# Presentation: 005456

## Project ManagementGovernment Specific Course I

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- Project ManagementGovernment Specific Course I

## Module 1 – Leadership/Professional Skills

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## Topic 1 -
Foundation - Entry-Level Project Management and Objectives

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- Topic 1 -
- Foundation - Entry-Level Project Management and Objectives

## Importance of Leadership

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- Essential part of project management
- More important for government project managers than for other types of project managers
- Can lack much of the positional authority that other types of managers have
- Must exercise leadership to influence without authority

## Overview of Module

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- This module covers many of the skills required for effective leadership.

- Provides strategies for:
- Avoiding and dealing with issues and conflict
- Interpersonal skills
- Oral and written communication** **
- Will explore different attributes for quality leadership

## What is Leadership?

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- DEFINITION: Ability to affect human behavior so as to accomplish a mission designated by the leader.

- Essential quality in a manager.
- Skill that can be learned like any other skill.
- Skill that can be improved with practice.** **

## What is NOT Leadership?

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- Leadership is NOT:
- Magic
- A gift that only some people have
- Just telling people what to do
- Belittling or demeaning others who do not do what you tell them to do

## Memorable Leadership Quotes

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- Memorable Leadership Quotes

- “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."– Dwight D. Eisenhower
- "A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done."– Ralph Lauren
- “"Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all." – Antarctic Explorer Ernest Shackleton, who was revered by his men even though their ship was destroyed and it took them two years to return home.

## Question

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- What skills do you feel are most important for effective leadership?  Why?

## Roles/Responsibilities

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- Focus on developing people and inspiring others to act
- Competent leader must:
- Act like a leader
- Be a good communicator
- Resolve issues
- Serve as a liaison
- Negotiate

## Roles/Responsibilities (cont.)

- Competent leaders must (continued):
- Have problem solving skills
- Influence others
- Possess strategic and political awareness
- Have and display a mix of human, business and technical skills

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## Ernest Shackleton

- Explorer who was the member of four Antarctic expeditions, three of which he led
- Most known for leading the unsuccessful Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, or "Endurance Expedition”
- Failed to achieve his goal but demonstrated the qualities of leadership for which he is best remembered

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## Shackleton Story

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- Here is the situation:  You have a state-of-the-art Nordic ice-breaking vessel, 25 men, 25 dogs, and 180 days of food rations.
- You need to lead these men through the next 15 months at 30 degrees BELOW zero, locked in the ice, isolated and with overwhelming odds against your survival.
- Through the leadership of Ernest Shackleton, all of the men survived and they never doubted his leadership.

## Shackleton – Leadership

- Led his men to refuge on Elephant Island before heading across 800 miles of ocean in an open boat with five other men.
- Reached a remote island, and Shackleton and two others crossed severe, mountainous terrain and eventually rescued the men

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## Shackleton – Leadership (cont.)

- All the men on *Endurance* survived their 22-month ordeal in the Antarctic
- Shackleton put his men's well-being, both mental and physical, above all else
- Shackleton sustained morale and created a unified team by keeping the crew busy
- In the face of changing circumstances and constant danger, Shackleton remained positive and decisive

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## Shackleton – Leadership (cont.)

- Leadership qualities of Shackleton:

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- Core Leadership Values
- Recruiting the Right People
- Creating Team Spirit and Morale
- Developing Individual Strengths
- Knowing Your People
- Leading Decisively
- Optimistic Mindset in Adversity

## Shackleton – Leadership (cont.)

- So what does all of this information mean for you as a project manager/leader?

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- Identify and incorporate the leadership attributes to help your “team” survive
- Extract valuable business lessons from a non-business source
- Evaluate the entrepreneur skill and use the  opportunities, resources and processes as a result of his abilities

## Question

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- Are you a “Shackleton-type” leader?
- Have you worked for someone like Shackleton?
- Do you believe that a leader like Shackleton can survive in today’s business world?

## Learning Objectives

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- Define the different strategies used in problem solving.
- Describe the methods used for conflict management.
- State the different qualities that are necessary for good interpersonal skills.

