Let’s face it, technology has rapidly changed the way we do business — and markets, themselves, are shifting in a major way. We’re seeing steady progression across an entire industry and are taking on higher-paying opportunities in sectors that we never thought we would be. Managers are entering into new markets, as the realm of technology continues to evolve before our very eyes.
We
demand innovation and watch it transform on a daily basis. Technologies
broaden, but the markets haven’t been nearly as kind. Most agencies are
understaffed and roles unfulfilled.
We’re
seeing those with no formal education compete against MIT graduates.
Project managers are stepping up, some of whom have never spent a single
day behind the scenes. We’re seeing interns become directors and
start-ups popping up all over the country. More people are working
remotely, and central offices are no longer commonplace.
The
workforce has become global, and we have begun to control our teams at a
distance. We have more power than we ever did, and the possibilities
are now endless.
With
more opportunities in our hands, all it takes is a little bit of
ambition and a simple roadmap to get you where you need to be. Let us
help position you on your journey with these five tips for transitioning
into IT project management — and ultimately, the transition to success!
#1 | Define your scope, build teams accordingly.
Before
defining your scope, you will want to pay attention to your client’s
business-related needs and objectives. This will include budget and
resource availability, critical timelines and expectations. Your scope
will give you a solid foundation to build upon and help you better
identify the teams you will need to hire to get the job done both
effectively and within a timely manner.
Identify your ideal team members, including areas of specialization, level of skill and how they will interact with one another.
Ask yourself:
ü Do you need them on-site, or can they work remotely?
ü How many people can you hire, and will you need to train them?
ü Will you need to hire an outsourcing agency, or are you going to recruit each member directly?
#2 | Schedule teams based on need, availability and areas of expertise.
Once
your scope has been mapped out and your teams have been built, you will
begin scheduling each member, as according to need, availability and
area of expertise. You should pay special attention to the previous
achievements and contributions made to other projects that they have
worked on in the past.
Find
common ground. Where previous contributions were with companies much
larger or smaller than your own, translate scalability and decide
whether those team members are capable of handling the tasks that you
throw at them. Are they able to streamline daily tasks with speed,
agility and a certain level of specialization?
Before positioning each team member, ask yourself how they will measure up against:
· Productivity, performance and/or efficiency, both as a team or on an individual basis.
· Dependability, resourcefulness and the customer experience.
#3 | How will your teams interact? Pay attention to interdisciplinary communication.
As
you may already know, teams work differently, based on the admixture of
personalities types, therein. This is where predictive hiring,
behavioral analysis, networking and cultivated relationships can come in
very handy for a project manager, regardless of industry.
If
you have too many influencers on your team, who will plan and analyze?
If there are too many leaders, who will handle administration and ensure
compliances? Pairing teams, based on personality type, will allow each
team to thrive, while encouraging personal growth and individual
commitment.
Friction
often leads projects to fail, underperform or fall short of
expectation. This often happens when the team dynamic is overlooked and
communication falters. On the contrary, teams matched based on
personality, prove more productive, as they tend to exceed expectation
for quality, turnaround and the overall customer experience.
#4 | Optimize your workforce, define the strengths and weaknesses of new and existing team members.
Similar
to pairing based on personality types, we also find that one path to
success may actually come from optimizing the workforce, directly. In
optimizing the workforce, we look for certain factors or KPIs that will
allow us to measure individual contributions and/or takeaways, such as:
· Behaviors in certain environments.
· Reactions to stress or actions under pressure.
· Individual strengths.
· Weaknesses amongst the team, itself.
These
points will be indicators that someone is or isn’t a good fit for a
particular project. While we can always develop strengths in an
individual, sometimes time is a vital factor. Adding new teams would
offset those members, who would not otherwise live up to certain
expectations — or the skill level, necessary, to carry out individual
tasks or timelines, as associated with each project.
Pairing
teams, based on personality type, will continue a major hand in the
success of each project or client portfolio. However, strengths can be
drawn from those individual aspects and used as additional indicators of
key personality types we need to recruit in optimizing the workforce,
directly.
#5 | Understand missed opportunities in the hiring cycle.
We
face many roadblocks, as project managers, when it comes to hiring
qualified talents for key projects within our portfolio. These
roadblocks almost seem counterproductive from the start of each project
and in the development of our teams, over time. We rush hiring processes
to meet deadlines and in catering to dependencies across entire
lifecycles, therein.
Due
to the lack of efficient manpower, budget shortages and the fulfillment
of outside obligations, the hiring process is often one of the first
processes to be shortchanged at the onset of each project. And because
we ultimately must juggle each project on an individual basis, we can’t
spend a whole lot of time in the recruiting, training, interviewing and
onboarding of incoming talents. We end up relying too much on our
immediate networks, career sites and job boards to provide us with the
talent we need to get the job done.
