible, instead it should be promoted.

Reasons are clear. Often the atmosphere in the office is boring, heavy and uninspiring. This can lead to problems that affect productivity.

For many years now, we have been trying to transform working environments into enjoyable places where positivity and relationships between colleagues are promoted. Companies know that a motivated team can increase productivity by up to 30% and more. On the other hand, we have already talked about this in this article on the company environment.

So planning some team building activities will not only relieve boredom, develop communication and create good memories, but will also bring interesting new ideas.

In addition, newcomers can also benefit from short team building activities that will allow them to integrate more quickly into the group and get to know their colleagues more easily.

What is the purpose of team building?

The idea at the heart of team building is to empower people to contribute to common goals and work in the same direction.

The very success of an organization depends on the ability of its employees to work in teams, understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses, show interest in each other and provide quality work together.

Here are some advantages that an organisation can see when it creates, according to the Agile methodology, a team with strong goals:

• The level of productivity improves
• Increased morale and motivation among team members
• Improved collaboration in the workplace
• Improved creativity among individuals
• Positive reinforcement
• Improved professional satisfaction among employees
• Improved work quality

And much more.

Do team building activities really work?

Statistically, there is a lot of evidence that team building activities actually impact positively productivity and the workplace in general.

In particular, they work well for teams who are looking for new ways to improve their work and interaction with others.

The benefits of team building games and activities not only affect the way teams work, but also reflect the improvement of everyone’s overall personality.

The interesting fact here is that there are team building activities for every need and for every kind of team.

This means that if an activity is not considered suitable or not liked, there are dozens of other ideas that can be explored.

A major reason why such simple games and activities make a big change in a work environment is that they can help people get out of their comfort zones.

They provide team members with a means and platform to break the ice in an intimidating way and bring their teamwork to a whole new level.

What are the best team building activities?

For starters, before choosing the best team building activity, it is important to identify the team’s needs.

The first and most important step in planning team building activities is to identify the team’s strengths and weaknesses.

You can start by asking the following questions to determine the root of any problems:

• Are there conflicts between particular individuals who are creating internal divisions?
• Should team members get to know each other better?
• Do some members focus on their own success and, as a result, damage the group?
• Is poor communication impacting on the team’s progress and productivity?
• Should people learn to work together rather than individually?
• Do some members influence the group’s ability to progress through resistance to change?
• Does the group need a moral boost?

Once these questions have been answered, you can move on to choose one or more targeted activities to help the team deal with specific problems.

Let’s see some examples of team building activities:

Team Building Activities: Two Truths and a Lie

Problem: communication and icebreaker

Required time: 15-30 minutes

First, each team member should secretly write two facts about themselves and a lie on a small piece of paper – of course, the answers should not be revealed to anyone.

Once each person has completed this step, give 10-15 minutes for an active conversation, just like an informal meeting, where everyone discusses the three questions.

The idea is to convince others that your lie is actually a truth, while on the other hand, you try to guess other people’s truths / lies by asking them questions.

After the conversation is over, grouped in a circle, each participant repeats their three statements and the group decides what they think the lie is. This game helps to promote better communication in the office and allows colleagues to get to know each other better.

Team Building Activities: The “giant” puzzle

Problem: Problem Solving

Required time: 30 minutes

This problem solving activity involves the leader choosing a well-known image or comic book full of details.

The image should be split into as many equal squares as there are participants in the activity. Each participant then receives one of the “puzzle pieces” and must create an exact copy of their piece five times larger than its original size.

The problem is not knowing why or how one’s work might affect the overall picture. When all participants have completed their magnifications, they will be asked to put the pieces together into a giant copy of the original image on a table.

This problem solving activity will teach participants how to work in a group and will prove “departmental” work, i.e. the understanding that each person, while working alone, ultimately contributes to the overall result of the group.

