The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.
—Carl Jung
You are not alone. As a project manager you need to work through people, so you need to grow up your relationships step by step. Establishing and creating relationships is like planting seeds in a garden. But what is necessary for your plants to grow up? You need to feed up them, add water, fertilize, and place where they receive some sunlight. Then it happens the same with your relationships; the point is not only to establish them, you need to maintain and sustain them through periodical contact.
You need insight into what is the chemical substance that helps you to get a positive reaction among people. You can attract people; your charismatic skills are there but you need to wake up them, perhaps to improve them. In the book The Complete Project Manager (Englund and Bucero 2014), some best practices are suggested about improving your charisma, and your personal and professional influence skills. For instance, if you want to influence somebody help him or her to achieve one of their objectives. That way your relationships will grow up more and more. In this chapter, I will be sharing with you some aspects to be considered to increase and get your relationships growing up; but you are responsible to get it done, and it is up to you to dedicate time and effort to follow through the steps I am proposing you.
Take Care of Your Contacts
Ever notice how moving forward in your career comes down to networking? The importance of career networking shouldn’t be discounted when you are in the midst of a job search. In fact, career networking should become a part of your daily work and career-related endeavors.1 Your career network should be in place for when you need it, both for job searching and for moving along the career ladder. Since you never know when you might need it, it makes sense to have an active career network, even if you don’t need it today. That makes all those business cards you have collected and “LinkedIn connections” you have made extremely important. If you are not present in social media on the 21st century, as a business person or as a practitioner, you do not exist. The tricky part, however, is keeping in touch with your network of former colleagues and clients in a genuine way, so you don’t come off as self-serving or stalker-like.
Part of it means maintaining some level of regular contact, so you’re never in a position where it’s been years since you’ve connected, and suddenly, in the middle of a job hunt, you have to send a sheepish “remember me?” e-mail. The rest is all about reaching out in an appropriate way depending on your relationship with your contact, so you strengthen your connections and can tap them for help when you need it. Let these tips show you how to walk the line between authentic and opportunistic.
I proposed some best practices:
1. Reach out on social media:
Finally, a legit reason to spend time on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram during the workday: These and other social media sites allow you to get your name in front of old and new connections in an unobtrusive way. As you scroll through your feed, keep an eye out for profile updates or posts from your connections that announce a promotion, new company direction, or a career milestone. Craft a very short post congratulating them on their achievement, along the lines of “so excited for you” or “way to go!” At a loss for words? just hit the “like” button.
Cheering on your contacts on social media lets them know you stand behind them.2 Yet you’re not asking them for anything in return and there’s no expectation of a reply. They see your name, and that puts you on their radar. You’ll also be noticed by their own contacts and that recognition can pay off down the road.
2. Schedule regular check-ins
For closer contacts, like a former mentor or key client you have worked with many times, I suggest you don’t wait for them to post something online; some people just don’t participate in social media that way. Instead, take the initiative by sending them a regular e-mail or message, say, every 60 days or once per quarter. The note doesn’t have to be anything more than, “How’s it going?” or an “I saw this article and thought of you” message with a link to an industry publication. The goal is to check in and get your name on their screen in a friendly, casual way.
And though it sounds a little impersonal, make it even easier to check in by using an app like “Contactually or Refer.com.” Both track your contacts and prompt you to reach out based on time intervals you set. Refer.com even drafts the actual text of the message for you, based on the relationship level you have with that person, so you don’t waste time searching for the right words.
3. Plan small get-together
Arranging for a face-to-face catchup with each contact individually is an impractical time suck. The solution: Set up small gatherings for a handful of people who all know each other. This way your crew of former coworkers from a past workplace, for example, can get together for a lunch or happy-hour outing. The group get-together works for a few reasons. First, it saves everyone time and energy. Second, you avoid the discomfort that sometimes happens when you are sitting across the table with one contact you have not seen in a while and no longer have much to talk about. A good practice is to take a new initiative or project inviting some volunteers to participate. I usually do that activity in my PMI local chapter. That way I have the opportunity to meet members from your professional association that you never met before.
4. Show your gratitude
Arranging for a face-to-face catchup with each contact individually is an impractical time suck. If one of your contacts taught you a valuable career lesson or helped you resolve a tricky issue, show your appreciation by sending them a note. Handwritten note always comes off as more personal and meaningful. But in today’s digitally connected world, an e-mail or social media post can be appropriate as well.
Do not worry if they did their good deed a while ago; there’s no expiration date when it comes to praise. I think people appreciate follow-up and kudos whenever they come, even if it’s months after the fact. You could write something like, “Thanks so much to @ englund for the great advice on blogging a few months ago.”
