I often write about neuroscience and its affects on project management. So I spend a lot of time scouring academic research, trade journals and even LinkedIn for new information on the topic. That’s how I came across this recent Business Insider article about what makes a good speaker.

Neuroscience is the very first thing mentioned in the piece, which makes the cognitive case for storytelling. It argues that understanding how our brains work can make us better speakers.

According to the article, you have about 15 seconds to grab your audience—and the average attention span is about 5 minutes. So how do you keep people engaged?

By using stories, says Princeton University researcher Uri Hasson. Mr. Hasson and his colleagues used fMRI machines to measure blood flow to regions of the brain of a speaker and the audience while a story was being told.

This research “found that the brains of a speaker and his or her listeners ‘exhibited joint, temporally coupled, response patterns.’ Simply put, the listeners' brains mirrored the speaker's brain—only when the speaker was telling the listeners a story.” The implication? Our brains are wired for story.

While I was in the Navy, stories were often used as a learning tool. And as a university professor, I’ve seen this approach work with students, as well. But what does this mean for people working in project management?

Relate and Resonate

Project professionals need to be storytellers. We may not all be on a large stage speaking to a big audience, but we’re always presenting, whether it be to stakeholders, sponsors, senior executives, etc. And think about the mundane information we often have to report.

An effective presenter is able to tell a story that will resonate with his or her audience and make mundane information more interesting.

Recently, I was a speaker for the Human Capital Institute (HCI). I used stories to make neuroscience resonate with the audience. I was delighted with the feedback I received. Each person that approached me remembered one of my stories that stuck with them and even resurfaced previous memories.

So when it’s your turn to talk to the C-suite, interject stories. You will be remembered by your ability to relay the information well—and that may serve you well when the next difficult assignment comes up.

What’s one of the best presentations you’ve ever heard? Did the speaker use stories to illustrate his or her presentation?

Originally posted on PMI's www.projectmanagement.com 

Neuroscience and Teams

On September 21, 2016, I had the privilege to present at the Human Capital Institute’s Conference in Boston, Mass.  My topic was on neuroscience and enhancing team performance through change. This is quite relevant to the project management community. The study of the brain is still in its infancy but the strides that have been done in understanding how we are wired is amazing.

For example, researchers have found that new neural pathways continue throughout a person’s life. However, it does not occur just by doing your normal routine. You need to learn something new and become proficient in the new skill. Last year, I decided to do a triathlon. I had not done one in over 25 years. This was a goal but it was also learning new skills. Sure I knew how to swim, cycle, and run. However, I needed to learn to swim in open water, not a pool, shift gears appropriately on my bike, and pace myself to have enough energy to do the run. I succeeded in the meantime created new neural avenues in my brain.

This year, I plan to learn drawing techniques. You need to understand, I can barely draw a stick figure. What made me think to do this new skill? I recently went to an establishment called Painting with a Twist. A group of six strangers or a group of friends are led by a skilled painter. I was convinced I would paint the Eiffel tower in a starry, starry night motif, in a Picasso cubism rendition. Much to my surprise, the painting was half way decent.

So why am I advocating to learn something new? As we build these new pathways our minds become more innovative and creative. This is what a project, program or portfolio team needs! Creative, inspired and innovative individuals will develop creative solutions to problems, issues, and designs. Think about the Post-It note. The product was a failure. The Post-It note was not created to be a little note that you could stick almost anywhere as a reminder. However, a creative and innovative person on the team was able to look outside of the constraints of the project and see a valuable use.

As neuroscience continues to grow and we further understand how the brain is wired for motivation, for work, and for creativity, there will be great potential for the project management industry to flourish. Let’s face we are all about people!

Will IOT Disrupt the Mobile Industry?

 

The Internet of Things (IoT) will change the cell phone landscape.

 

For many years, the smartphone has been our link to apps. We could lock our cars, play games, spy on our pets—the list is almost exhaustive.

But, I am constantly brought back to a question of whether or not smartphones will always be necessary—or will they become obsolete as more IoT devices are created that combine the hardware, software and user interface into one place.

Is this pie in the sky? Based on how our technology is rapidly progressing (which I started discussing in my last post), I don’t think so.

As Maurice McGinley, design director for Amsterdam-based AVG Innovation Labs said, “Instead of having one universal device—your smartphone—controlling your environment, you would have simple controls placed where you need them, available when you need them.”

While I have no insight into the strategic direction of the companies developing smart devices, I would contend this is the direction they will be going.

And this is great for the project management discipline.

Smartphone manufacturers and network providers (Verizon, AT&T, etc.) will need to change or broaden focus, and that means investing in new projects and programs. And the portfolio manager will need to ensure the projects and programs are on the roadmap to deliver the right value for the enterprise.

Smart device manufacturers will need to figure out how to provide a friendly user interface similar to the mobile experience.

The project management discipline would be used in a similar way as the cell phone industry. The portfolio manager should scan the enterprise for projects and programs that meet the need. If there are none or not enough to help drive the strategy, the portfolio manager needs to work with the portfolio sponsor to determine the issues. The project and program managers would deliver the capabilities needed.