Create your own team building activity

Required time: 1hour

The group leader asks the participants for help: it would be interesting to carry out a team building activity, but they don’t know any new ones and want support from the group members to find something original and never tried before.

The goal or problem, therefore, is to get each participant – or group of participants – to present a new team building activity appropriate for them. As well as being a problem solving activity in itself, this game also helps to promote creative thinking, communication, trust and time management.

 

Ultimately: team building activities are a fun and educational way to improve communication at team level, but it is important to identify the right activity to address the specific problem to be solved.

Only in this way will team building activities turn into a real success to boost morale and productivity.

Business climate, organizational and individual well-being and employee commitment are related to important organizational results, such as productivity, health and employee commitment.

These elements are complementary and mutually influential.

Work plays a key role in the health and well-being of employees and it is important to know the negative impact on organizational well-being and, consequently, on employees.

Instability and insecurity in today’s work environment demand the promotion of sound organizations and activities as part of a primary prevention approach.

In healthy organizations, culture, business climate and good practices create an environment that promotes employee health and safety and organizational effectiveness.

A healthy organization promotes healthy and successful business, thus emphasizing the strong link between organizational profitability and employee well-being.

As organizations grow, both in terms of number of employees and in quality and complexity of service, the human component has become a primary competitive advantage in the market.

Therefore, many organizations are competing heavily for talented, educated, creative and dedicated employees (this article on talent management may come in handy for you).

This is how the business climate and organizational well-being become a priority in the market.

Why is organizational well-being important?

Let’s get this straight: an active adult spends at least a third of his day at his workplace.

Therefore, a large part of an individual’s satisfaction depends directly on their working conditions and the climate in which they work.

Naturally, the same theory applies in the opposite direction: the more unhappy and frustrated one is at work, the more the quality of life decreases by a considerable amount.

Studies also show that individual well-being is able to produce long-term beneficial effects on the organization due to the increased commitment of employees in the workplace. We have already talked about how to make the work environment more pleasant to improve team efficiency.

Those individuals who work in a supportive business climate tend to see their workplace as positive, productive and engaging.

Furthermore, managers will benefit from investments in well-being in terms of an open organizational culture that challenges and engages employees and will certainly keep them loyal to their company.

Here are the 5 elements of organizational well-being that transcend countries, cultures and sectors.

Each of these elements can be considered universal and can be applied to any organization.

Professional well-being: how to spend your time and how much you enjoy your work

To make sure that most employees enjoy their work, it is important that they remain aware and informed of the impact their work has on the whole mechanism: from the company to the customer to the rest of the team.

It is not unusual to find out how some employees may desire different tasks or positions, so it is the project manager’s job to keep an open discussion and hear whatever messages they may have.

Afterwards, if the proposal is successful, they can be moved to different roles or even departments within the organization, ensuring that talent is retained within the organization.

Social well-being: strong and healthy relationships in employees’ lives

Although it may seem that this chapter focuses solely on the personal lives of employees, a large part of the satisfaction that comes from healthy relationships also comes from positive relationships with co-workers.

Every positive interaction with others is beneficial to the quality of the workplace and a chance to reduce conflicts at the company level.

Here the options are plenty and varied: informal hang outs, themed evenings in the office, professional team building programs, lunch breaks, etc.

The relationship with your immediate supervisor or project manager is also of fundamental importance for employee loyalty and satisfaction.

A relationship is not a one-way process, but depends on the “work” that both parties are willing to perform.

The employee may therefore be inclined to have a good relationship with their manager, but the supervisor must do the same.

Financial well-being: managing the economic profile of employees effectively

The starting point for this discussion is a paycheck that the employee considers to be fair and satisfactory in return for their work.

An increasing number of organizations are tackling this and, indeed, have started to offer side benefits in order to create consent and certainty among their employees, such as medical and life insurance, private provision, etc.

Training and awareness of issues such as personal financial management, investments, credits and personal savings could be of great help to employees, especially younger or newly hired employees.