To
make matters worse, most of these resources will then rely on ATS
engines to provide us with a pool of qualified talents, who we must then
interview, develop and onboard accordingly. ATS engines, however, will
only provide us with those candidates who meet certain criteria and have
found a way through key algorithms. Up to 75% of today’s top talents
will actually never be seen.
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES ARE PUBLISHED TO THE DISC INSIGHTS BLOG, OWNED BY PEOPLEKEYS.
Jessica is passionate about “people” and helping them to evolve professionally. Her “I-style” personality trait has led her to 15+ years of service to public relations, social branding, and design strategy. In love with technology, business, and career development, Jessica has contributed to a number of online platforms and is a part of PeopleKeys branding team, as well.
Most people enter a relationship thinking “this just might be
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issues cause most couples to become out of sync. It’s this moment in
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different personalities is the first step in helping the love birds get
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narrow down the talent pool and know in advance not only what kind of
background and information they’re looking for, but also the type of
personality best suited for the job at hand.[…]
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Easter is a celebration of rebirth, and is a good time to also
renew relationships by showing people around you your understanding of
their personalities. DISC theory, a universal language of communication,
teaches us everyone has their specific preferences, approaches and
little quirks. This also applies to the types of gifts they enjoy to
receive the most! At Easter, it is a tradition to give a basket to
colleagues, family members and kids as a sign of appreciation. Here are
few ideas you can use for Easter baskets, based on the personality style
of the recipient:[…]
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When it comes to dealing with stress, change and volatile
situations, understanding DISC personality styles and communicating
change in the proper way is always necessary. When you coach against
life changes, a behavioral approach not only builds trust amongst all
involved, but it allows each personality to contribute without the fear
of conflict or confrontation. As we previously discussed in our blog
about coaching life changes for the active personality styles, according
to DISC theory personality styles can be separated into Active and
Passive styles. The active “D” and “I” styles tend to react quickly to
challenges and being stagnant drives them crazy. At the same time – the
passive styles – “C” and “S” are more reserved and slower to accept
change. Your main task as a life coach will be to help them understand
that sometimes taking too much time to process an idea can become
detrimental to progress and counterproductive to the situation. See more
life coaching tips below.[…]
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It’s not always easy to adapt to change, especially if it’s all
happening at once. Sometimes change can be overwhelming. There’s no
guidebook as to how our lives are going to change every step of the way,
and there’s no deadline to prepare for. This is a moment many people
turn to a life coach or a behavioral consultant to guide them through
and support transition. There are a lot of guidelines coaches implement
to help handle transitions and support their clients from point A to
point B. Let’s see how a coaching professional can best utilize the
personality approach to guide change.[…]
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When a client of ours, let’s call him Joseph, took over a
company project, he knew it wouldn’t be easy to turn things around. The
design team had fallen behind over the course of a year and a half. They
were just six months away from the final delivery date originally
committed and had blown through more than half-a-million dollars
originally allocated to the entire project. Yet, there was still nothing
ready to deliver to their client. There was a huge liability sitting on
the table…one that would ruin the company entirely.[…]
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No matter the realm of your operations, you are going to
eventually be working within a team. With a larger group, more
personalities will come to the table – and with a greater number of
personalities, we see an increase of ego, thirst for power,
miscommunication and lack of vision.[…]
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Behavioral selling is presenting your product or service in a
way your customer can relate. Show them benefits, such as how your
product will help them meet their goals or how your service will more
than exceed their expectation. Some clients will want it now – give them
examples and samples.[…]
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Let’s be honest – unless you sell something that is scarce or in high demand, such as power or bottled water in the desert, people may not really care if they’re going to buy from you or someone else. That’s why your approach means everything and understanding your clients will provide the best path to success. People have problems to solve, not products to buy. That’s why a good salesperson will use the proper approach and provide information in the right way to open doors. Let’s look at some common approaches of highly successful sales people to boost your sales.[…] Read more
Have you ever noticed the difference in day-time advertising,
as opposed to the advertising you see at night? Some commercials last
longer at 1:00 PM than they do at 5:00 PM… and there are many variations
depending on the channel. Well, there is actually a reason for that and
it’s not as far-fetched as one might believe. This is part of
behavioral selling, where the way you deliver your message can make the
difference between attracting a new client or losing them before you
even opened your mouth. This same model can be successfully applied to
boost your own bottom line.[…]
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Employers are saving both time and money by implementing tools
for predictive hiring into their regular hiring practices, and to get
past the obstacles met within the initial screening of candidates,
hiring managers have begun applying a number of pre-hire assessments
into final decision-making. These assessments serve as indicators of
what a person may or may not bring to the table, how they will interact
with an existing workforce and how they will perform in particular
environments.[…]
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Every educator deals with a wide range of personalities and
behaviors on a daily basis. There are always some overachievers, as well
as those students who need just a little bit of a push in the right
direction. They require undivided attention, but sometimes are
overlooked. If they are meeting the milestones provided by academic
boards, the educators’ efforts are considered a success. Some students
aren’t given the right support, as an individual, to compete against
their peers academically. Truth is it’s not that they can’t comprehend
what’s being taught to them, as much as it is how they are being taught.