- At the end of this module, you will be able to:

## Learning Objectives (cont.)

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- Identify the importance of resilience as a project manager.
- Explain the skill of flexibility.
- Discuss how accountability is crucial to the success of a project.

## Learning Objectives (cont.)

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- Describe the necessary practices for good customer service.
- Distinguish written communication from oral communication.

## 

Topic  2 - 
Problem Solving

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- Topic  2 -
- Problem Solving

## Question

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- Why is problem solving particularly important to government project managers?

## Problem Solving

- Thinking and activity undertaken in order to reach an established solution.
- “A problem well understood is already half solved!”

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- DEFINITION: Process whereby a dilemma is identified and corrected

## Methods

- Methods for problem solving include:

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**Purposeful Inaction**: Problem is allowed to run a natural course.

- Example: A misspelled word in the monthly crop yield production report template is not corrected until the annual template revision cycle at the end of the year.

## Methods (cont.)

- Methods for problem solving include (continued):

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**Trial and Error: **One solution after another is tried until the problem is solved or appears to be improving.

- Example: The instructions for completing crop yield production report item #6 are revised on a monthly basis to see which wording produces the clearest and most accurate data.

## Methods (cont.)

- Methods for problem solving include (continued):

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**Heuristics:** Rules of thumb based upon experience or accepted practice.** **

- Example: If the average labor to process a crop yield production report is six minutes, then the total labor to process 1000 crop yield production reports should be about 100 hours.** **

## Methods (cont.)

- Methods for problem solving include (continued):

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**Experimentation: **Theory is tested to enhance knowledge, understanding or prediction.

- Example: An identical stack of 10 crop yield production reports is distributed to four different employees for processing, so that the average time to process one report can be calculated.

## Methods (cont.)

- Methods for problem solving include (continued):

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**System Thinking: **A holistic problem solving strategy used to address ill-structured (complex) problems - a framework for seeing relationships and patterns between all things associated with a problem.** **

- Example: The monthly processing of crop yield production reports is considered within the context of the dozens of other types of related reports that are processed. It is observed that virtually the same information that is extracted from the crop yield production report can be found within the other types of reports.** **

## Question

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- All projects are systems.  True or False

## Rational Problem Solving

- Steps in this process are to:
- State the problem
- Identify the alternatives
- Select the optimal alternative
- Implement the solution
- Feedback

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## Problem Solving

- Number one reason projects fail is because requirements are not well-understood, well-documented, or well-managed.
- Project managers must know how to create an effective problem statement.
- Spending the time to clearly and completely identify requirements at the beginning of a project should reduce the cost of correcting errors.

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- Remember: “A problem well understood is a problem half solved.”

## SMART Technique

- The SMART technique can be used to create a Problem Statement.

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- SMART stands for:
- Specific- focus on clearly defining what the problem is** **
- Measurable- “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”** **
- Attainable- make it happen** **
- Realistic- doable
- Timely- grounded with a timeframe** **

## SMART Technique Example 

- President Kennedy made a SMART problem statement when he said:
- "Send a man to the Moon and return him safely back to Earth before the close of the decade."

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## Problem Statement

- _Another Example:_
- Factual, Valid and Sound Problem Statement:
- Fifteen percent of the HR tracking system updates that we applied last month had to be backed out.  This action has caused a 25% increase in service desk issues **(Problem/Issue/Current State)**.
- HR tracking system updates will no longer have to be backed out and service desk issues will return to normal **(Desired End State)**.

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## Problem Statement (cont.)

- Why was it good?
- Simple and clear
- Individual/team can solve
- Defines current desired state or goal
- Provides focus and direction
- States a measurable goal
- Makes evaluating the effectiveness of the solution easier

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## Common Pitfalls

- Address more than one problem
- Assign a cause
- Assign blame
- Offer a solution

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- Problem Statement should not:

## Writing Problem Statements

- Make it solution independent.
- Make sure the problem is small enough to be tackled
- Do not slant the situation
- Write the statement as a complete argument.