Physical well being: good health and the energy needed to tackle everyday activities

As previously noted, there are organizations that care about employees’ health and offer them healthcare and medical insurance.

Sometimes they even offer gym subscriptions or yoga classes.

Likewise, just as it is important that a company takes care of the physical well-being of its employees, it is equally important that it takes care of the psychological well-being.

There are countless cases of burnout, depression, extreme frustration in the workplace that remain unnoticed.

The project manager and the closest colleagues have the opportunity to notice more easily when a member of the group is struggling and therefore immediately offer assistance and support.

Community well-being – a sense of commitment to the environment

A standard custom for organizations is to participate in social awareness campaigns: charity, support to NGOs, ecological activities, volunteering opportunities for employees, etc.

Whatever action is taken towards the community increases employees’ pride and sense of belonging, giving them the opportunity to be emotionally involved in the organization’s businesses.

 

Ultimately, the vast majority of studies show that a workplace where well-being is a priority is beneficial for all: for management and management, in terms of profit, productivity and employee loyalty, and for employees in terms of quality of life in general, loyalty and personal satisfaction at work.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic we are currently experiencing, many companies – rather than closing down completely – have been forced to implement remote working.

This poses a new challenge for all employees, but it becomes even more so in the case of project managers and those who are leading a remote team for the first time.

Not having your employees present in the same office and not having a face-to-face contact in an ever-changing market where priorities are constantly shifting, certainly becomes a major obstacle.

So let’s see what are the 6 strategies that a manager can adopt to lead a remote team.

6 leadership strategies to manage a virtual team

Many effective management practices with co-located teams can also be applied to virtual teams, but some important changes are still needed to address the unique challenges that a remote team entails.

Managers dealing with this new challenge should therefore consider these six strategies:

1. Keep all team members communicating closely

Creating a sense of teamwork is a key factor for the success of a project, especially when team members cannot interact directly with each other.

Regular communication between all is therefore essential to gather people together and promote a sense of inclusion, while at the same time providing continuous opportunities for input and feedback.

Whether it’s video conferencing, email, instant messaging or other methods of contact, team members need opportunities to participate, share ideas and results and continue to communicate smoothly with anyone from anywhere.

2. Maintain a supportive mindset

In a hierarchical organization, competition is often implicitly or directly fostered between individuals, departments and divisions.

In a time when employees are no longer close to their desks, the result could be a shift in mindset that causes the individual to be selfish and no longer focused on the good of the group, damaging the ability to work together for common goals.

This spirit of competition that reigns in every individual must be, even at a distance, kept at bay so as not to undermine teamwork.

The focus must be kept on promoting cooperation in which the interests, talents and skills of all team members are encouraged and emphasized.

3. Set out the purpose and objectives of the team

Remotely, it is difficult for employees who are not used to working in this way to understand their reason of being and their contribution to the organization in general.

Without this understanding, team members are unlikely to be fully involved and motivated at work.

It is therefore important that the manager should regularly remind them of their purpose towards the team and the company, especially when the virtual team members are working individually to perform certain tasks.

4. Define unambiguous performance standards

In the office, each team must meet certain performance standards and expectations and this becomes particularly important in remote work, where the manager cannot directly monitor and control employee behaviour.

This means that the leader must set clear parameters, suggest the sharing of best practices and define the standards against which everyone’s performance will be assessed.

5. Adapt coaching strategies for managing distance

An effective coaching and support is a real challenge for the manager who needs to manage a virtual team.

A remote team leader must set individual and group expectations, monitor everyone’s progress and provide feedback, just as they would in the case of “traditional” office work.

Even remotely, the manager must schedule regular appointments to provide feedback to each team member, for example through a Skype video call – at a time like this, seeing each other, even if online, is surely important.

6. Celebrate achievements and successes

Feeling part of a team means not only working together, but being credited for sacrifices and achievements.