If someone went above and beyond, say they helped you land a new job or client, consider sending an actual gift such as a book on their favorite subject or just a note or letter of appreciation. It’s a way to acknowledge them and say thank you. (Bucero 2010).
5. Share your talent
Offering to do a business-related favor—for example, arrange an e-mail introduction with an industry leader you know, or posting a Facebook link to a contact’s latest podcast—conveys generosity. Most people tend to wait to network until they need something rather than reaching out authentically and genuinely. Instead, take the initiative and offer to help.
Get the ball rolling by asking, “Tell me, who is your ideal client? I may know some people you should meet,”. Or, “What kind of investors are you looking to get on board? I’d like more clarity in case I come across an opportunity for you.” Offering an assist will give you a rep as someone who is positive and wants others to thrive.
6. Always update your contact list
Just do not wrap up something with your company logo on it. “That is not a gift—it is a promotional item.” People get promoted, marry, move away, and switch specialties all the time. Keep up with all the shifts by creating a Google doc or spreadsheet that lists all your contacts by name and includes what they do and how you met—and update it every time something changes. By the same token, make sure any page or site that lists your professional details—your job title, company name, and contact information—also reflects your current responsibilities, so people can easily reach you and get an accurate sense of what you have done in your career and currently do.
Staying close to business contacts means knowing when to back off. “If a colleague is really overwhelmed, it’s a nice gesture to periodically send them an e-mail or leave a voice message and add, ‘No need to respond.’” This shows a lot of respect for their schedule, because they may be too busy to get back to you and likely feel guilty about it. It frees them up and lets them know you simply want to check in and show that you care.
But what if you have reached out several times and continue to hear crickets? Only follow-up again if you have a good reason. People are busy, so it would be foolish to write someone off if you did not hear back from them once or twice, they could be traveling or having personal issues that make it difficult to respond.
At the same time, you have to accept that you might have been dumped from their network. If they ignore three messages sent over a span of time, especially if you have particular questions in your notes, then you can assume they do not want to keep up with you. Do not sweat it—just move on.
Try to Be Invited to Other Business Unit Meetings
As a project manager you need to establish, maintain, and sustain relationships with your colleagues, peers, and other project stakeholders. One of my best practices is trying to be invited to other business meetings (Englund and Bucero 2012). That way you may learn about other business pains and issues. You as a project manager need to know about it because perhaps some people from other businesses will be assigned to the project you need to manage.
Let me give you an example. I looked to be invited to sales meetings in order to explain the sales people how to sell better solutions to customers (Figure 6.1). I proposed my initiatives and ideas to sales people but I also listened to their worries and sales targets. Mutual understanding was key to move forward and selling more and more successful projects; that way they were selling more and more and it was their sales department objective. Other example was getting invited to the support department meetings. I worked for the project and consulting services department. We designed customer solutions projects but obviously those solutions needed to be supported by the support people. To be involved more and more with support department was really great because every designed solution from my department, before being sold, was tested to be feasible in order to be well supported. What was the result? To sell more solutions and support contracts.
Figure 6.1 Business unit meetings
For many years of my life as a project manager, I worked for multinational organizations. Most of them were not project-based organizations, I mean the level of importance and culture on project management was very low. I acted as a project manager but also as a project management discipline pioneer. I needed to preach about project management and to overcome all obstacles that appeared in my path. Getting invited and establishing internal relationships with other departments from my organizations was key for projects and organizational success.
Share Thoughts and Ideas
There are many benefits from sharing ideas at work (Figure 6.2). I thought it would be good to write this because I occasionally hear people talk about sharing creates stolen ideas and in return fighting over those stolen ideas. There are other thoughts on why sharing ideas at work shouldn’t be done but my focus on why it’s a good idea is based on this opposition.
Figure 6.2 Share thoughts and ideas
I don’t know about you, but I want to work better. Not only do I want to work better, I want to get better at what I do every day. I have no desire to be the subject matter expert that holds my knowledge like a currency that people are trying to steal. Here are some of the reasons I like to share ideas at work and make what I know and learn public knowledge for others to benefit from:
1. Get better
Every time I share ideas with others and have a discussion with them I get better. There’s a natural exchange of ideas there and no single idea is original. By sharing ideas at work, I’m able to get better at my job while others also get better at their job. When I collaborate and share, everyone is improving at the same time, which then allows us all to reach higher levels of expertise even faster. I want to get better at my job and have more skills to transfer to other jobs if necessary and sharing does just that.
2. Connecting ideas in new ways
One person can never have an idea that’s perfect. By sharing my ideas at work, I am exposed to a side I may have never thought of before. New and better things come out of sharing ideas with others. Think about a subject matter expert who doesn’t make their knowledge available to others unless forced and then it’s a one-way road. They spew information as others record it.