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- Some important rules:

- * Do not discuss the assumptions and constraints in the problem statement.

## Kinds of Problems

- Well Structured Problems
- Ill-Structured Problems

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- There are two kinds of distinct problems:

## Well-Structured Problem

- Routine, occurring frequently
- Established solutions
- Described in policy, procedure manuals, training materials, workflow.

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- Solution is documented, distributed and followed.
- For example:
- The glue used to fasten the windshield of an automobile is not strong enough to hold for an extended amount of time.

## Ill-Structured Problems

- Require formulating alternatives
- Parts may be well-structured
- Less routine, predictable, and clear cut
- Not only search for alternatives, but also for problems themselves

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- For example:
- The estimated cost of a newly designated food inspection system is $150,000 over what has been allocated for it.

## Question

- Tim realizes that there is another problem when the prototype for the vehicle takes twice the amount of time that had been predicted.  The production time must be cut in half, but the quality of the product must not change.  It is not evident why the problem is occurring, but it must be fixed.
- Why is this situation an example of an ill-structured problem that could be solved using system’s thinking?

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## Topic 3 – 
Conflict Management

- Conflict Management

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## Conflict Management

- Subcategory/type of problem solving
- Involves problem solving that project managers must learn how to accomplish
- Projects are susceptible to conflicts because project managers do not control the people and resources to accomplish the work

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## Question

- What are some common conflict issues that occur in the workplace?

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## What is Conflict Management?

- DEFINITION: Management of conflicts, not the resolution of them.

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- Conflict can occur on any department within any agency** **
- Usually result of conflicting objectives
- Project Manager is also a Conflict Manager
- Continually handle crises which takes up much of his/her time

## Why Did a Conflict Arise?

- Do project’s objectives conflict with objectives of other projects currently in development?
- Example: A school bus is being designed that will hold 30% more participants, but there has been an initiative made to build a new school in the area so that less children will be attending each school.  Hence, there is no need for the new bus.
- Why do conflicts occur?

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## Why Did a Conflict Arise? (cont.)

- 3.  How can we resolve conflicts?
- 4.  Is there anything we can do to anticipate and   resolve conflicts before they become serious?

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## Question

- What is the most common misunderstanding that causes conflict for project managers?

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## Responsibility Matrix

|  | Project Sponsor | Functional Manager | Project Manager | Project Team | Steering Committee |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Project Definition | A | A | C | R | A |
| Communication Plan | A | R | C | R | A |
| Business Requirements | A | R | R | C | A |
| Status Reports | R | R | C | R | R |

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## Responsibility Matrix (cont.)

- A Responsibility Assignment Matrix:

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- Shows no ambiguity of roles and responsibilities** **
- Emphasizes that no present or future conflict is averted
- Displays Resolution = Collaboration
- Stresses that without collaboration, mistrust can prevail

## Question

- Name the types of conflict that a project manager may encounter.

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## Relative Intensity

- Relative intensity of a conflict varies as a function of:

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- Getting closer to project constraints
- Not meeting all constraints
- Project life cycle
- Individuals in conflict

## Unavoidable Conflicts - Example

- Consider the on-going road work that is so common on our roads.  There are project managers who have the responsibility to fix the roads.  There are also managers who have the responsibility to monitor how much more money has been spent then has been allocated.
- Although these two types of managers are working toward the same end – more efficient and better transportation - they are in an unavoidable conflict because of funding and allocation.

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## Methods to Resolve Conflicts

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**Confrontation **
- Most common method
- Faces the conflict directly
- Parties in disagreement attempt to persuade one another that their solution to the problem is the most appropriate** **

**Compromise**
- Parties in conflict agree to tradeoffs until a solution is arrived at that everyone can live with.** **

## Resolve Conflicts (cont.)

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**Facilitation**
- Emphasize areas of agreement
- Deemphasize areas of disagreement
- Downplays the emotional context in which conflicts occur

**Force (or forcing)**
- Project Manager attempts to resolve a disagreement by exerting his or her own opinion at the expense of the other people involved.
- Results in a win-lose situation

## Resolve Conflicts (cont.)

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**Withdrawal**
- Least used and least effective
- Project Manager withdraws from the conflict and leaves the situation unresolved.