Virtual team leaders should not forget to reward team members for their outstanding performance or achievement, thus reinforcing the collaborative mindset we were talking about earlier.

Surely in this difficult time it is not possible to organize some office party, but the manager can still send a positive signal by sending a collective email to congratulate a successful project or, in the most important cases, send gift coupons as an incentive to maintain high performance.

 

By implementing these 6 straightforward strategies, leaders who have to manage a team remotely can overcome the barriers that could decrease performance at a time like this.

Because of the Coronavirus, many project managers are facing this challenge.

By working together in the proper way, however, it is possible to continue to create a competitive advantage in a global market that is currently experiencing an unprecedented crisis and where the rules of competition are constantly changing.

Already many organizations, even before the Coronavirus outbreak, have approached remote working and we are sure that, once the situation returns to normal, there will be many more companies that will officially introduce home working into their policy.

So, while managing a remote team is definitely a special challenge, this introduction – more or less forced as it may be – can be an enriching, rewarding and productive experience for the future.

Can the efficiency of a team be improved by creating a more pleasant working environment? The answer is yes!

Workplace happiness is based on several aspects and its perception may differ from one employee to another. A great leader, challenging projects, recognition and rewards, stability at work or a pleasant atmosphere, just to name a few, can play a different role and importance in each member’s mind.

As a project manager, creating an environment that brings out the best in team members is key to the success of the organization.

In fact, research shows that decommitted employees have:

• 37% above average absenteeism,
• 49% more accidents,
• 60% more mistakes in work activities.

So it seems that not caring for the happiness of one’s employees can become costly. So let’s see what are the tips to improve the efficiency of the team by making the working environment pleasant.

Improving the efficiency of a Team: Organizing team building events

Amusement leads to happiness.

Holding team building events where employees play together, laugh together and solve problems together contributes a lot to their happiness.

Team building events – if well planned – inspire people to stay in the workplace and even promote creativity.

Whether it’s an afternoon in an escape room or an adventure in the woods, team building events can be countless.

Improving the efficiency of a Team: Greeting the team

It may seem like a small thing, but in reality, greeting employees means a lot in the workplace.

Team members want to feel regarded, so the manager can give them a little positive boost in the morning, greeting them warmly with a smile or a pat on the back.

Also, asking the team how the weekend or a particular event went helps a lot to deepen the bond and makes the work environment more “familiar”.

A project manager with an optimistic and genuine approach increases the team’s self-esteem, making each employee more motivated.

Improving the efficiency of a Team: Praise and give recognition when necessary

Feeling undervalued at work is the first reason why an employee quits his job. This reason has even more serious repercussions than low wages, limited days off and poor work-life balance.

So here’s how offering praise and recognition when necessary will make the team enthusiastic and eager to contribute to company-wide initiatives.

A great project manager might ask team members how they prefer to be rewarded or complimented on a job well done.

For some, it could be a “public” recognition during a meeting, while for others, it could be an individual positive feedback session.

This recognition also shows that the project manager cares about the well-being of their employees.

Improving the efficiency of a Team: Making work satisfactory

Everyone wants to hear that what they do at work is important.

In order for team members to feel good about the work they are doing, they need to fully understand the mission and purpose of the organization.

Giving an overview of what each department does and why it does it allows team members to feel more connected to the organization and to understand where their part of the work fits into bringing a project to success.

Improving the efficiency of a Team: Making work/life balance a priority

The concept of work-life balance has become a priority in many workplaces.

Team members must have a clear understanding that they are valued as loyal employees and as people who also have a life out of office.

The work-life balance can be improved by offering, for example, a few days of work from home, unlimited vacation days, discounts on health and wellness programs in facilities close to the company or childcare options.

Offering incentives that improve a team member’s overall quality of life shows that the organization and manager cares about their well-being.

Improving the efficiency of a Team: Promoting well-being in the workplace

Whether it’s healthy food, exercise, meditation or awareness strategies, promoting well-being in the workplace is a great idea and therefore helps to increase productivity.

