Recently I read great book by Tom DeMarco (and serveral other authors) - “Adrenaline Junkies and Template Zombies - Understanding Patterns of Project Behavior”. There was a chapter that stroke me, it was entitled - Nanny. It was written there: “the project manager has many skills in common with those of traditional English nanny”. How’s that?
Traditional English nanny is responsible for physical, emotional, social, creative and intellectual development of the children. She makes sure that children are safe from harm, get enaugh fresh air and exercise, eat good food and learn about surrounding world. She also talks with parents about her concerns and special talend of childrens.
Everyone knows that project management involves many administrative task - making plans, drawing and adjusting GANT charts and schedules, assigns responsibility, reporting, monitoring etc. But Tom says that project manager should also take care of his team - nurture it like nanny nurtures children. How can you do that?
There are some managers that takes this one step further. they provide a woring environment - technical and socioligical - that enables their team to develop their skills. They ensure their team has all the tools they need to do the job. They enable good communication channels for their team member to keep them informed so that everyone knows what is really going on (this also helps to cut gossips and rumors down). Such manager treats training as necessity rather than luxory. He sees all signs of unhappiness and talks with with people about it. He protects his team from the rest of the organization.
On the other hand such “nanny” manager provides you with instant feedback - if he is unhappy about your results he lets you know. If you did good, you got his applause.
Such manager thinks about himself as a enabler of work. His satisfaction comes from seeing each team member develop new skill or maximaze his previous abilities. He is glad when people are happy, productive and satisfied with their work.
How much “nannyness” is in you?
P.S. The are some other clues on how to make people happy at work in another famous book by Tom DeMarco - Peopleware.
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