You have a lot of responsibility as a project manager. You are responsible for ensuring that the project is completed to the highest quality. However, you must also ensure that your team works together in a way that allows this to happen. You are responsible for the social climate and logistics of the assignment. Trust is essential for all types of partnerships. As a project manager, it’s important to foster trust. Building trust can make a group of people work together into a rock star team.
By Being Transparent
Sugarcoating things makes them easier to talk about in the moment, but they get worse over time. You need to be open about the work involved in completing a complex project. Your team will see through your deceit if you make something that is actually quite big seem small. This is not the right way to go. They will respect and trust you more if they are honest from the beginning.
You can provide the right kind of support
If you give orders but your team doesn’t see you actually doing anything, it could give the impression that you are arrogant. Your team may not know that you are working behind the scenes. It is important to be there for them, supporting them as they work. Your team members will appreciate you taking on the dirty work from time to time. It shows them that you care about their efforts and aren’t just giving orders to lighten your load.
Encourage Independence Through Encouragement
Sometimes your way is not always the best. A great team is made up of people with different experiences and many talents. Sometimes they will know things you don’t. Let them show you their knowledge. Let them try it if they think they have a better way. Innovative minds will always prevail. You can help innovators feel like they are equal by allowing them to speak their minds. Trust is built from trust.
How to handle conflict like a champ
Arguments are inevitable. Multiple people have different opinions and all want to contribute to the same project. You will give the impression that you are a high-ranking leader by putting down your team members. No one is going to be willing throw trust in the air and hope that you catch it. Do not silence conflict, but instead diplomatically manage it. Sometimes, a team member may be upset about something you did. It’s okay to give constructive criticism and allow for relevant criticism.
Take Responsibility
Sometimes things don’t work. Sometimes ideas will need to be abandoned. When a project is close to completion, you will receive negative feedback. Although it is not something you like to think about, it is a fact of project management. You must be able and willing to take responsibility when things go wrong. You have given the green light to all the plans. Pointing fingers at those who did the hard work to implement them is not going to get you far. Solidarity with your team is the best way to show them you care. They will trust your judgment and be more open to hearing the bad news.
It is important to remember that you should not speak to your team members in a dictatorial way. You are still part of the same team, even though you are a leader. Trust is built on the ability to trust one another and they should be able to depend on you.
Software for Project Management
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