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Soft Skills for Project Managers

By Linky van der Merwe

Often in Project Management courses there is a big emphasis on the technical skills, also called ‘hard skills’ which are the occupational requirements that project managers need to do their jobs effectively. This would include the creation of tangible deliverables like a project schedule, project budget, status reports etc.

Soft skills for PM'sSoft skills complement hard skills.  Soft skills are the important interpersonal skills you need as a project manager to accomplish work through other people.  Soft skills are essentially people skills – the non-technical, intangible, personality-specific skills that determine your strengths as a leader, listener, negotiator and conflict mediator.

Developing your soft skills is equally important, but is often left to project managers to find suitable courses that would equip them with adequate soft skills like Leadership, Conflict Management and Emotional Intelligence.

Soft skills development

Why would you ask, are soft skills that important? Soft skills refer to behavioural skills – a sociological term relating to the cluster of personality traits and behavioural competencies that characterize relationships with other people.

Since projects are delivered or executed through people, your soft skills are like the glue that will hold the project team together when the going gets tough, for example when projects fall behind, or immovable deadlines are looming, or the normal stress coming from project delivery and dealing with issues.

At the end of the day a project manager wants a balance of hard and soft skills. Hard skills are more technical in nature where as soft skills are intangible and less visible. Soft skills are typically employed without the use of tools and templates. Soft skills can be taught, but they are typically honed by years of experience.

How to improve soft skills

When you set out to improve your soft skills as a project manager, there are 3 key things you need to remember.

  1. Make the commitment to learn and improve
  2. Put yourself in situations where you can practice various soft skills
  3. Evaluate your progress and adjust as needed

At this point you may be wondering if there is a finite list of soft skills to focus on as a project manager. According to my research there are at least 11 soft skills that should be part of your make-up as a professional project manager. They are:

  1. Leadership
  2. Team building
  3. Motivation
  4. Communication including active listening
  5. Influencing
  6. Decision making
  7. Political and cultural awareness
  8. Negotiation
  9. Conflict management
  10. Emotional intelligence
  11. Problem solving

Over the years I’ve published many articles on various soft skills. For more interesting articles with practical advice on developing your soft skills, continue reading about Leadership, Team build, Communication, Decision making and Emotional Intelligence.

If you are new to project management and you are serious about developing yourself as a professional project manager, please look at the Fast-track Growth Program which was especially developed for people like you in mind. It’s an online, self-paced training program for busy professionals which will give you the essential elements for project delivery. It’s the fastest way to grow critical Project Management competencies like technical and interpersonal skills, and becoming a confident project manager!

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Project Management: How to foster creativity in your team

By Linky van der Merwe

Advances in technologyWhen we look at the new all electric cars that are storming the market today, we see amazing speed (0-100km in 3 seconds), top speed of 250km per hour and a range of 250km – 295km. Clearly innovation is evolutionary, brought about by many incremental advances in technology and revolutionary because it’s often disruptive and new, like the electric cars.

This is according to James Hebbard, a Snaptech Trainer and consultant who presented at the Project Management South Africa Conference in November 2016. He said the death of innovation is BFH, an abbreviation for Big, Fat and Happy! Below are his recommendations to foster innovation think.

6 ways to foster creativity

#1 Inside Game

Although ideas, inspiration and innovation seem to come from outside you, they don’t – it always comes from inside, sometimes within small intimate teams.

#2 Obsession and Focus

Innovative thinkers were all obsessed and extremely focused.  Albert Einstein was obsessed with light, Steve Jobs was obsessed with design and product perfection and Elon Musk is obsessed with space flight and electric cars.

#3 Perseverence and Patience

Keep yourself in your chair and the break-through will come as this picture illustrates.

perseverence

#4 Creating a culture of innovation

Culture is a mindset that is shared by a team. There are ways to create such a culture. People are afraid to make mistakes so you can start by creating an environment where it’s safe to fail. Create learning experiences, do brainstorming and problem solving facilitation, root cause analysis. Create space like 15% paid time to work on own creative projects. Look at the work environment.

#5 High performing teams

Know the strengths of team members, the level of the team maturity and their personalities as explained below.

  • Thinking styles: Ideation, Strategic, Learner, Input, Intellection, Analytical
  • Executing styles: Achiever, Arranger, Focus, Restorative, Responsibility
  • Relational styles: Achiever, Arranger, Focus, Restorative, Responsibility
  • Influencing styles: Activator, Communication, Maximizer, Significance, Self Assurance

This is what you need to know how to get the best out of your team.

