Project Managers are more than Process Managers

Project Managers more or less have two major tasks: managing process and managing people. University project management courses teach us how to manage process, but skim over managing peoples emotional state.

In my first role as project leader I felt prepared to lead my team for the project duration, I was not entirely ready for the role I would play as a mental coach.

When our project started, one of first things I noticed was anxiety and apprehension from both of the junior developers I was managing. At first I thought it was just their nerves and thought it would eventually pass. After quizzing their apprehension, both were anxious about having to put their skills to the test. What happens if they don’t cut it? What happens if they fail in their expected duties?

I spent the first few weeks constantly communicating how excited I was and how we were going to “smash it”. This seemed to rub off and was all that was needed in the initial stages of the project to keep the team motivated.

Morale and output was at its highest when the team brain stormed together or after small quick wins. Then I started noticing the highs and lows were becoming more frequent. This worried me so I stopped the team one morning and explained that although we don't want people to deflate the room with their negative attitude, it was important to know how they were feeling. This would give us the opportunity to feed off the energy of those who were on the up, and respond to those on the low.

It was about now I researched on the internet project and emotional state issues and it turns out tech has a real depression problem. Startups and their staff often experience exhilarating highs and debilitating lows. When the highs and lows become frequent there is a real risk of suicide. The problem is that we don’t like to talk about it. We seem to link a persons mental state with their ability or quality of work. If their mental state is not ideal, then so too must their output be.

I decided to take an extra step towards managing moral by mandating morning coffee chats before we started our work to talk about how we were feeling. By understanding where everybody's head is at, we can make adjustments to work load, re-adjust expectations, break down goals into smaller wins that can be ticked off daily and peer program when needed.

People are more motivated when their goals or task completion are attainable and frequent. Setting small goals that can be reached quickly allows a user to feel like they are accomplishing something. When tasks drag on, it is easy to lose motivation as the task end seems so far away or feels unreachable.

I now set expectations around communicating how we feel and look forward to the morning coffee chat before we start work. It is a great place to do most of your mood moderating and makes for a more inclusive and satisfying work space.

What are the small things you do to motivate and lift team morale?