I'm taking my first step in leadership by managing an internal project (I'm working as UX architect and agile project manager). We are will redesigning our company website and some internal tools. The company is small and has shallow hierarchy, although the general culture is not very fast faced. I already built good rapport with dev and design team but they don't report to me. I noticed this trend in previous jobs that I worked as a resource and would like to avoid: 1-if the project is super structured with a lot of pressure ,dates, and specific roles are given, production is faster, but people tend to burn out and creativity, innovation , risk taking diminish, authority starts to get questioned when people feel that tasks are being assigned add no value to improve the product. Projects with this approach have high quality (in terms of quality assurance) but low quality in terms of product. 2-On the opposite side, lack of structure and deadlines also diminish motivation, nothing is finished, people try new things but they tend to procrastinate and walk around the hard parts or just give up. The relationship between managers and production is usually good but the output is mediocre. What is the best way to motivate people in agile development to achieve great success? What I will try to do: 1-Give little structure by assigning roles to a multi disciplinary team, instead of distributing tasks. So for ex. one designer is responsible for both design and vision, so I'm giving him control over his work confined in his space 2-Allow people to fail and have regular meetings to discuss in group what is wrong with the project. 3-Get feedback from users for each sprint (3 weeks), even for low fidelity prototypes, to make sure it's not a one person (me) perspective or just our teams opinions, I got this from HCD methodology. We are doing internal and external qualitative interviews 4-celebrate and reward achievements or any behavior that adds value to the project (outside of the box or what was planned). 5-Do work team work building events (get the folks to a beer night which I already did and people told me that it was a very good practice) Is there anything also that I do or avoid to make me more Successful?
Never criticize failures and give an abundance of praise for successes.
I am not trying to sell you on calling me. Really, I am pretty busy with my businesses and consulting. However, I need more info before I could have a greater impact in helping you.
Ask, Ask, Ask, then Ask again.
Bonus:
Here is $10,000 worth of information for free and in a nutshell.
Concentrate on the 3 M's. There are actually 7, but 3 will do for now. These are Market, Message, and Media. They come in that order.
Who is your target market (customer, clients, buyers, users, etc.)?
Tailor your laser focused message for this target market.
What is the best media mix to get your message to that market?
Here's what you do...first, make it an offer that is so incredible that they cannot resist. Secondly, do all the work for them. Make it so easy to make the purchase now that they can do it virtually without effort. Thirdly, give them an incentive to act right now. Fourthly, offer an almost unbelievable guarantee. Fifth, offer a bonus for acting now. There are many other incredible steps, but these steps should help the novice to the professional sell anything.
Whether you are selling B2B or B2C, you have to focus on selling to only one person. You can actually sell to one person at a time while selling to millions at a time. They are one and the same. Don't get off track, what we call digital marketing selling is just selling in print. And that has not changed since Cluade Hopkins wrote "Scientific Advertising." Really long before he wrote the book.
The secret to success: I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with some of the biggest names in business, celebrities, actors, entrepreneurs, business people, and companies from startup to billion dollar operations. The number one reason for their success is doing what they know and love while doing it in new, creative, and innovative ways.
Ask, Ask, Ask. Have thick skin and learn from each "mistake." In a short while, the market will tell you what you need to do and who and what you need to ask. But get started now even if that just means asking a contact on LinkedIn.
While you are thinking, think big and think of something at least 1% better, newer, or different. And being cheaper is not a winning strategy.
Make decisions quickly and change decisions slowly..unless you are actually going off a cliff.
Remember these two 11 letter words...persistence and consistency. They are two of the most important tools ever invented.
Treat everybody you talk to and everybody you meet (including yourself) like each is your number one million dollar customer.
Bootstrap when possible and reasonable. Read "How To Get Rich" by Felix Dennis. Or better yet just remember the camel's nose in the tent story.
However, sometimes you just need to make a deal.
Listen, in any business you have to take some chances and some risks. Make sure you don't need a license and go for it. Remember, timid business people have skinny kids. Paraphrased from Zig Ziglar.
Best of luck,
Take massive action and never give up.
Michael
Michael Irvin, MBA, RN
Answered 8 years ago
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