Many of these kids are recklessly thrown into programs and classrooms,
and aren’t encouraged to go that extra mile towards success. See below
for a few suggestions on how to improve this situation.[…]
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We live in a versatile economy. It’s not unusual for companies
to hire on a project-by-project basis or let their employees work
remotely. Thus, they are minimizing overtime pay and overhead, and in
some cases eliminating costs associated with office space or tax laws.
In return, their employees are enjoying a little flexibility, taking on
more than one project at once, and often earning more than they would as
a full-time employee with the company. Remote or temp employees and
project-based managers are in more demand than ever. While many
companies actually have a full-time project management office staffed
with in-house professionals, it’s becoming the norm to hire project
managers that may not ever reach a physical office or those who control
remote teams, globally dispersed around the world.[…]
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One way coaches have been finding new clients – and immediate
success – is through already established channels that allow them to
earn while building their brand from the ground up. Once you get
certified in DISC Behavioral Analysis, you have the unique chance to
start developing multiple streams of income with the application and
expert knowledge of the PeopleKeys DISC system. Gain the insight you
need to begin capitalizing on your knowledge and experience with the
PeopleKeys Business Partner Training and try some of the strategies
below.[…]
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There are many approaches a coach can apply to expand their
coaching network. In addition to gaining online visibility and creating
content for different digital channels, there’s no better promotion than
that earned through word-of-mouth and referrals. As a Certified
Behavioral Consultant, you may and must network within the community and
establish yourself amongst people who may already be familiar with your
previous career, reputation or history. Depending on your personality
style and your internal passions, this type of awareness is up for
interpretation.[…]
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If you build your brand, people will come for you to coach
them. While we’re referencing the movie “Field of Dreams,” as a
Certified Behavioral Coach you will need a strategy to help you gain
momentum, credibility, and increased revenue in a field of your own and
develop your coaching business to the level you want it to be. As we
provide you with a brief insight on brand awareness, social branding,
and public relations tactics, please envision yourself as a brand and
compare these topics to what you are currently doing. Apply these
strategies to your own business and watch your portfolio grow.[…]
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Many coaches get accredited in DISC Behavioral Analysis as a
first step or as a part of their coaching training. Once they complete
their training as a Certified Behavioral Consultant or as a Certified
Behavioral Life Coach, one of the most often asked questions is how do I
reach my potential clients. We, at PeopleKeys, are here to help while
you’re expanding your coaching network. One of the first places you
should start developing your brand is on social media, and here are a
few points for you to consider.[…]
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Many coaches who feel confident providing business expertise in
sales, strategic planning, and growth but are reluctant to venture into
hiring, despite the impact hiring can make in each of these areas.
Could DISC for Hiring be the missing piece of your puzzle for success?
Effective hiring strategies can have an immediate and long-lasting
impact on growth and productivity. Many DISC Certified Behavioral
Consultants are tasked to manage the hiring process of their clients, or
at least provide advice for the best fit (especially for top management
positions). As you are probably quite aware by now, and from your
training with PeopleKeys, DISC system is one of the most effective ways
to gage human behavior and develop improved communications amongst
teams. It’s effective for operations and sales, and it’s definitely
effective in predictive hiring processes.[…]
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Networking can be an uncomfortable feat for many coaches
entering their first few years in business. They’re intimidated by
titles and worried decision-makers are unapproachable. In fact, making
more connections means growing your coaching network and increasing your
potential client outreach. Following up with your network not only
warrants eventual contracts in the future, but it also keeps interested
parties “in the loop.” As your coaching network begins to grow, your
efforts will not go unnoticed. You can build your network by
participating within local chapters and organizations, frequenting
mixers and events, and even socially through sites such as Alignable and
LinkedIn. While we have heard the cliché, “it’s not about what you
know, it’s about who you know,” there is truth to the matter. Here are a
few points to consider:[…]
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Let’s be honest – unless you sell something that is scarce or in high demand, such as power or bottled water in the desert, people may not really care if they’re going to buy from you or someone else. That’s why your approach means everything and understanding your clients will provide the best path to success. People have problems to solve, not products to buy. That’s why a good salesperson will use the proper approach and provide information in the right way to open doors. Let’s look at some common approaches of highly successful sales peopleto boost your sales.[…] Read more
Research by the Harvard Business Review shows that acquiring
top talent could ultimately be the difference between success and
mediocre result. In fact, vetting and positioning incoming talents,
based on strengths and abilities, isn’t always enough. With every
“ying,” there’s a “yang.” Therefore, both are necessary in finding the
right talent for your organization.[…]
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A new year means new opportunities, a fresh start, and new