Many new wellness programs have been developed specifically to improve the work environment so that it is easier for employees to adopt and maintain healthy behaviors.

It is possible to create a culture of well-being by implementing these strategies:

 

• Prepare and share a list of healthy dining options within a predefined radius from the office.
• Organize bike racks and provide information resources about the benefits of cycling to work.
• Negotiate company discounts for memberships in wellness centers and gyms.
• Hire a yoga instructor or meditation specialist to come to the office once a week or a month to help reduce team members’ stress.

Showing team members how important it is for them to have a healthy lifestyle is a way to show them how important they are to the organization.

Improving the efficiency of a Team:  Launch an individual development plan

An individual development plan is a mean to assist employees in their career and personal development.

Its main purpose is to help employees achieve short and long-term goals and improve their current work performance.

An individual development plan can be used to develop a better understanding of each team member’s professional and personal goals and objectives, including strengths and areas in which everyone wants to improve.

This shows employees that the organization is seriously investing in them as individuals and puts everyone on the same level to achieve personalized goals.

Improving the efficiency of a Team: Use feedback as a mini-mentoring tool

Effective leaders understand the power of feedback and use it to offer constructive criticism and positive recognition, removing any doubts or negative thoughts of the employee and communicating how an individual’s behavior aligns with the company’s results.

Through feedback, a leader can drive an employee away unwanted behavior and cement positive thinking and behavior that leads to personal and professional excellence.

Feedback sessions should be two-way conversations in which the employee can ask questions and raise concerns. You can use this article on how to get feedback from the project team.

If team members are afraid to ask a question, this is a warning signal of a big problem.

It is therefore important that the manager makes sure to be transparent and open in his approach so that both sides get the most out of the “mini-mentoring” session.

Improving the efficiency of a Team: Step out – from time to time – from the work routine

Just sitting at a desk in the office all day or chatting with clients for long periods of time, day after day, can undoubtedly become boring and routinary.

So the manager can surprise his team by holding the next meeting outside the company, perhaps in his favourite restaurant for lunch or in a meeting room in a building surrounded by greenery.

Also, many American companies have introduced the “Casual Friday“. On this day, employees are not required to follow the normal dress code in the office and may freely wear Hawaiian shirts, flip-flops, shorts, etc.

This will make the team members extremely productive during the day, but also during the following working days, since they should be well rested, refreshed and more than ready to face projects with new vitality.

 

The working environment could also improve the efficiency of the team. There are many companies that have left it to their teams to decorate and make the look of their office to their liking.

To ensure that these implementations last for a long time and that they actually lead to an improvement in team efficiency, it is crucial that they are implemented regularly and become an integral part of the organization.

Before we begin the discussion on the various leadership models, it is essential that leadership, as a concept in itself, is explained and defined.

There is a difference between leader development and leadership development. Leadership development takes place at the individual level and focuses on developing an individual’s ability to learn from experience to integrate it into the practice of leading an organization.

Unlike leader development, leadership development takes place at the organizational level and covers the entire organization by creating significant connections with stakeholders and other external resources.

The effects of leadership create an economic and competitive advantage for an organization.

In short, leadership development is a continuous, holistic process that occurs throughout the entire organization, while leadership development focuses on improving and developing the capabilities of the leader alone.

Let’s see some leadership models and compare them.

Leadership models: genuine leadership

A genuine leader is someone who is aware of their values and who acts and leads accordingly.

The genuine leadership model includes four factors:

• Self-consciousness,
• Relational transparency,
• Balanced processing,
• Morality

A genuine leader is someone with high self-awareness who understands their strengths and weaknesses and is aware of their impact on others.

Self-awareness means that the leader acquires self-awareness through interaction with others.

Relational transparency means that the leader is willing to communicate openly about their followers’ feelings and thoughts.