## Root Cause Analysis

- Determines underlying reason for conflict
- Tool for continuous improvement
- Better future choices based on lessons learned

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- Root Cause Analysis:

## Question

- What are some other causes of conflict that you have encountered as a project manager?

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## Personal Differences

- Personal differences or confusion also cause conflict.  These include:

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- Cultural differences
- Behavior and language that is cultural based can exclude people** **
- Differences in opinion
- Values and views expressed by team members can be interpreted as differences of opinions which can lead to conflict** **

## Personal Differences (cont.)

- Personal differences or confusion also cause conflict.  These include: (continued)

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- Unclear roles or expectations
- If a team member is asked to perform a function that is outside his/her job role or expertise** **
- Emotional responses to an issue or person
- When feelings and/or emotions are an influence** **
- Misunderstanding of language
- Words do not mean the same things to everyone who hears or uses them** **

## Topic 4 – 
Interpersonal Skills

- Interpersonal Skills

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## Interpersonal Skills

- Project manager must:
- Consider and respond appropriately to the needs, feelings, and capabilities of the team.
- Be tactful, compassionate and sensitive.
- Treat others with respect.

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## Be an Expert!

- Successful leaders are experts at:
- Sizing people up
- Establishing two-way communication
- Creating environments that motivate greater productivity
- Adapting their own behavior to different people and circumstances

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## Question

- Why do you think strong interpersonal skills have a direct effect on the productivity of a team?
- Do you feel you have strong interpersonal skills?

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## What are Interpersonal Skills?

- Some examples are:
- Considering the ideas of co-workers
- Developing assertive approaches
- Accepting responsibilities
- Resolving conflicts

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## Power to Influence

- Sources of influence:
- Legitimate Power
- Formal authority
- Not always available to project managers
- Referent Power
- Based on charisma and social skills
- Important source of power for project managers

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## Power to Influence (cont.)

- Sources of influence: (continued)
- Expert Power
- Based on skills and expertise
- Important source of power for project managers

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## Power to Influence (cont.)

- Sources of influence (continued):
- Information Power
- Similar to expert power
- Generated by people who are well-informed, up-to-date, and persuasive
- Reward Power
- Ability to provide material rewards
- Requires a level of legitimate authority
- May be easily abused

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## Power to Influence (cont.)

- Sources of Influence (continued):
- Coercive Power
- Negatively influencing employees
- Tends to be the least effective form of power
- Builds resentment and resistance

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## Improving Interpersonal Skills

- Observe someone with effective skills.
- Practice asking questions with co-workers.

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## Interpersonal Skills (cont.)

- Ask for feedback on your effectiveness after a meeting.
- Avoid interrupting others!

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## Question

- What strategies do you give John to avoid interrupting others and to improve his listening skills?

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## Topic 5 –
Resilience

- Resilience

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## What is Resilience?

- DEFINITION:  Ability to dynamically reinvent your leadership strategies as circumstances change.

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- Key to resilience is discipline
- Strategic resilience involves anticipating and adjusting
- Continued success depends on resilience

## Question

- Why do you think resilience is an important quality of a project manager?

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## Characteristics of Resilience

- An effective project manager must:
- Deal effectively with pressure
- Maintain focus
- Effectively balance personal life and work
- Approach challenges with learning agility
- Evaluate strengths and abilities
- Enrich skills in communication and problem-solving
- Build and maintain support and positive relationships

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## Good Demeanor

- Believe that you can overcome adversity!
- Recover quickly from setbacks
- Maintain focus by utilizing a Project Plan Critical Path
- The Project Plan Critical Path is a project scheduling method
- The total length, or duration, of the project is the sum of the activity durations in the Critical Path.
- A delay to any Critical Activity will result in a delay to the Project Completion Date.

