When anxiety is a good thing on projects

1

Your presenter is:Alison Sigmon, M.Ed., LPC, PMP

When Anxiety is a Good Thing on Projects

Using anxiety as a motivator to get things done

What’s on tap for our time together today…

2

Cost of failure of projects (revisited)

Anxiety – Positive, negative, & the hooks that guide and influence us

What (or who) creates it

Anxiety as a motivator

Mind the line

Tips, best practices to leverage anxiety so it doesn’t leverage you

Wrap it up!

3

Tons of time, training, and money have been invested in ensuring project management processes are in place and people know how to

use them. And yet projects still fail.

• A study reviewed 10,640 projects from 200 companies in 30 countries

found only 2.5% of the companies successfully completed 100% of their projects.

• A separate study analyzed 1,471 IT projects and found the average overrun was 27%, but 1:6 projects

had a cost overrun of 200% and a schedule overrun of 70%.

Source: http://gmj.gallup.com/content/152429/cost-bad-project-management.aspx

Cost of failure of projects

4

There are a variety of reasons this happens on the functional side and behavioral side of project management.

Today we’ll focus on the behavioral side because if we address that then most of the time the functional side will fall into place.

5

Project management is all about deadlines, deliverables, cost, and happy customers.

But with numbers like these it

might seem impossible to get ahead.

To avoid being the stressed out, anxiety-ridden project manager, it’s important to know how to use anxiety instead of it using you.

Something to worry about

6

Anxiety…Smooth survivor or

sneaky saboteur

Upside and downside of anxiety…

7

Two types of anxiety…Positive Anxiety and Negative Anxiety

Positive anxiety is experienced when real danger is imminent & response is needed.

Negative anxiety responds to fears that live in our imagination.

The first one is good because it’s a motivator that helps us get away from danger. The second blocks and prevents us from being effective and productive.

Negative anxiety is rooted in past experience, orientation, and unclear requirements.

Making associations…

8

Hooks guide our behaviorWhen something is important to us, our limbic brain produces an emotional response long before our rational brain kicks in.

Whatever the situation, good or bad, the brain repeats the same response to the same stimulus. A scent, a sound, a touch, an action made by someone can be triggers for anxiety.

You can literally live the past all over again because those events get "hooked" to memories that activate every time something makes you remember.

Before you know it, you can sound like an former boss or even a parent!

Anxiety as a powerful motivator

9

Enjoy riding the ragged edge of discomfort

• Create new “hooks” with positive experiences

• Focus the team• Coach and encourage throughout• Tap energy reserves• Generate passion & connection• More willing to challenge to get the

best solution• Courage to speak up• Push through things that create fear• Imagine (and act on) possibilities• Determination to overcome past

failures• Manage the frequency you use “push”

techniques

10

When it’s not a motivator – becoming undone…

If we don’t manage or overcome the fear-based negative anxiety, we risk being unable to live in the present and work effectively with others. We’re either constantly anticipating and projecting into the future or reliving the past guilt, regret, resentment, etc.

Teams can experience this too. What causes it? • Leadership style• Unrelenting pressure• Unrealistic expectations• Never getting a “win”• Poorly defined scope• Underdeveloped skills• Unclear objectives• Lack of understanding of how the project supports the organization• Poor or unrealistic time and productivity expectations• Organizational culture• Wishful thinking

11

Wishful thinking? Yep, even in business

In several studies, researchers found that tasks always take longer than expected.

We basically tend to underestimate in response to a kind of “wishful thinking” approach.

When overloaded with work, people tend to feel guilty so they push themselves.

This can be positive, but there is a tipping point.

Benefits of anxiety

Studies have established that anxiety can be beneficial not only for survival but also in business.

“Those with anxiety are dependable; they worry enough to accomplish assigned tasks.”

There is a clear advantage to having anxiety on projects. Anxiety can create an edge and urgency needed to generate innovation and effective change. Complacency can cause lack of growth or business decline. When used well, project managers need to have just enough anxiety to make good decisions and

seek out opportunity. But there’s a catch…

13

Manage yourself to successfully manage others

For it to be leveraged, you got to know a few things first

14

Productive anxiety• Get clear on project priorities• Connect project to business priorities• Understand sponsor needs• Get a handle of skill strengths and weakness• Use “push” behaviors but watch the frequency

But here comes the biggie…

Style!!!