So, where will you be when the industry is stood on its head? How will you help to focus the IoT to deliver the right technology for consumers and companies?

Project practitioners that truly understand their industry and where it is going can be drivers of that change.

Originally posted on PMI's projectmanagement.com

Sponge vs. Trampoline

Recently Mark Langley, the CEO for the Project Management Institute, posted a Harvard Business Review (HBR) article on LinkedIn. The article was about listening. As kids and even many educators and academics tell us that active listening is about being silent while the person talks, giving visual and oral clues that acknowledges we are listening. And finally, paraphrasing what the person heard.

However, the HBR article equates this to being a sponge and really is not active listening and it does not help either party. What is suggested in the article is to be a trampoline vs. a sponge. The trampoline listener asks questions periodically that may include challenges to old concepts, provides a positive experience which includes suggestions (and criticisms), and are not defensive by any party.

Portfolio management is about being a trampoline. As a portfolio manager, your discussions with leadership should be about listening but actively asking questions about what you are hearing, challenging old styles of portfolio thinking and making suggestion. Will the leadership be open to this type of listening. Maybe not, but you don't know until you try.

Also, leadership will slowly come around to this style of active listening. Remember you must couple your trampoline listening with results. There is another part of the portfolio family that also needs trampoline listening, the project and program managers. The project and program managers provide updates to the portfolio manager. Your active listening will help to create and update a more realistic roadmap. You, the portfolio manager, need to understand how to provide the best value to the portfolio and this is done with benefit realization. To do this, the portfolio manager needs to have a keen understanding of the health and the resources for each project and program. This can only be done with trampoline listening.

So, will you continue to be a sponge or will you jump towards being a trampoline?

Incorporating Millennials

 

Millennials get a bad rap. Some think they are lazy because, let's face it after college they go live with their parents and do nothing. They always have some device in their hand. Don't be so quick to judge. This generation of young adults are the most educated of the last five generations. Many  have a graduate degree.

Think about the economy when the millennials graduated. Nobody was hiring. It was hard to find a job let alone a brand new graduate with no job experience. My take is that companies are short sighted.

Everything we do today involves technology and being able to get the tasks done in a responsible and ethical manner. Recently, I attended the UT Dallas PM Symposium. There were several presentations on the various generations and how to encourage collaboration between the generations and how to integrate the millennials into the work environment. Conrado Morlan was quite informative. He had many good ideas about integrating millennials.

One of the suggestions he had was to give the millennial the big picture. Millennials want to understand how their work fits into the organization. So, if you have a millennial in your portfolio or in your project explain that their task must be done on time because it affects tasks down the road. If the millennials task is late then potentially the entire project/program/portfolio is now behind schedule. A client will be upset which may delay or minimize payments and eventually could give the company a bad name which also affects the bottom line. Explain how a portfolio works to provide value to the company's strategies.

Millennials love technology. Work with the millennials to increase the technology savvy within the portfolio. Give the millennials tasks and then step out of the way. If they do not know how to solve believe me they will develop a work around by researching and blogging with other millennials. Develop a relationship and trust with the millennials on your team. You will be surprised at their competencies and willingness to push the company in the correct direction!

Portfolio Managers & the Internet of Things

Blogger Stacey Higginbothan aptly notes that the Internet of Things (IoT) is now a part of our everyday lives and will eventually cause upheaval across the mobile industry.


As a portfolio manager, will you be at the forefront of the IoT revolution?

Over the past decade, IoT evolved from an area that only IT personnel really understood or dabbled in to something widely understood—and invested in—by organizations around the world.

Look around. Today, IoT is changing industries and the way our appliances and apps work with each other, and us.

Manufacturing plants can use a mobile app to change a light bulb’s color based on the situation. So, for example, software can monitor how many returns are received and change the light’s color once a certain number is reached. The app can also change the bulb’s color when items have to be packaged, when there’s a safety situation or when deliveries arrive.

The opportunities are only limited by the imagination—and by which information can be measured or reported by an app. Imagine: a fire alarm is pulled, and all the lights in the facility change color.

Forward-thinking companies are taking full advantage of IoT and making a business of it. You may have seen advertisements for the Amazon Echo, which has been “married” with other IoT technologies to create new applications.

What It Means for Portfolio Managers

Having read all this, can you think how a portfolio manager might benefit from the IoT explosion? If you understand the enterprise picture of your company and industry, you’re in a good position to think about IoT applications that your company can use, or an IoT need that your company might fulfill for customers.

The portfolio manager is in a great position to ask questions about how IoT can revolutionize various projects/programs within the enterprise. What about partnering with another firm that produces something entirely different? Is there an area where your industry needs to reduce cost, increase safety or be more effective? Remember, you could ask the question that sparks the next big development in IoT.

Stay tuned for my next blog post, about how the IoT will impact the mobile industry.

This discussion was originally posted at ProjectManagement.com.