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## Good Demeanor (cont.)

- Develop capacity to make and implement realistic plans. “Plan your work, and work your plan.”
- Project plan is most important tool for being resilient

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## Question

- Can anyone share a story where you have implemented any of these strategies?  What were the results?

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## Developing Resilience

- Analyze the benefits of a change.
- Focus on what you can learn.
- Set aside time each day for personal activities that alleviate stress.

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- Suggestions:

## Developing Resilience (cont.)

- Plan systematic debriefs
- Meditate and use a journal
- Ask others what they did in similar situations
- Seek out other project managers and team members to determine resilience

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- Suggestions (continued):

## Be More Flexible

- Keep your emotions from hijacking your good reason.
- Be able to detach yourself to gain perspective.
- Understand your past and personal qualities as resources for your next choice.

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## Topic 6 –
Flexibility

- Flexibility

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## What is Flexibility?

- It includes:
- Being open to change and new information
- Adapting behavior and work methods in response to change
- Adjusting rapidly to new situations

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- DEFINITION:   Key leadership skill for project managers

## Example

- You are the project manager.  Elliot, a key team member, has an emergency appendectomy near the end of a highly visible project and will be out of the office for three weeks.
- In the meantime, you must find a way to deliver your project on time without his help.

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## Flexibility-Change Management 

- Flexibility is one of the best tools you have for success
- Flexibility means adjusting what needs to be done in order to stay focused on the end deliverable
- Best practice technique for maintaining flexibility is through Change Management

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## Flexibility-Change Management (cont.)

- The basic process for change management is:
- Establish a baseline understanding of what the current situation is
- Identify a potential change to the baseline.
- Evaluate impact of the change and determine the cost and schedule
- Make a decision about the potential change
- Implement the change and update the baseline

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## Question

- Can you provide any examples where you have used the process of change management as a best practice?

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- Topic 7 –
- Accountability

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## Importance of Accountability

- Stresses that one holds themselves and others accountable for rules and their responsibilities
- Extremely important in the public sector
- Trusted to do what is best for the country’s taxpayers
- Held accountable for behavior and ethics

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## What is Accountability?

- All individuals are held accountable for accomplishing their piece of the plan.
- Best practice technique is the Work Package – a written description of the work to be accomplished on a particular task.
- Work Package = lowest level of the WBS
- Assigns work that an individual is accountable for
- Best Practice
- Accountability focuses on the work and not on the person or personality.

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## Question

- An agency of the government is the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).  Does anyone work for this agency?
- Why is accountability in the public-sector so important that the GAO had to be created?

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## The Accountable Person

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- Assures effective controls are developed and maintained
- Enables vision into how a project is coming along and working** **
- Provides a uniformed structure for action
- Limits mistakes and irresponsible action
- Holds self and others accountable for responsibilities
- Extremely important for government employees who are regulated more than those in the private sector

## Three Constraints of a PM

## What Are We Accountable For?

- “It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.”
-             - Moliere (French Playwright and Actor)

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- It is the responsibility of the project manager to manage the project.** **
- Integrity is most important

## Origins of Accountability

- Started as a financial concept; Latin meaning “to compute”
- Dealt with the use of proper accounting and legal expenditure of public funds
- Federal project manager might include oversight mechanisms necessary to ensure goals are met

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## Example

- A federal budget official might add procedures to ensure that federal funds are spent in the most efficient manner possible.
- A state official responsible for implementing the program would work to promote accountability of the program to the state’s political community and should want to ensure that federal programs support, not distort, state priorities.

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## How to be Accountable

- Accountable **for what** and **to whom**
- Multiple legitimate masters to whom you must answer
- Important to inform those above you so that accountability can be tracked

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- All stages of the policymaking progress, thus, are implicated in accountability for public programs.

