My secret superpower: The ability to unlocking resourcefulness and creativity in my team with humour.
As a Project Manager, managing resources is a key part of my job, and in consulting, resources mean people and manpower as well as time, focus, and mental and emotional energy.
A key part of my job is to ensure that my team have everything they need to be excellent in their job.
I make sure they have the mental resources and energy to focus on the task at hand by taking care of distracting noise such as discussion around scope and costs, and managing potentially tricky situations with customers.
Interestingly, I have found that I have the ability to kick thta up a notch.
I’ve always been very playful, and have found that using humour can quickly shift the collective mental state of a team from frustrated exhaustion to amusement, and accelerate results.
Being self-deprecating, and not taking myself too seriously, coupled with an empathic leadership style has allowed me to get the best out of my team.
I’ve observed that similar approaches from my peers have achieved comparable results, which allows me to conclude that this is a useful arsenal in the PM toolbox.
I don’t know how to teach playfulness or how to cultivate humour, except to watch loads of standup and look for things that tickle your funny bone.
If nothing else, it will make you laugh – and that, in itself will change your state which in turn will affect the state of those around you.
Maybe just do that as the first step – more laughter in your life can never be a bad thing. 😄
#onthepeiroll
#laughteristhebestmedicine
#projectmanagement
#teamwork
#leadership