How to Maintain Trust and Transparency in Agile Projects

10 Steps For Stakeholder Communication As the Project Manager for an app development project, effective stakeholder communication was crucial. The stakeholders were diverse - from our internal tech team and sales department to external parties such as investors and the end-users. Our first step was to identify all the stakeholders and understand their expectations. For example, our tech team was focused on robust functionality, sales were interested in market competitiveness, and our investors were looking at return on investment. Using these insights, we developed a communication plan. For instance, our tech team preferred detailed email updates, while our investors appreciated concise presentations during monthly meetings. We customized our language and delivery to cater to each party. A significant roadblock occurred midway through the project, a technical glitch that delayed our timeline. Being transparent, we communicated this to all stakeholders promptly, explaining the situation, its implications, and our recovery plan. Although it led to some difficult discussions, especially with our investors, we handled them with professionalism and tact, reinforcing their trust in our capabilities. Throughout the project, we asked for feedback - such as the tech team's advice on resolving the glitch or the investors' views on our recovery strategy. This fostered a sense of collaboration and kept everyone engaged. When we finally resolved the glitch and got back on track, we celebrated this success and shared it with all stakeholders, bolstering morale and reinforcing their faith in the project. This approach transformed stakeholder communication from a challenge into an opportunity, contributing to our project's eventual success. ❗How Can I Help You? I'm Justin, a PhD and PMP holder with 21 years of project management experience, mentoring Fortune 500 teams. I've trained 4,000+ professionals, and now I focus on helping project managers in swiftly advancing their skills to enhance their career trajectories, surpass competitors, and evolve their project skills into becoming highly desirable leaders. 👇 Join my upcoming cohort for using ChatGPT for Project Management! lnkd.in/dmA-dNjS #business #management #projectmanagement #innovation #operationsmanagement

Whenever I ask leaders about the best manager they ever had, I hear things like: * They were straight with me. * They kept our team in the loop on what was happening. * They weren’t afraid to share mistakes. But when the conversation turns to how those same folks are leading their own teams, it’s not unusual for me to hear things like: * I’m not sure everyone is ready for the full picture. * Will people think less of me if I admit my mistakes? * I need to shield my team from some of this nonsense. On this week’s Coaching for Leaders podcast episode, Minda Harts reminds us that, “Employees can handle the truth.” Minda and I explored how we can all do better at being the transparent leaders we all wish we had. Minda is the bestselling author of several books, including her newest: Talk to Me Nice: The Seven Trust Languages for a Better Workplace. Here’s what she said during our chat: * You’re not helping by shielding people from difficult conversations. * Most everyone assumes baseline behaviors of employees. Employees expect reciprocity through transparency. * We often think about transparency with information that’s known. Just as important is clarity about what’s not known. * Even when you can’t share news, you can put time and resources into what will help people handle a new reality when it arrives. * Transparency provides clear, honest, and timely information. * Promote transparency in roles. A job description is a helpful starting point for this. * Good intentions do not mean good impact. When changes happen, communicate them as quickly as practical. The full audio, transcript, and notes are here: https://lnkd.in/gUFyXkPR Your turn: What has a current or past manager done to demonstrate transparency? Comment below.

Leaders - Create a team environment where everyone feels safe, heard and able to be their authentic self. Your team will thrive in an environment where they’re showing up true every day and crushing it. —— One time when I joined a new team, I set out to get a feel for how things were going. I did small group meetings and one on ones. And then I also did a feedback form to get the details on the good and bad. One of the team members came up to me and asked: “Who is going to see the form submissions?” Me: “Well they’ll come to me but we’ll review them with our leadership team.” Them (kind of hesitantly): “Oh, okay…” Me: “Does the fact our whole leadership team will see it change the feedback that you would submit in the form?” Them: “100% it does.” —— My heart sunk because at that point I knew we had a lot of work to do to build a culture of transparency, trust, and accountability. And one that people can provide honest, tough feedback without fear of retaliation or negative consequences. It took awhile, but we turned that ship around and built an environment where feedback was free flowing, and we were all focused on making the team a great place to work and thrive. But it all starts with that trust and transparency. And you get that, you have to give it - so be straightforward with your teams, be vulnerable, be authentic. And you’ll build a culture that has that as well. #salesleadership #culture #teambuilding