#6 Identifying problems

Innovation is born from necessity. Without a pressing problem there is no need for a solution. Identify the problems around you because finding problems will help you solve them. How do you as a team identify problems?

Conclusion

innovation1 A few points to remember.

  • Innovation is often born out of necessity (AKA Problems).  Get to the root cause and see innovative ideas being born.
  • Humans are a product of their environment.
  • Teams are made of Individuals.

As a project manager, you need to know what their strengths are in order to get the best out of your team.

Here is an interesting article about virtual team management by Rob Rawson, co-founder and CEO of Time Doctor.

 

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8 Lessons in Innovation

By Linky van der Merwe

Power of innovationRecently I attended a Project Management Conference with the theme: “Harnessing the Power of Innovation”. As project managers we are in the position to create environments where people are creative and more innovative.

One of the speakers, Nneile Nkholise, the co-founder of Likoebe Group; a medical innovation company, spoke on the topic of moving away from an efficiency-driven economy to an innovation-driven economy, through innovation. The role of innovation has become explicitly important for any organisation with a vision to make an impact in the global market.

Nneile is one of 100 entrepreneurs out of the US who were selected to represent their countries at the Global Entrepreneurship summit, 2016. She shared 8 lessons to explain what innovation is.

Lesson 1: Journey

Learn about Jay Samit, an American digital media innovator, who pioneered advancements in music and video distribution, social media, and ecommerce. He is the author of the bestselling book, “Disrupt You! Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity, and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovation”. It is a fascinating story on the journey of innovation. You need to work on innovation every day and re-invent.

Lesson 2: Purpose

At Adidas they have the credo of “Impossible is nothing”. They believe you need to explore the power you have to change the world. Impossible is just temporary and it is potential.

Create purpose and find your passion, that is a sure path to innovation.

Lesson 3: Solve problems

By just focusing on everyday real-life problems, it will lead to much innovation and innovative products that provide solutions to difficult problems.

Think of Google Translate that provided a translator to 100 different languages.

Lesson 4: Bring new possibilities

Like the oldest television that came out, it brought about new possibilities. People were able to see news from all over the world and enjoy the creativity of entertainment at home.

Lesson 5: Learning opportunities

Things will change, but don’t let that scare you. Learn to learn and learn to learn fast. In today’s world there are many opportunities with technology and children learn to code from a very young age.

Lesson 6: Build Human networks

Innovation happens through Innovation Hubs. Innovation hubs are social communities, work spaces or research centers that provide subject-matter expertise on technology trends, knowledge and strategic innovation management, and industry-specific insights.

If there are three types of people: 1) Those who talk about it …. 2) Those who want it … 3) Those who make it happen ….  We need to decide who we want to be. As project managers we are in a position to be the type of people who make it happen.

Lesson 7: Global responsibility

Global goals for sustainable developmentIn September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030. Click here to find out more and to help share the Global Goals.

We need to keep the global goals for sustainable development in mind on all the projects we undertake.

Lesson 8: Embrace it

There is evidence of innovation in the products all around us. Support your local entrepreneurs and use their innovative products.

A few examples of innovative products are:

  • SaferMom is a social enterprise that addresses the high maternal and infant mortality crises in Nigeria. SaferMom delivers vital health information to new and expectant mothers using interactive, personalized low cost mobile technologies, including SMS and voice calls. The purpose is to help mothers have access to quick, affordable and hassle-free healthcare.
  • Mellowcabz – Mellowcabs manufactures, and operates new electric mini-cabs that provide an on-demand, flexible and affordable taxi/transport service in cities. These services can be provided through our mobile app, call-center or website. It has dual income sources, passenger fares and selling advertising space on, and in the vehicles. They are equipped with on-board tablet computers, which offer an interactive experience to the passenger.
  • PAN Test Kit for precision testing Malaria PAN/PF rapid test diagnostic test kit with a shelf life of 24 months.

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Project Manager Skills – Decision Making

By Linky van der Merwe

Recently I had to make a very big decision that would influence my life for years to come. I realised just how hard it is to make sure that the best decision is made and that one can have peace of mind after you have made the decision.

Since effective decision making is one of the many soft skills a project manager needs on a daily basis, I think it’s worth sharing some good practices and tips.

Guidelines

According to the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK), effective decision making involves the ability to negotiate and influence the organisation and the project management team. Some guidelines for decision making include:

  • focus on the goals to be served
  • follow a decision-making process
  • study the environmental factors
  • analyse available information
  • stimulate team creativity
  • manage the risk

Styles for Decision Making

Let’s have a look at basic decision styles used by project managers.

command
Command – give instruction or order people to do things.