This way of working never lets you connect your ideas with others and improve upon both ideas. There’s no way one brain can think of every angle, so everybody has to cooperate and work together to reach a common larger goal. The human race is a cooperative race and it has allowed us to do great things. Sitting on an idea like you own it has never helped anybody meet a greater goal.
3. We give, we receive
By sharing ideas and working together, everyone involved benefits and receives a bit back. Without making it known what we’re doing and thinking, it’s impossible for others to contribute to that knowledge. The same goes for everyone else. If nobody makes it known what they’re working on and what they’re thinking, you won’t be able to contribute to their work!
4. We connect
Modern work that isn’t easy to automate is all based on connections. Connecting is uniquely human and can’t be automated or taken away. The connections we make come through sharing knowledge and what we’re working on in return allow us to do bigger things.
The more connections we make the more we can do in a shorter amount of time. Think about a project you’ve started and haven’t known any of the people you’re working on. That can be a challenge to get started figure out who is the best person for each job. If you have taken time to foster connections, then it’s that much easier to find who you need to get things done.
5. We listen, we think
It’s impossible to continue to spew information and ever learn anything from anybody. When we take a moment, shut up, and listen, we can gain a lot more insights and build on our own knowledge much easier.
Sharing ideas at work seems like it’s the practice of just spewing information and never consuming, but it’s not. Part of sharing your ideas and making that exchange of knowledge is in the consumption of others’ ideas. As we read others’ ideas and what they’re working on, we have our own thoughts that we also share.
When we listen, we’re forced to think about our own ideas and fine-tune those. If we listen, we’re better equipped for the discussion with others to develop better ideas together.
The more minds that come together and from all different backgrounds, the better off we are able to come up with new and wonderful things. If everybody agrees on a solution and there was never any debating, there’s a good chance that the solution won’t be as good as it could have been. Diversity of thought allows for different angles of each idea to be uncovered. Great things come out of this.
7. Ideas come and go
Ideas are never something you want to hold like you own them, they aren’t currency. Ideas are temporary and others will have the same ideas anyway. Connections are more important. Connecting with people and connecting of ideas. Connecting ideas is where innovation comes from and connecting with people makes those innovations come to life. Ideas aren’t important to hold on to, and their only importance is in sharing them with others. Make yourself open and share with others what you’re doing and what your thoughts are. Once you start doing this you’ll find that the world begins opening up to you in new ways.
Expand beyond your organization’s walls too. Never share only within your organization and never feel limited to the diversity it has to offer. The more you open up to the entire world and share with those across the globe, the more you’ll learn and grow. Global connections introduce the diversity of ideas everyone needs. Ideas come and go but the diverse connections you can make globally cannot be replaced and will not fail you.
8. Finishing up
The idea for this book came from a very unlikely place that I would have never thought. Being open to reading those ideas and not just blowing them off is a great way to improve yourself. Amazing things happen when you inadvertently realize why you think what you think, and only others can help you reach those ideas.
Here’s my finishing statement to sum it all up, the comment I made: When sharing happens, everyone is able to boost productivity at a faster pace. Also, more importance is put on problem-solving and innovation and not ideas that are impossible to hold for long. If you hold ideas as a currency for employment, then there will come a point when that currency is worthless. Value must be created and recreated in the form of the networks we create and maintain. That’s not something that can be stolen, lost, or diminished.
Relationships Growing Tool
Networking is a relationship growing tool, but should you join just any network? Through my own research and interviews, I have seen that networks are only as valuable as those they bring together and what happens as a result (Figure 6.3). The innate value of a network and what you get out of it can make or break your chances for development. Before joining a network and putting in the energy to make it work, here are a few things to ask to make sure it’s right for you:
Who is in the network? Network strength can be measured by the strength of the relationships between members and what each member brings to strengthen ties.
How well does the network connect? Increasing network strength requires both frequent and quality communication. Interactions that are consistent and demonstrate professionalism, integrity, respect, and confidence are essential to your own prospects. Quality interactions can happen anywhere, not only in the workplace. For example, one woman I interviewed described her networks like a spiderweb that drew many different people together. She described invitation-only reading groups that led to research collaborations, grant applications, and proposals for joint books.
Figure 6.3 Your network
These meetings and projects could entail a senior person working with someone more junior in a mentoring capacity. Joining a network that has professional associations means that the connections can share and enhance common goals, goodwill, commitment, and interests.