## Why Accountability?

- Crucial to the success of a project
- Ensures that others are responsible
- Creates checks to make sure that the project is on schedule
- Everyone must be accountable to achieve  success

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## Best Practices

- Best practice for managing accountability is the Status Review
- Information about accomplishments are a function of the work planned
- Decisions based on alignment between work planned and work accomplished

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- Topic 8 –
- Written communication

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## Written Communication

- DEFINITION: Expresses facts and ideas in a clear, convincing and organized manner.

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- Writing Skills:
- Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation
- Ideas are clearly expressed
- Communication organized logically
- Style, format, and content adjusted to reader

## Written Communication (cont.)

- Data presented accurately to support conclusions and recommendations
- Know when written communication is appropriate
- Send communication to appropriate people
- Get outside input when reviewing documents

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- Writing Skills (continued):

## Importance

- Do not underestimate the time needed for writing and rewriting
- We spend a lot of time writing reports, memos, E-mails and letters
- Difference between a well-written document and a poor one can impact projects and cost

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## Importance (cont.)

- Explosion of information technology has not reduced written communication
- Additional concerns to writers since mediums for communications have increased
- If your writing is ineffective, there is a good chance the reader will either miss or discount your good idea

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## Sender-Receiver Model

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## Sender-Receiver Model (cont.)

- Both sender and receiver have important roles in making sure message is communicated
- Sender must make the message clear, unambiguous, and complete
- Receiver must understand and accept the message
- Sender should request feedback to ensure that communication has taken place

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## Sender-Receiver Model (cont.)

- The *sender* is the originator of the message.
- This individual is responsible for encoding the message and for making the message clear.
- The *receiver* is the person for whom the message is intended.
- The receiver decodes the message.

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## Sender-Receiver Model (cont.)

- The receiver may filter the information and only hear what he or she wants to hear.
- The sender should request feedback to know that communication has taken place.

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## Question

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- How much time out of a typical workday do you spend writing?  What kinds of writing do you do in an average workday?

## Question

- What challenges have you encountered when trying to communicate through writing?

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## Question

- What do you think is Bill’s reaction to the e-mail with the “weak” writing skills?

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## Question

- What do you think is Bill’s reaction to the e-mail with the “strong” writing skills?

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## Question

- Look at the “weak” writing skills example again. What did James _NOT_ do when writing his email?

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## Approach Writing like Problems

- Writing is situational
- Writing is persuasion

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- You can use the same analytical skills you use with problem-solving to approach written communication.

## Analyze the Situation

- Understand your audience
- Understand timing
- Understand culture of group you try to influence

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- Effective writing involves analyzing and planning as well as doing.

## Writing Should Serve a Purpose

- Without purpose, piece should not be written
- Excessive communication can be a drain

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- Ask these Questions:
- Do I have a clear and practical purpose in writing?** **
- Am I the right person to be sending this communication?** **
- Is this the right time to be writing?
- Is the written word too risky?
- Is a written communication too rigid an approach?** **

## Question

- How can written communication be a risky form of communication?

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## Common Issues

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- Poor Organization
- Biggest Issue
- Writing without a plan
- Spelling and Capitalization
- Indicate rushed writing
- Make comprehension especially difficult

## Common Issues (cont.)

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- Grammar and Punctuation
- Changes the meaning of a sentence
- Misused Words
- Do not use words you are not comfortable with
- Redundancy
- Repetition also causes difficulty

## Common Issues (cont.)

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- Hedging
- Unneeded phrases drain writing authority
- Lengthy paragraphs and sentences
- Passive Language
- Inappropriate Tone

- Topic 9 –
- Customer Service

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## Customer Service

- Commitment to providing value-added services to:
- External Customers
- Internal Customers
- Project environment emphasis on customer has been expanded to the broader term Stakeholder

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## Question

- Why do you think strong customer service skills are important for the project manager to possess?

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## Service Standards

- Identify customers who should be served
- Survey customers to determine needed quality of service
- Perform Stakeholder Analysis
- Post service standards and measure results against them

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## Service Standards (cont.)