Command is a more autocratic style that may be fit in many circumstances, but not so much in the project context, unless it’s a matter of safety.

Consultation
Confer with the team members

It’s a good idea to consult with the team members while following a proper decision making process that will probably lead to the best outcome.

By the end of the decision making process, you would want consensus among team members and for people to agree that the best possible decision has been made.

Consensus
Consensus – to see agreement in opinion

In any situation there are four major factors that will affect the decision style you use:

  1. Time constraints
  2. Trust
  3. Quality
  4. Acceptance

Model for decision making

Next you will find a good decision making model or process to use with your project teams.

#1 Problem definition

When you are faced with having to make an important decision, it’s very important to fully explore, clarify and define the problem. Look at it from all angles, not just from your own viewpoint.

#2 Problem solution generation

Now comes the part where you brainstorm multiple solutions, not making a premature decision.

#3 Ideas to action

You need to define evaluation criteria.  Then you rate the advantages and disadvantages (pros and cons) of the alternatives in order to select the best solution. There are many tools available to assist you with this.

#4 Solution action planning

After the decision has been made, it’s recommended to perform a post-implementation analysis, to evaluate the decisions made and to acknowledge the lessons that you learned.

#5 Evaluate the outcome

The last step in the process is to evaluate how well the problem was solved or project goals were achieved.

I trust the next time you need to make decisions on your projects, you will have a process to follow that will allow you time to look at alternatives, to evaluate and score them and ultimately to make the best decision under the circumstances.

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For more hard and soft skills training, check out my Growth Program for new Project Managers! 

It will help you grow critical project management competencies, learn how to overcome your biggest challenges on projects and increase your confidence.

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Leadership: 3 Important Activities Managers should do Daily

By Jacob Haney

Every new manager needs to know the three key activities they should be focusing on, which will make them successful as leaders.

3 Activities Managers should do dailyThose three keys are:

  1. building trust
  2. building a network and
  3. building a team

It is very rare that managers actually find the time to do all the work they have planned to do. Their time is mostly used to solve unexpected problems and to make sure that their team finishes their work on time, up to the standard and on budget.

Managers can sometimes feel desperate because urgent daily work hijacks the time they would use for their on-going work as managers and leaders. So, they push these key activities back. But, these activities are fundamental and substantial for a manager who wants to function effectively and be a good leader.

#1 Building Trust

To be a successful leader, you need to be able to influence others, and in order to achieve that, trust is the key. You cannot influence someone who doesn’t trust you. So, a manager needs to create a trustworthy relationship with everyone he or she is working with. To achieve that, they need to demonstrate the two basic components of trust; character and competence.

Character

Basic action and decision on values beyond self-interest and caring about work and the people who do the work. That’s character.

Competence

Competence understands the work well enough to make valid decisions, and having the courage to ask questions when something is not clear. If employees believe in your character and competence, they will put their trust in you.

#2 Building a Network

Every team of employees depends on the support of other people and groups. Effective managers need to build and maintain a network of people and groups that will help their team achieve their future goals. This is actually the main issue that troubles many managers because they believe that networking is a kind of manipulation, where they need to pretend to like someone just because they need something from them.

Try to go above that, because without networking, you will limit your capabilities. Build a network honestly, openly and with the right intent. This will benefit all sides.

#3 Building a Team

In order to build an effective team, team members have to be bound with a common purpose which is based on shared values. The bonds between members need to be strong so that they believe that they are all succeeding or failing together. A good team needs to have rules of engagement.

Smart managers and leaders combine all of these elements and then they manage through the team. In an ideal situation, team members value their membership and they’ll do everything in their power not to let others down.

Good Manager to evolve and develop attributes of Leadership

This now brings the question of when will the managers be able to focus on these activities and still do their every day’s work. The answer is that the three keys are not just some tasks you can put on your to-do list. Strong and effective leaders lead and manage their daily work. Managers need to continuously and intentionally evolve themselves over their career to fully develop the attributes of a leader.

About the Author:

Jacob Haney is a content writer at Research Optimus which provides research and analytics services to businesses in the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand from startups to corporates to medical research firms.
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Importance of Focusing on Talents and Strengths

Focus on TalentWhen considering the true meaning of Talent, it is understood to be flair, aptitude, a gift, knack for doing something well, ability to excel at something, expertise, capacity to do well. We also speak of people’s strengths and why it’s important to know your own strengths and that of your employees or team members.

