Managers of Hope

Whether you are aware of it or not, the project manager is the manager and custodian of hope for the whole project team.

If your teammates feel a bit lifeless, perhaps you have lost their hope.

According to 'Linchpin' by Seth Godin: "Optimism is the most important human trait, because it allows us to evolve our ideas, to improve our situation and to hope for a better tomorrow."

During the life of a project, many things happen: team members join and leave, budget cycles ebb and flow, internal conflicts and constraints arise, and stakeholders throw curveballs.

For the average person, these events are enough to throw them off and turn them away from the project. This is a high risk in non-project environments and can lead to sudden loss of key people.

In environments that are used to running projects, the risk is more likely to show up as battle wariness. This is when people stop showing up at project meetings, switch priority to other things and need a lot of chasing to do anything for the project.

Either way, when people lose hope for the project they will naturally turn away, switch off and disengage. This is partly to preserve energy and save time, but also to protect themselves against disappointment and to not be on a 'sinking ship'.

The project manager has a crucial role in managing the collective hope for the project. I'm not talking about blind optimism here, but maintaining a clear vision, showing the path to reach the project goal and defending the project from negative talk and unfounded rumours.
We've talk about vision in an earlier post and this explains the reason why the project exists. The path to reach the project goal is defined in detail in the project plan, though I find it useful to have a project strategy to explain how the project team will succeed despite the many challenges along the way. This strategy is key to manage hope.
When it comes to dealing with rumours and negative talk, I insist on openness and transparency within the team so that questions and concerns are addressed early and not left to fester into ill assumptions and hearsay.

Finally, how you behave as a project leader is far more important than what you say. Action is worth a thousand words. Over time, team members and stakeholders will be more aware of your behaviour than any promises made. Walk your talk. It's also important to ensure that the sponsor and supporting senior stakeholders are clearly and demonstrably committed to the project at all times. They provide the context for project hope. 

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