- Benchmark standards against best in business
- Provide customer with choices
- Make information, services and complaint systems accessible
- Address customer complaints

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## Question

- The executive mandate states that government customer service standards should be benchmarked against the best in business.
- Have you had a good customer experience recently?  What in particular about that experience made it satisfying?

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## Necessary Practices

- Define what extraordinary really means
- Knowing what exceptional service entails is essential to establishing the procedures
- Ask if you are not sure.
- It is understandably difficult to genuinely pinpoint what extraordinary service really entails.

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- There are five necessary practices for establishing an ongoing climate of service excellence.

## Necessary Practices (cont.)

- Allow your people to be extraordinary.
- Saying you want extraordinary service and actually carrying it out is difficult without giving your team members the necessary authority
- Share Information.
- Lets team members know what is hitting on all cylinders.
- Promote products or services to customers
- Share the commitment.
- Reward performance

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## Question

- Why should you make it a point to share information with your team members?

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- Topic 10 –
- Oral Communication

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## Oral Communication

- Necessary skills include:
- Clear and convincing oral presentations
- Effective listening
- Facilitate open exchange of ideas
- Fosters open communication

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## Facets of Communication

- Not everyone is an effective communicator
- Poor oral communication can affect many more people than yourself.

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- Oral communication composed of multiple elements which should result in successful interaction.

## Facets (cont.)

- You will be able to conduct yourself in a variety of environments with confidence
- Oral communication is a unique and learned rhetorical skill
- Critically think about how you present yourself as a speaker

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## Question

- Why is it especially important, as a project manager, to have strong oral communication skills?

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## Developing Listening Skills

- Paraphrasing
- Restate the main ideas you just heard
- Reflecting
- State the other person's emotions without agreeing or disagreeing
- Summarizing
- Restate the core themes of the conversation without evaluation

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- Techniques:

## How to Improve

- Ask for responsibility of presenting new work process or procedure
- Volunteer to make an oral presentation
- Volunteer to design and deliver a presentation

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## How to Improve (cont.)

- Get feedback before presentation from co-workers
- Interact and communicate with diverse audiences
- Establish routine of communicating with people in all departments
- Try informal walk-abouts, visits/lunch in the break room as examples

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## How to Improve (cont.)

- Observe effective presenters and communicators
- Analyze the practices and behaviors that make them effective
- Identify how to incorporate them into your own presentations
- If it works, use it!

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- Topic 11 –
- Review

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## Learning Objectives

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- Define the different strategies used in problem solving.
- Describe the methods used for conflict management.
- State the different qualities that are necessary for good interpersonal skills.
- Identify the importance of resilience as a project manager.

- Recall the learning objectives for this module:

## Learning Objectives (cont.)

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- Explain the skill of flexibility.
- Discuss how accountability is crucial to the success of a project.
- Describe the necessary practices for good customer service.
- Distinguish written communication from oral communication.

## Key Points

- Problem Solving
- Identifying and analyzing problems by distinguishing between relevant and irrelevant information
- Using processes to find and solve problems
- Conflict Management
- Identifying and taking steps to prevent potential situations that could result in unpleasant confrontations.
- Minimizing the negative impact of conflicts

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## Key Points (cont.)

- Interpersonal Skills
- Being tactful, compassionate and sensitive, treating others with respect.
- Resilience
- Ability to dynamically reinvent your leadership strategies as circumstances change.
- Minimizing the negative impact of conflicts and disagreements.

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## Key Points (cont.)

- Flexibility
- Being open to change and new information
- Adapting behavior and work methods
- Resilience means:
- Dealing effectively with pressure
- Recovering quickly from setbacks

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## Key Points (cont.)

- Accountability
- Holding yourself and others accountable
- Monitoring and evaluating plans that focus on success
- Written Communication
- Expressing facts and ideas in writing successfully
- Knowing your audience, organizing your information, and choosing the appropriate tone

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## Key Points (cont.)

- Customer Service
- Influencing others toward a spirit of service and meaningful contributions
- Oral Communication
- Effective listening
- Facilitating open exchange of ideas

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