In their book: “Strengths based leadership”, the authors Tom Rath and Barry Conchie, shared interesting findings from their own research, namely that the most effective leaders are always investing in the strengths of its employees. This will increase the odds of each person being engaged at work eightfold.

Secondly, the most effective leaders surround themselves with the right people and maximise their team. A top performing team has strengths in four specific domains, namely executing, influencing, relationship building and strategic thinking. According to them, a team having strengths in all four domains would make a well-rounded team.

For more information about the StrengthsFinder Program, visit the Gallup Strengths Center.

In the Infographic below, you’ll see that teams that focus on employee strengths every day report 13% greater productivity. As leaders, you need to take the time to understand the vital role personal strengths and talents play in the employee hiring process.

The Infographic also provides tips for finding applicants’ talents.

Ohio University Online

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Book Review: Leadership Toolbox for Project Managers

By Linky van der Merwe

Leadership Toolbox for PMThe aim of the book, Leadership Toolbox for Project Managers, written by Michel Dion, is to help equip project managers to manage projects in a dynamic, complex and unpredictable environment. The book is focused on Leadership including self-awareness, vision, strategic thinking, decision making and interaction with others.

Career Advancement

Many project managers were experts in other fields before they learned the skills of Project Management. As project managers are assigned to more complex, strategic projects they need to add leadership skills to their Toolbox of Technical Project Management skills.

Michel emphasizes Continuous Learning as part of the Foundation you need before focusing on Leadership skills. What I liked about his book, is that he starts with looking at the leader as a Person, and looking after your own well-being first, instead of putting it as an after-thought at the end of the book. He gives guidance on modifying your behaviour with the key qualities of a leader and to develop a high level of self-awareness. He puts much focus on values and ethics that influence leadership actions and decisions.

I like his opinion that people is the critical asset to the project’s success, including the team, the project sponsor, users and any other stakeholders. And I agree that the value contribution of a project will be measured by all these people.

Leadership skills

Another important Leadership skill is Delegation for which Michel provides the questions to ask when delegating tasks. He explains how to create a learning environment and how to keep adding value while delegating.

Towards the end of the book Michel publishes interesting Leadership survey results about project challenges, strengths and weaknesses in being effective leaders.

Michel laid out strategic thinking and decision making in the project context very well, convincing the reader that learning leadership is a journey and not a specific formula that can be applied the same way on every project.

Recommendation

In my opinion, the only improvement that can be made to the book, is to provide some exercises or perhaps actions steps that the reader can take to help them along on their leadership growth journey.

I will recommend this book to all aspiring project managers as well as existing project managers who seek to develop their leadership capabilities to help them cope in the increasingly dynamic and complex project environments that we are having to manage projects today!

The book is available on Amazon: Leadership Toolbox for Project Managers: Achieve better results in a dynamic world by Michel A. Dion (22-Apr-2015) Paperback, as well as on Michel Dion’s website, Project-Aria.

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Mindset of a Successful Project Leader

When comparing the qualities needed to be a successful manager (as shown in the Infographic below) with the characteristics of a successful project leader, and research analysis, there is much overlap.

Good managers tend to be natural leaders with a genuine interest in helping others. Not all project managers are natural leaders, but fortunately that is a skill that can be honed, especially when coupled with the desire to serve others.

Effective leadership is built on respect and trust. Leadership is critical during the beginning phases of a project when emphasis is on communicating the vision and motivating and inspiring the project team to achieve high performance. In a project context leadership is about focusing the efforts of a group of people toward a common goal and enabling them to work as a team. It’s also the ability to get things done through others.

Guidance to the project team is given in the form of influencing, mentoring and monitoring, as well as evaluating the performance of the team and the project. Open communication is essential together with listening to your team’s needs.

It’s always in the best interest of project leaders to keep investing in their own development and growth. For professionals who are new to project management, check out the Growth Program for new Project Managers that will put you on a fast-track for learning how to become a successful project leader.

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Inside the Mind of a Successful Manager

Online Masters in Business Administration

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Emotional Intelligence as a Project Management and Life Skill

By Linky van der Merwe

Most experienced project managers know the importance of Emotional Intelligence.  Emotional Intelligence can be defined as:

“Awareness of one’s own emotions and moods and those of others, especially in managing people.” Source: Collins English Dictionary

Emotional intelligence is often what differentiates great leaders from the people they lead.