beginnings. For many organizations, this also means new relationships,
as companies seek to partner with like-minded associates in the
expansion of ongoing business initiatives. Finding the support of new
products, services, and community-based programming can often be a
daunting task. So, forging strategic partnerships can be a godsend, when
teaming up with just the right brand.[…]
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According to Sandy Kulkin, CEO and Founder of PeopleKeys,
“People are different, but they’re predictably different.” They’re
different in the ways they carry themselves, the ways they are
motivated, how they interact with others, how they deal with stress, and
even how they seal the deal. But on the other end of the spectrum, the
various personality types have been prewired in our systems from the
time we were born through our years of “adulting.” The experiences we
encountered in childhood tend to dictate how we deal with stress, and
our trust in others will come from the adversity we have faced over our
lifetime.[…]
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You’ve implemented various strategies, utilizing DISC methods
for sales, leadership, and predictive hiring – but, now what? How do we
gage our performance and determine the results of our efforts? How do we
use these results to improve our business over time?[…]
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You may be surprised but the truth is that anyone can be
successful at sales and you can certainly predict a sales team’s
effectiveness. It may not happen naturally or overnight… It takes is a
little bit of awareness, training, and willingness to adapt to other
personas. While some personalities are natural-born influencers, even
the most driven sales professional will run into clients who are
difficult to read and a little rough around the edges.[…]
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The hiring manager is often undervalued, because the
recruitment process is so complex. Not many realize what it takes to
find qualified talent or how to develop a meaningful hiring process that
proves itself over time. Likewise, Human Resources can also go
unappreciated for their role in employee retention and/or turnover
ratios. Yet, together, these two forces make all the difference in the
world.[…]
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Dr. William Marston developed his DISC theory while at Harvard
University as a method of identifying major human personality traits and
translating them into predictable behaviors. It is true that people can
be predictable, but they are also predictably different. Being able to
read through their personality differences is a key to good
communication and building successful relationships, partnerships,
families… Have you determined your DISC personality, yet? If not, the
DISC Personality Profile will take you about 10 minutes to complete and
get a full report of your combined personality style.[…]
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Active listening is an interpersonal skill that every top
professional needs. No matter if you are a business professional, sales
person, executive coach or business consultant, active listening is an
essential part of utilizing your knowledge of human behavior. It allows
us to take both verbal and non-verbal cues from clients and begin to
understand their every need.[…]
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Continuing our series on global expansion by utilizing DISC, we
already reviewed the importance of DISC for strategic planning and
applying behavioral analysis for hiring and teambuilding in part 1, and
focused on some strengths of the different personality styles for
business development in part 2. In addition, we must understand that
some countries are more family-oriented than others. These cultures may
be friendlier, ambitious and centered on people. Other cultures can be
more impersonal – especially in business. They want to know numbers,
there is very little eye contact and they can be somewhat aggressive.
Short and to-the-point, we need someone to present them with the facts,
while onboarding them for ongoing business initiatives. In addition, see
also How do DISC styles vary by country.[…]
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Once we begin to expand into new territories, we need to really
do our due diligence to understand the local communities, traditions,
business practices, and hierarchy. We need to position our leaders,
based on the needs of businesses in outside cultures. Keeping our teams
integrated by hiring locals will eliminate much of our burdens in the
marketplace. Keeping our teams happy will build trust in nearby
territories. Together, we can position our brand for greatness and
eliminate cultural discrepancies in the process. In Part 1, we discussed
why DISC theory is important to globalization and gave few tips and
tricks for teambuilding & interaction with “the locals,” and here we
will continue to dig further in utilizing DISC in your global
expansion.[…]
Read more
Tariffs aside, globalization is here to stay. With the
evolution of technology, our world gets smaller and smaller. Likewise,
even the smallest business is now able to reach territories further and
further away. This means connecting with people and authorities of all
cultures, some that you may not yet be familiar with. But how do you get
along with people that can be so different? Here’s a simple answer –
DISC has always been a tool to understand people and predict their
behaviors. We can fairly state that DISC is the international language
of human behavior and no matter of cultural differences, DISC
personalities speak the same language.[…]
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As many organizations are finalizing year-end strategies and
developing next year’s business plans, others have already taken a
running leap into 2019 with iron-clad initiatives for growth and
expansion. No matter which phase of strategic planning you are in,
please don’t forget that “people” are our most significant investment
and that our businesses are defined most effectively by our workforce.
According to Human Resources Today, the macrotrends for workforce
optimization in 2019 are dominated by record-low rates of global
unemployment. Simply said, this means that workforce optimization, in a
tight labor market, must be a top priority for any business entering the
new year.[…]
Read more
