Month: September 2017

As a project manager, I’m fortunate to work with diverse teams. This means that the team members have differences, such as ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, professional experiences, and so on. The fact that the individuals look at opportunities and problems based on their unique perspectives, creates an environment that is filled with creativity and innovation.

Learning to Accept Others

The first step to creating a diverse workforce is to have an open-mind. There are far too many leaders and managers who prefer to work with people who think like they do. The problem with this approach is that the backgrounds and experiences of the individuals are similar, which means that they are looking at the situation in a similar way. The solutions derived from a homogenous team are often limited in depth. This occurs because consensus-building happens quickly, given the people think nearly alike.

I’ve been fortunate to work with managers who are open to having diverse teams. In fact, most of them are merely looking to assemble a qualified team, and it just so happens that diversity occurs naturally. However, managers must take an intentional approach to creating teams that are composed of people with different backgrounds and perspectives. It’s not enough to hope that diversity is the end-result of the team formation process.

My Scrum Coaching Example

While attending a Scrum coaching conference in San Diego, the participants were assigned to teams of 6 people. Our group was tasked with learning more about the project management concepts of Scrum and Waterfall. To make our name catchy, we called the topic “Scrum Fall.” Waterfall is an approach to managing predictive projects, such as swimming pool construction, planning an annual conference, and so on. Differently, Scrum is an Agile framework dedicated to unpredictable projects, such as software development.

Our team was composed of four women and two men, and the nationalities included Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic, and Indian. The first step was to determine the process by which our team would present the results to all the participants. As a college professor, presentations generally mean that a PowerPoint approach is best. However, the Indian female team member suggested that we use an engaging skit. The young Caucasian participant, who makes many presentations for her company, recommended that we use clear examples. The Asian male on our team reinforced the importance of including clear literature to support our stance. Even though our team was diverse based on ethnicity, the input was based largely on work experience. By working together, we delivered an excellent presentation on the final day of the class. We worked together for two days, and some folks from the audience commented that they could feel the synergy we had as a team.

Creating high-performance teams is far from easy. When running projects, my job is to find the right people to do the right work at the right time, and for these individuals to make the right decisions. Given that so much of the work performed today is complex, it’s important to have teams who can look at the situation from unique perspectives. To reinforce a point made earlier, let’s make sure to have an open mind when staffing teams. The focus must be on performance, and diverse teams oftentimes have the aptitude to deliver excellent results.

As a project manager, I’m fortunate to work with diverse teams. This means that the team members have differences, such as ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, professional experiences, and so on. The fact that the individuals look at opportunities and problems based on their unique perspectives, creates an environment that is filled with creativity and innovation.

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On a recent flight from Houston Bush to San Antonio, I was fortunate to receive an upgrade to First Class. I know it probably sounds cool that I was bumped to the front cabin, but the reality is that the flight is only about 30 minutes long. Regardless, the seats are more comfortable, and we generally are offered a pre-flight drink, which includes any of the available cocktails.

The Flight Attendant

The flight attendant working the First Class cabin was young, definitely not 25 yet. There were only 12 passengers for her to service, so she had ample time to take the pre-flight drink orders. After jotting down what we wanted, she made her way to the galley, and we were looking forward to our drinks. Abruptly, however, she came back to the cabin and noted the following: “I will not be able to provide the drinks because we’re getting ready to taxi here in a bit. I will provide your drinks while in the air.”

Interestingly, the plane didn’t move for another 10 minutes, which means she had time to serve the beverages. I could tell that she lacked experience, but decided to stay quiet. We would, after all, get our drinks once airborne. It was a 6 pm flight, and many of us were looking forward to our cocktails.

Second Try

Shortly after getting to our cruising altitude, the flight attendant approached all the passengers again to re-take the drink orders. I suppose that most of had the same requests as when we were on the ground. I mentioned earlier that we had 12 passengers, which means four rows of three. I was in Seat 3A, which on this aircraft is the single side of the third row. The drinks were provided to the first two rows, and my row was next. It was our turn!

Not so fast!

The novice attendant came out of the galley hurriedly, and informed the First Class passengers that she needed to terminate the service because we were close to landing. Those of us in rows three and four were stunned! To make matters worse, she informed the folks in the first two rows that she needed to pick up the drinks. An older gentleman in Seat 2B had to give up his cold beer, even though the glass was more than half-full.

The Economy Cabin

The two veteran flight attendants working the Economy cabin had time to serve water to the 100+ passengers. They even made the following announcement: “For those of you in Economy and Economy Plus, please note we’re serving water. However, if you would like an alcoholic beverage, please lower your tray table, and we’ll do what we can to get it to you. We accept all major credit cards.” The flight attendants continued to work the back cabin for another 15 minutes after our attendant called it a day.