Four Pillars

There are generally four pillars associated with Emotional Intelligence, namely:

  1. Self awareness – ability to recognize and monitor our thoughts and feelings.
  2. Self management – ability to think before acting.
  3. Social awareness – being aware of the emotional condition of others.
  4. Social skill – ability to manage groups of people (project teams), building social networks, finding common ground with stakeholders, building rapport.

For more information about increasing your emotional intelligence, developing social awareness and improving social skills, read “Why Emotional Intelligence is important for Project Managers, from IIL.

For a good explanation of the value Employers place on Emotional Intelligence and how you can improve your Emotional IQ, see the Infographic below.
The-importance-of-Emotional-Intelligence-infographic

Created by the University of Maryland: onlinemba.umd.edu

Find more education infographics on e-Learning Infographics

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Will we Find even One Honest PMP?

By Dave Fourie

Practice what you preach

Don’t get me wrong – I also firmly believe Project Managers, as all people in life, should always be brutally honest!

But do we practice what we preach? Is it still possible and wise to act with integrity in today’s world?

Can you honestly say as a project manager that you always and under all circumstances conduct yourself with honesty and integrity? To me it seems that taking responsibility, respecting others, fairness, and honesty have become virtues that we only subscribe to when it suits us.

PMP honesty and integrityNone is righteous, no, not one

Sometimes one wonders if even the people that are seen as beacons of honesty and integrity are always that honest. It is so easy to tell a white lie, of course only to save somebody else’s feelings – and most of the time that “somebody else” being ourselves.

Big sins and little sins

It is also so easy to state a half-truth or “forget” to mention the bad news while bluffing ourselves that it is for the best in the greater scheme of things. And what about our duty to understand the truth – when we realise that we acted honestly and in good faith, but that we were mistaken? Does the old saying: ”When an honest man discovers he is mistaken, he will either cease being mistaken, or cease being honest” then also apply to us?

No good deed goes unpunished

Then we also need to consider the practicality of being honest. What will happen to me if I do act with honesty and integrity? Will I be praised and possibly be rewarded by the powers to be in my company? Or will nothing be said publicly while my future prospects dwindle away? As Napoleon Bonaparte once said: “The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man.”

PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

How are we supposed to conduct ourselves as Project Management Professionals? Of course we all know that we should abide by our code of ethics. But do we really take it serious? Do we live by it every day or do we only take it out and brush it off when we need to prove to others how just and honest we are?

Let’s take a short quiz to see how earnest we are about integrity:

No. Have you (or will you) ALWAYS and under ALL circumstances: Yes No
1 When you discovered errors or omissions caused by others, communicate them to the appropriate body as soon they were discovered? 1 0
2 Confront others who engage in gossip and make negative remarks to undermine another person’s reputation? 1 0
3 Respect the property rights of others, including not making a photocopy (or any other means of reproduction) of any part of the PMBOK® Guide or any other copyrighted work (including songs and movies) without prior written permission of the publisher? 1 0

 

 

Score:

3 Marks – You are extremely honest and display high levels of integrity / You were not honest with yourself when you completed this quiz*

* delete whichever is not applicable

Less than 3 Marks – At least you were honest when taking this quiz, and that’s a good start!

According to Oprah Winfrey: “real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not”. Should this not be our guiding compass?

How do you feel about this? Should we follow the world or let the world follow us?

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About the Author: Dave Fourie is a dedicated, innovative and people oriented project management trainer with 25 years plus project management experience. For more information about his services, visit his blog, Project Management Training Africa.

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Words of Appreciation – 3 Reasons why they are not used

By Dr Paul White

It is good to be reminded of the importance of communicating appreciation to staff and team members. When employees/team members truly feel valued and appreciated, good things follow. This article will explain what the benefits are and why more people are not using words of appreciation.

language of appreciationThe power of appreciation lies in the fact that people are more likely to show up for work (and on time), follow established policies and procedures, and get more work done. Their job satisfaction ratings go up, and their employee engagement increases. Also, when staff/team members feel appreciated, customer ratings tend to rise, and the managers who are giving appreciation, report enjoying their work more.

So if all these positive results occur, why isn’t appreciation communicated more? And what should we do about it?

1.     Manager are too busy

Managers and employees report that they are too busy. Virtually everyone states they already have too much to do, and don’t have any time (or mental space) to think about another set of tasks. Busyness is, far and above all other reasons, the primary reason people cite for not communicating appreciation.