Is there functional communication? We all have days of frustration and disappointment at work. Being able to express these emotions can be a healthy way of letting off steam. If your network operates under an ethos of support, it means that your frustrations and disappointments will be heard in order to resolve problems, lend support, and provide assistance to overcome your frustrations and prevent burnout. Care and concern create network value because they are resources that help build trust and support. Ask yourself, does your network offer support that enables you to overcome difficulties?
Who are you talking to? Networking with more senior representatives has its benefits. Having access to a powerful spokesperson and building your connections is one way of working toward extending your network. For example, the golden skirts is an informal network supporting women on corporate boards. Members of the golden skirts, who are also members of other networks, are able to represent and speak on behalf of their other golden skirt members among a diverse range of other business, corporate, and education networks. They are almost twice as likely to be invited to other boards! Seek ways to represent your interests to those in other networks and to those more senior.
Your time is valuable and networking can be hit and miss if you cannot assess the value of your network first. Before you start networking, find out about the network and how it can help you move toward your goals.
What Else Do You Consider Before Joining a Network?
In our channel universe, we all know that professional relationships are critical to success and survival and that not all relationships are equal. Often, channel partners must navigate the tricky terrain of successfully managing both vendor and customer relationships. Sometimes, that’s not an easy task. I find that savvy channel partners have the ability to keep successful and rewarding relationships with their vendors and, even more importantly, with their customers. Regardless of the method that you use to manage those relationships, the key is maintaining them at a high level of satisfaction.
Crossroads
At some point, you may come to a crossroads with a customer (Figure 6.4). How do you deal with customers who are high-maintenance, but you need their business? Or, maybe you’re dealing with customers who are low-maintenance and easy to manage, but are low profit and may not be worth keeping?
Now and then, you may sit down with your team and talk about who to keep and who to cut. Unless you can net down the pros and cons, this can turn into a circular discussion that you keep having, with no results. I came across an interesting way to help you evaluate the value of your relationships to determine which ones are strategic and which ones serve only to suck time and resources out of your day and frustrate you.
Figure 6.4 Crossroads
The strategic relationship matrix is the brainchild of author and productivity guru Michael Hyatt. He was inspired to design it from the basis of the Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) growth-share matrix (Figure 6.5), which was developed in the late 1970s as a portfolio-planning model.
Just as a refresher, the BCG model is based on the rationale that a company’s business units can be classified into four categories: dogs, question marks, stars, and cash cows. A classification is based on combinations of market growth and market share relative to the largest competitor, thus the name “growth share.” I like Hyatt’s strategic relationship matrix because he positions it as a way that you and your team can discuss and add analysis to in order to determine the value of the current relationships that you have with your customers. Are they easy and profitable, or are they draining and difficult to maintain? Up to what point do you keep the relationship, whether it’s a customer or vendor?
Why Is Rating Customer (or Vendors) Important?
Time is finite and valuable, and you need to invest it where you’re going to get the most return. By prioritizing your relationships, whether those are customers or vendors, you know where to aim your focus. Let’s face it: We all have only so much time and budget, so prioritization is the key to effectiveness. Every professional relationship your organization has should have a level of maintenance assigned and a corresponding level of action associated (Figure 6.6).
Figure 6.5 Adapted from Boston Consulting Group’s growth-share matrix
Figure 6.6 Rating customer or vendor
As an example, the profile of a high-profit, low-maintenance relationship is one you certainly want to replicate with your prospective customers. What are their key attributes, and how can you find more like them?
Focus where you can reap the greatest benefit. It’s that simple. You can use this to gauge the value of your vendor relationships, products that you carry, customer relationships, and more. There are only 24 hours in a day. Make the most of them.
Chapter Summary
From all ideas and concepts shared in this chapter, it is very important to remind you:
• As a project manager you need to work through people, so you need to grow up your relationships step by step.
• You need insight into what is the chemical substance that helps you to get a positive reaction among people. You can attract people.
• As a project manager you need to establish, maintain, and sustain relationships with your colleagues, peers, and other project stakeholders. One of my best practices is trying to be invited to other business meetings.
• Share your ideas and thoughts and share it with your colleagues, peers, and customers.
• Networking is a relationship growing tool, but you should not join just any network. You need to be selective.
References
Bucero, A. 2010. Today is a Good Day: Attitudes for Achieving Project Success. Ontario, Canada: Multimedia Publications.
Englund, R.L., and A. Bucero. 2012. “The Complete Project Manager: Building the Right Set of Skills for Greater Project Success.” Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2012, EMEA, Marseille, France. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
1 Doley, A. 2018. Learn About the Importance of Career Networking. Career Advice. Career networking.
2 Clark, D. Marketing strategy consultant and author of Stand Out Networking: A Simple and Authentic Way to Meet People on Your Own Terms.