(And you might just have to go a little deep…)

Things to watch…

15

Style matters especially when leveraging anxiety

Trickle down effect…

Emotions leak: Project managers must be self-aware to prevent projecting counterproductive thoughts and actions on the group. Untended emotions can spillover to the team &impact performance.

Sources of conflict: Need for and support of significance/contribution, authority, attraction, intimacy, dependence, autonomy, change, power, control, loss. Needs not met create negative anxiety. You have to define what and how.

Blind spots revealed: Being aware of your shortcomings can keep you (and the team) safe from rogue waves.

16

Bottom line…Watch what you’re putting out there because you’re likely to get it back

Studies have shown that your own anxiety is often placed on those you manage which can quickly turn positive anxiety into negative anxiety.

17

Short term gain, long term loss

An unaware leadership style that uses coercion, intimidation, oppression, bullying, threats, and playground tactics can have short term gains but will experience long term loss.

Lack of understanding, alignment, clarity, realistic expectations on projects will create a near constant high state of tension among team members.

Eventually this kind of environment will generate confusion, uncertainty, fear, and sense of helplessness that can cripple team performance and productivity.

Such conditions provoke defense mechanisms such as intellectualization, denial, finger pointing, passive aggressiveness, or withdrawal.

18

Avoid being the Boy Who Cried Wolf, Chicken Little, or Eeyore

False starts

Need everything RIGHT NOW!

Doom and gloom

When anxiety is pushed too far

19

What I call “push behaviors” can motivate through positive anxiety. If overused they become ineffective and create negative anxiety. Consider frequency to manage the tipping point.

When overused it becomes…• Everything is urgent and has to be done

right, right now • Demand status reports before they are due• Yells when the team hasn’t begun the next

phase when they are on time with the current phase

• Constantly complains that if the project doesn’t flow better the project will fail

• Threaten to fire teams or individuals without reason.

• Pits team members against each other in an effort to squeeze more productivity out of them even when they are already constrained

The hair on fire PM trap

20

Short term gain, long term loss

How can a PM turn this

around?

Got to learn how to walk before you can run.

21

Focusing anxiety while minding the line

Hot tips, best practice

22

What are you feeling? Pick the right tool for the

right job…

Okay, we get it so NOW what

23

Feel lost? Try some risk management

Feel all is lost for your project? Take a look at your risk management process. Help yourself and your team by appointing a risk management monitors to deliver, prioritize, and report on the current state at regular intervals.

24

Feel tense? Keep them busy doing the right work at the right time

Stakeholders feel they are doing meaningful work

Don’t just let them passively review work complete

Keep the stakeholders focused and actively involved throughout the project

Leverage anxiety by reminding them of priorities & don’t let the sand shift so much

25

Feeling unsure? Get SMART

Get clear on your goal posts for the project

Measure for project performance not operational benefit

Use structureExample of an Objective…To create a database that captures and tracks to 99.9 percent accuracy all issues and actions taken on behalf of our customers. It will be accessible to anyone with customer contact and will be operational on 30 July 20XX.

26

Talk early and often before you “step in it”

• Be open

• Be clear – roles, responsibilities, expectations, communication method & frequency

• Give templates

• Set expectations

• Talk regularly

Feel unclear? Give them something to talk about

27

Not feeling confident? Talk to yourself & to someone you trust

Keep a journal

Use a coach

Connect with peers

Take some training

Take some time for yourself

28

Projects fail for a variety of reasons but behavioral interventions can help

Anxiety can make or break a project

Your style heavily influences productivity and performance

Scale “push behaviors” to not overuse

It starts with you. Manage yourself to effectively manage others

Tools and skills are there but you gotta use them

Questions???

Wrapping it up

Thank you!

Alison Sigmon, M.Ed, LPC, PMP

[email protected]

Twitter @alisonsigmon

www.slideshare.net/ahsigmon

29