Balanced processing refers to the approach of using objective data to make final decisions.

Finally, morality allows the leader to self-regulate their behaviour by withstanding social and group pressures.

Leadership models: Situational leadership

Although this leadership model is popular and widely used in organizations, it has not actually been thoroughly explored.

Unlike genuine leadership, situational leadership emphasizes adaptation to the level of employee readiness to perform certain tasks, which depends on the willingness and competence of team members.

Therefore, as each employee differs in their availability and skills, the leader should adapt their leadership style accordingly.

The situational leadership model is structured in three situational factors:

• The level of direction of the task by the leader,
• The relationship between the leader and the employee,
• The expertise and trust of the employee.

Leadership models: Servant leadership

This is a leadership model in which the leader should overcome their ego by addressing the needs of their employees.

As stated by the “servant leadership” concept, the needs of employees become more important than the needs of the leader and therefore the leader “serves” employees to help them achieve success and meet their personal and professional needs.

The servant leader can reach the point of self-sacrificing behavior for the sake of employee happiness and well-being.

Leadership models: holistic leadership

An emerging model of leadership is the holistic approach that takes multiple aspects into account.

According to Schein, the dynamic and changing lifecycle of organizations requires four leadership roles that will help the leader manage the complexity and dynamics of organizations.

These four elements are:

• The role of animator, where the leader should convey energy and enthusiasm to his employees.
• The capacity of the leader to build the organizational culture by hiring employees with similar ways of thinking and exhibiting behaviors in line with the values and cultural characteristics of the company.
• The third role of the leader is to support culture, which means that the success of culture is preserved if change and growth are promoted. Therefore, leaders may need to adapt their leadership to the evolving identity of the organization..
• The fourth role is the leader as a agent of change. Psychologically, leaders must possess the emotional stability to create a safe environment for employees during the change process in order to reduce anxiety and resistance to change.

In this model, leadership is not about being the individual at the top of the hierarchy and in control of subordinates, rather it is about promoting humanistic values and methods of practice.

The holistic view of leadership enables organizations to be better prepared to solve problems by considering the interconnection of external networks, the different opinions expressed and embracing complexity as a whole.

In short, the role of the holistic leader is not limited to guiding the organization internally, but also extends to various roles that facilitate complex problem solving and effective implementation and adaptation to change.

Leadership models: charismatic leadership

A highly charismatic leader has a strong need to influence others, possesses a strong and firm belief in himself and his values, has the ability to inspire a high need for success in his employees, and has the capability to show competence through the articulation of potential rather than actual achievements.

The skill of the charismatic leader lies in imagining and inspiring employees and facilitating commitment by giving the impression that they – and the mission they follow – are extraordinary.

However, charisma as the only trait of leadership may not be enough to face a given situation adequately.

As a result, the charismatic trait of leadership can be treated as part of a leader, but not the only one.

Combination of multiple leadership models for greater success

Ultimately, best leadership practice derives from the synthesis of several positive aspects of different leadership models in order to maximize the effectiveness of each of them.

The best leadership effects can be achieved if the leader is open to different nuances and strengths of different leadership models instead of being limited to just one.

Furthermore, leadership practice should be collaborative and collective, facilitating mutual and 2-way communication because the leader can also learn from their team members or peers.

There are several situational and environmental factors of which the leader may not be aware but which others who collaborate with him or her are able to observe and share.

In these circumstances, it is very important that the leader is willing to listen to their employees and learn from their opinions to see reality with different perspectives.

Knowing how to estimate the resources required to carry out a project is never the simplest of tasks.

Resources are people, equipment, places, money or anything else a project needs to be executed.

As a result, resources must be allocated for each activity on the to-do list.

Before you can assign resources to the project, however, you need to know their availability.

Some resources need to be scheduled in advance and may only be available at certain times or times – for example, a meeting room or a rented office.

It is therefore essential to know this before you can finish programming a project.