I was finally able to get in touch with one of the experienced flight attendants, and expressed our dissatisfaction. She was concerned with the situation, and had a 5-minute discussion with the young lady working our cabin. Even after this talk, she offered to get drinks for us, but we weren’t in the mood anymore. We wanted to get home!
I want you to know that I’m not upset at the young flight attendant. There’s no doubt she lacked the necessary experience to work alone. Therefore, the lesson here is to make sure our employees have the proper training to do the assigned work. It’s best to have them work with an experienced person before they go out on their own.

When I made it home, my teenage son and I went to In-N-Out Burger, and I ordered the #1 with a Diet Coke! I even went back to refill it! Good stuff!

When working as an IT Staff Analyst for a major insurance and investment company one of my duties included collecting budget data from several managers. The managers were often busy with meetings, which meant that I would approach leads to see if they could supply the information. The numbers I needed were operational in nature, which meant that most people in the department had access to them. However, when I asked the non-managers for assistance, in most cases I was told that I had to wait for the manager to provide it. They made it clear that since this item was not in their job description, they weren’t going to help me.

I understand that people are busy, and they have the right to tell me to go fly a kite. However, I know that top performers are going to do what is possible to provide the assistance that I need. In the example noted above, the information would take about 10 minutes to secure. Unfortunately, when the manager was busy, no one was available to help me.

Focus on Solving Problems

I once attended a professional development seminar, and the speaker made a comment that has stuck with me. He said, “The reason we’re hired to work in any company is to solve problems. If you want to increase the amount of money you earn, figure out a way to solve bigger problems.” While this advice is simple, it makes a ton of sense. In my first job out of college, I was hired at Shell Oil Company as a Revenue Accountant. I spent most of my data updating oil and gas lease accounts. The work was straightforward, and once I learned the process, I could do it in my sleep. Given that the problems I was solving could be handled by any other entry level worker, the pay was average.

My goal was to become a meaningful participant for the organizations where I worked. I knew that becoming a subject matter expert (SME) was going to make a big difference in the hourly rate I could charge. As I improved my skills, and solved higher level problems for my clients, the compensation improved. Of course, it’s important to know that big problems require a significant investment in time, and they carry more risk. By taking the lead in these situations, the person is going to be on the radar. It’s imperative that we find the best possible solution given the factors that are present.

Work is What Matters

I’ve had the opportunity to work with high-performers, and I find that they are focused on getting the work done. If someone approaches them for assistance, they will either take care of the request, or they will find the right person to resolve it. These individuals do not complain about the extra effort, as they know that meeting the requirements is essential, even if the issue is minor. The key point here is that company leaders know who are the take-charge people in the organization, and they will make sure to consider these individuals when advancement opportunities arise.

I’m often surprised to see that very few people care about providing top-notch customer service. It seems like all the energy is put into making the sale, and little to no effort is made in helping the customer once the product or service is delivered.

The Pool Example
A few years ago, we decided to build a swimming pool for our home. Given that we live in Texas, the pool comes in handy because at least half the year we experience warm temperatures. My wife and I spent a month or so getting proposals from pool companies, and eventually settled on one that offered the best package for the features we wanted.

Setting up the appointment with the architect was fast. In fact, they called us to make sure we could make the meeting. When we arrived, they had the simulation program fired up. Once we shared the items we wanted, the program would visually display them on a large TV screen mounted on the wall. It was cool to see the result based on the requirements we provided.

The contract called for us to pay in increments based on when milestones were met, such as when the plumbing and foundation were complete. We were assigned a project manager, Miguel, and he was at the house often. When he wanted to chat with us, he would arrive at the house at 7:00 a.m. to make sure he could find us. He asked for us to text him any time during the day, including weekends. When we did text with a question, a reply usually came within minutes. He was super-interested in making us happy.

The pool was complete only a couple weeks late, and this was due to big rains we had in San Antonio. We made the final payment, and it was now time to use the pool. For the next few months, the pool worked as promised – no problems. However, in September, the weather turned a little cold (like 80 degrees, which is considered cold in Texas), and we decided to heat the pool. Unfortunately, the heater was failing to work. In fact, we noticed a gas smell when the unit was triggered.

I called the project manager and other representatives from the pool company, and getting a call-back was nearly impossible. When I did reach the intended person, I was told that the problem was likely unrelated to their work. They asked me to call a plumber, and if that didn’t solve the issue, I should contact the electrical company. In other words, I was getting the run-around. It was obvious that once they received the final payment, they moved on to other customers who were ready to cut checks.

The Lesson
I understand that there is eagerness in making the sale; the excitement is obvious. However, I also know that companies who are focused on keeping the customer happy even after the product or serviced is delivered, are more likely to dominate the market. The pool company I described here was just so-so with follow-up work, but they are still in business. I wonder how much better they might perform if they were just as good with ongoing customer support as they were when trying to make the sale.