Encouraging Positive Energy in Project Management
Encouraging Positive Energy in Project Management
By Michelle Symonds
A positive team is a productive team. As a project manager, there are many different roles and tasks you must undertake. One of these is creating a positive working environment for yourself and all other members of your team. By doing so, you are increasing the chances of project success, reducing the likelihood of problems and potentially cutting the length of time it takes to project completion. If you have ever attended any project management training, you will know that one of the things you will be taught is how to transfer positivity to your team. Here are some tips for creating positive energy in project management.
- Be positive yourself
Every aspect of project management requires you to lead by example. Your employees will look at the way you behave and take their lead from this as you are their role model. If you are negative, this will create a negative atmosphere for the whole team. On the other hand, if you come across as positive to others, this will impact on their individual attitude and behavior.
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Celebrate success
There is nothing worse than working really hard on something and then your efforts going unnoticed. Staff will soon become demotivated and less productive as they will feel very negative about work. Instead, recognize the efforts, achievements and strengths of each individual member of the team. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to say ‘thank you’ or ‘well done’. Having their work recognized and knowing it is appreciated will raise positivity levels amongst the team. In turn, this will increase productivity and create a happier working environment.
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Avoid the blame culture
Sometimes mistakes are made or things go wrong. You need to know the cause of the problem to work out the best way of fixing things. However, you should not look to place blame on individuals. This only leads to negativity. Instead, focus on finding ways to prevent the problem from happening again.
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Take a flexible approach
Just because your project management framework suggests that something needs to be completed in a particular way, does not mean that always has to be the case. This is guidance only, not a rigid formula for success. Allowing people a little flexibility in the way they work may suit their working style more and they will feel much more positive about the project. Insisting on a rigid way of working may stifle people and make them feel negative about the process.
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Be a solution finder
For every problem, there is a solution. Focusing on the problem itself can lead to negative energy. Instead, it is important to focus more on any potential solutions. You should encourage every member of the team to take the same approach.
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Build strong relations
Relations and communication in the workplace are key to creating positive energy. Of course, not everybody will like each other personally, but effort should still be made to develop strong professional relations in the workplace. Focus on people’s strengths and encourage your colleagues to recognize these in each other.
To find out more about creating a positive working environment or any other aspect of leading a team, project management training courses may be a good solution for you. They are a great way to learn new skills, find out what factors contribute to a successful project and progress in your chosen career and become a successful PM.
Michelle Symonds is a qualified PRINCE2 Project Manager and believes that the right project management training can transform a good project manager into a great project manager and is essential for a successful outcome to any project.
There is a wide range of formal and informal training courses now available that include online learning and podcasts as well as more traditional classroom courses from organizations such as Parallel Project Training.