Resource estimation

The objective of the resource estimate is to allocate the necessary resources to each activity on the list.

There are five tools and techniques for estimating activity resources:

• The judgement of experts: this means involving experts who have already performed this type of work before and obtaining opinions on what resources are needed.
• Alternative analysis: this means considering different options on how to allocate resources. This includes changing the number of resources and the type of resources used. Many times, there is more than one way to perform a task, and alternative analysis helps you decide between different possibilities.
• Published estimation data: something that project managers in many industries use to understand how many resources they need for a specific project. These are based on articles, research and studies that collect, analyze and publish data from other people and organizations’ projects.
• Project management software: these often feature functions designed to help project managers estimate resource needs and constraints and find the best combination for the project in question.
• The bottom-up estimate: this means splitting complex tasks into simpler tasks and processing the resources needed for each small step. The need or cost of the resources of the individual tasks is then added together to obtain a total estimate. The smaller and more detailed the task, the greater the accuracy of this technique.

In another article we already talked about project estimation techniques.

 Estimation of activities’ duration

Once you have finished estimating resources per activity, you have everything you need to understand how long it will take to complete each activity.

Estimating the duration of a task means starting with information about that specific task and then working with the project team to develop a time estimate.

Most of the time you will start with a rough estimate and then refine it.

When you talk about estimating project time, you may have already heard of effort. If you’re interested in learning more about it, you can check this article about effort and duration.

Here are the five tools and techniques to create more accurate durability estimates:

• The evaluation of the experts that will come from the members of the project team who are familiar with the work that needs to be done.
• The equivalent estimate, i.e. when looking at similar activities from previous projects and how much time they took.
• Parametric Estimation, i.e. linking the project data into a formula that provides an estimation.
• The three-point estimate, i.e. when three numbers come up: a realistic estimate that is more likely to occur, an optimistic estimate that represents the best scenario and a pessimistic estimate that represents the worst scenario. The final estimate is the weighted average of the three.
• The Back-up Analysis, i.e. adding extra time to the program (called emergency reserve or buffer) to take account of additional risk.

Activity duration estimates are a quantitative measure usually expressed in hours, weeks, days or months.

Another thing to keep in mind when estimating activity duration is to determine the effort required.

Duration is the amount of time an activity takes, while effort is the total number of people-hours required.

If, for example, two people work a total of 6 hours (3 hours one and 3 hours the other) to complete an activity, the duration is six hours. However, if these two people worked the whole time (simultaneously, for 6 hours), the duration would be 12 hours.

Project planning and critical roadmap

The project program must be approved and signed by the stakeholders and functional managers.

This ensures that everyone is familiar with the program, including dates and resource commitments.

In addition, (written) confirmation will be required that resources will be available as indicated in the planning.

Once approved, the program will become the baseline for the rest of the project.

The progress of the project and the completion of activities will be monitored compared to project planning to determine if the project is running as planned.

A delay in any of the activities in the critical roadmap will delay the entire project.

Resource equalization

Resource equalization is used to examine and resolve the unequal use of resources, usually related to people or equipment, over time.

During the execution of project planning, the project manager will attempt to plan certain activities simultaneously.

As the project progresses, however, there are situations where more resources – such as equipment or people – may be needed than are available and planned.

The project manager will attempt to schedule certain tasks at the same time as the project is progressing.

When using project software, resource equalization can take place automatically, allowing the software to calculate delays and automatically update tasks.

The project manager offers several tools for the development of good quantitative information, based on numbers and measurements, such as project schedules, financial and budget reports, risk analysis and objective monitoring.

This quantitative information is essential to understand the current status and trends of a project.

Likewise important is the development of qualitative information, such as judgement made by team members.

In conclusion, regardless of project size or budget, estimating activities can be a challenging task.

To create a feasible budget, the project manager needs to know their team, results, activities, and processes in detail.

In addition, he or she should feel comfortable asking the correct questions to stakeholders.