How to resolve

Don’t create another “to do” list – you don’t need more to do. Rather, make sure that the efforts and actions you take “hit the mark”. Realize that not everyone feels appreciated in the same ways; find out what is meaningful to your team members and communicate appreciation through these actions. Yes, this does take time, but it is a worthy investment.

2.     Not compatible with work

To many, showing appreciation is not compatible with the nature of work and work-relationships. Work, by definition, is focused on getting tasks done. Companies either manufacture and sell goods, or they provide services. So this is focus of every employee’s day.

How to resolve

There has to be a balance of working together with others as people (employees are not just “production units” or machines) and getting the work done. Most companies have employee recognition programs but it has become evident that they aren’t working to make employees feel valued. Team members will feel valued when appreciation is communicated regularly, personally and in a manner that is perceived as genuine and authentic.

3.     People don’t value you

Some people don’t think appreciation should be communicated, or they really don’t value those with whom they work. When leaders don’t really value recognizing or encouraging their employees (the “I show them I appreciate them by paying them” approach), there is not much to do except to let them experience the results of their choices. Typically, these leaders have the highest turnover rate and lowest job satisfaction ratings by their staff.

How to resolve

There are times when some colleagues are difficult to work with, or people just don’t get along very well. And it best not to try to “fake” communicating appreciation when it isn’t really there.

Most often, actually, it is not that appreciation isn’t communicated but that it isn’t communicated in the ways important to the recipient – which is practically the same as not being communicated at all.

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About the author:  Paul White, Ph.D., is co-author of The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace and creator of the Motivating By Appreciation Inventory, which identifies individuals’ preferred ways of being shown appreciation. To learn more, visit www.appreciationatwork.com

 

To know more about the 5 Languages of appreciation, read the previous article: Project Management Skills: Languages of Appreciation

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5 Keys to Effectively Communicating Appreciation

By Paul White, Ph.D.

“People are burned out. We have to do more work with less people, and for no more money.” All around the world, in companies, schools, non-profit organizations, and government agencies, the same message is communicated over and over – both from leaders and from employees:  “Workers are becoming more negative, cynical and discouraged. We need to do something to show them appreciation but funds are tight.”

Language of appreciationThe workplace environment can change for the better. Unfortunately, many recognition efforts by managers are misguided and wind up being a waste of time and effort. Why? Because they are not built upon the core principles needed for appreciation to be communicated effectively.

 

 

Core Principles for Effectively Communicated Appreciation

#1 Make sure your praise is specific and personal

The most common mistake organizations and supervisors make is that their communication is general and impersonal. They send blast emails: “Good job. Way to go team.” But they have no specific meaning to the individual who stayed late to get the project completed. Use your colleague’s name and tell specifically what they do that makes your job easier.

#2 Realize that actions can be more impactful than words for many people

Some employees do not value verbal praise (the “words are cheap” mentality). For many people, they have grown to not believe compliments from others, expecting them primarily to be an act of manipulation. Other actions can be more impactful for these individuals, like spending time with them or helping them get a task done.

#3 Use the language of appreciation valued by the recipient

Not everyone likes public recognition or social events. One leader stated, “You can give me an award but you’ll have to shoot me first before I’ll go up and get it in front of a crowd.” And for many introverts, going to a “staff appreciation dinner” is more like torture than a reward for doing a good job. They may prefer getting a gift card for a bookstore and staying at home and reading. Find out what they value and communicate in that language.

#4 Separate affirmation from constructive criticism or instruction

If you want the positive message to be heard “loud and clear”, don’t follow your affirmation with a “Now, if you would only…” message. Don’t give them a compliment and then tell them how they could do the task better. They will only remember the “constructive” criticism, and may not even hear the positive.

#5 Absolutely be genuine

Don’t try to fake it, or overstate your appreciation (“You are the best administrative assistant in the free world!”). People want appreciation to be genuine, not contrived.

Negative and cynical workplace environments can be improved. Good things happen when individuals feel truly valued and appreciated for their contributions: employee relationships are less tense, communication becomes more positive, policies and procedures are followed more, staff turnover decreases, and managers report enjoying their work more.

Clearly, when managers and colleagues begin to communicate authentic appreciation in the ways that are important to the recipients, positive results are not far away.

About the Author:  Paul White, Ph.D., is a psychologist, author, speaker and consultant who makes work relationships work. He is co-author of Rising Above a Toxic Workplace and The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace. For more information, go to www.appreciationatwork.com

To know more about the 5 Languages of appreciation, read the previous article: Project Management Skills: Languages of Appreciation