Leading without authority is a critical skill set
for project managers, and in this video,
I'm going to share and teach you how you can lead
a project team that doesn't report into you.
And while we're talking about teams,
I have something special for you.
Top 10 things you need to know.
It's like a checklist, and I'm going to give you
this information at the end of this video.
So, you need to stay tuned.
Hi, if you're new here, welcome.
I'm Adriana Girdler and I am your host,
your leader, your leader leading you without authority
in the world of project management.
Yeah, well, we're here to learn
how to lead without authority.
So, on that note, please subscribe.
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Let's just get to it.
What is leading without authority?
It's when you're responsible for everything
and the people who are going to be delivering on it,
but they don't report in to you, in fact,
they report into a direct manager.
So, how do you convince them now to ensure
that they follow you completely?
That is leading without authority.
Have a strong why, okay?
When you're leading people who don't report directly
in to you, then you need to motivate them,
and motivation comes from why are we doing this?
Yeah, yeah, people have to do tasks
and they have to execute them,
but what really gets people connected to you
when they don't report into you
and you don't have any kind of sway over them,
is the why, the motivation.
They're excited about the project.
It's a cool thing to work on.
It's fun to work with you.
That becomes really important,
and one of the greatest gifts we can give
to our team members with the why is really having
a clear understanding of the background,
so we can explain why we're doing this,
get a really clear idea of the scope statement.
What are the parameters are we working on?
And more importantly, what's in and out?
So, people aren't chasing or going down the wrong path.
That in itself really ensure that they understand the why,
and now, they get connected to you
because they're clear with what it is they have to do.
Get buy-in, all right?
You have to do this at the beginning as well.
Now, buy-in is when people have bought into
what you're doing, how you're doing it, et cetera.
And so, there are very key,
specific ways that you can do this.
The first point of contact with buy-in is actually
with your action plan.
So, I use a work breakdown structure in action plan.
If you go YouTube, Adriana Girdler or WBS, it'll pop up,
and you'll get more information on it.
But I use that in the beginning of my projects
at a kickoff meeting, where we develop
our action plan together.
I may have set up the framework,
but I don't give the final say as to what it is
that everybody's doing.
I allow my subject matter expert,
my team members to do that.
That's amazing buy-in, but it's not only buy-in,
them buying in to what you're doing
because you're putting the task forward.
It also brings accountability,
something you definitely want to make sure that's there.
Another thing you want to also consider doing
from a buy-in perspective is,
ensure your team is part of key decision making
meetings, aspects, that they're part of it.
It's not you alone making all the decisions.
You have a team for a reason, bring them under the fold
and ensure that they're part of brainstorming,
that they're being heard, if they have a disagreement
or they don't agree necessarily with something.
So, you want to make sure that you do that buy-in,
and last but not least, and something really important,
and if you've seen any of my videos,
particularly on charters, again, Adriana Girdler,
charters, go search it up, have them sign the charter.
That is your document, your marching orders
as to what everybody is supposed to be doing
and has a whole bunch of other great information in it,
but by having them sign it, you're basically saying,
do you agree with our ways of working and what we're doing?
Have you bought in?
And they're signing off saying, yeah, I have.
Keep open and frequent communication.
If you're going to be leading without authority,
you have to build trust in your team.
The best way to build trust in your team is that your team
needs to know that you have their back,
that you're there for them,
that you're going to remove the roadblocks,
that you're going to ensure that their success
is actually your success and the project success,
success that they need to know you're all working together.
The best way to do that is to be open, transparent,
but also to have frequent communication
because what happens when we don't communicate frequently?
We come up with assumptions.
We misinterpret something
'cause we don't have clarity on it,
and then, that really starts your house of cards,
which you're building when you're building a project.
'Cause, you know, people aren't necessarily reporting
to you can fall down really, really quickly.
So, it becomes really important.
Really focus on that communication, keep them up to date,
reply back right away, ensure that they're part
of that loop with your updates.
It just becomes really, really important,
and they're going be appreciative of that.
Clarify things.
If you have to say it 25 times, do it,
'cause I promise you, you don't ever want to say,
I told you that once.
Why is it that you're asking me again?
Oh my goodness, if you want to shut someone down
and really turn them away, do that.
But I'm telling you don't do that.
Say it over and over.
It is okay.
You just want everyone to be really clear
and have that open communication.
Make projects fun.
What?
Adriana, what the heck are you talking about?
Projects are work.
Yes, yes, they are work and believe you me,
they can be intense, and if you're constantly working
and not injecting a little bit of fun,
it kind of doesn't make it enjoyable.
So, what I'm saying is you can work and you can have fun.
You can do both.
So, as a project manager,
you need to instill that with your team,
and there's a couple things that you can do
that I want to share with you.
One is an inspiration quote.
This is a really cool way to bring in fun
and learn a little bit about your team members.
So, what I do is I have someone share a quote
that's really inspiring to them and why they chose it.
When they're done sharing,
that's our inspiration quote for the week
that we all kind of go by, and if we need
a little pick me up, they can go there,
but they also choose the person for the following week.
So, now, I have other team members
picking other team members to continue this loop
of inspiration with that quote.
That is a really lovely way and a nice way
to inject some fun.
Second thing I do and I really enjoy is, I pick a mascot.
I love my Lego characters and I have a few different ones.
And I usually say, hey, this is our theme.
Everything is awesome with Emmet,
and we play off of that theme.
So, we may even inject Emmet's picture in PowerPoints,
some projects I've actually had Emmet
or other Lego characters in pictures,
and I've actually had the Lego Superman travel with me
on business, taking pictures of Superman on a plane.
And then, I share it with the team
and on an email or on a SharePoint site or in a chat.
And it's hilarious and people just find it funny,
and it's nice to laugh.
And on that note of laugh,
something I'm actually going to start doing,
which I thought was a, I like the ideas,
I'm going to have a joke.
I'm going to have someone every week, come out with a joke,
clean one, mind you, clean one, respectful one,
and just so that we all can have a little laugh,
'cause sometimes that in itself can just lighten the mood,
particularly if you have a heavy day.
Now, and, of course, a very traditional one
is team building exercises.
In fact, if you go to Adriana Girdler,
in this YouTube search bar, go Adriana Girdler,
team building, you'll find tons of videos I have on that.
I do have a little disclaimer.
Be very careful with the amount
of team building that you do.
I like injecting it, but, again, when you're really busy
on a project and you have a lot to do,
not everybody likes team building
and some team building activities can take a lot of time.
So, just be respectful of how you do it
and how you add it into your meeting.
Because sometimes it has the opposite effect
of people just kind of rolling their eyes,
like I could of used this time to do work seriously.
So, make sure you're short and sweet with the fun,
but it should integrate with the work that you're doing.
Celebrate the wins, the small ones, the big ones,
whatever it may be.
It's really easy as humans, in fact, we are,
we naturally gear towards the negative
and for us to focus on that first,
particularly on a project when we have pressure
and we have deadlines and deliverables
and if something's going wrong, it's so easy,
I say, oh, that's not happening.
They're not doing it.
We do have to put on a different lens.
We have to look at the positivity.
We have to look at what is going well,
'cause I promise you there's a lot of things going well,
particularly if you're moving forward.
Moving forward doesn't happen on its own.
It happens 'cause things are synergistic
and are going well, celebrate that.
It is so important.
That's just going to ensure that your team is connected
to you, particularly when you're leading without authority.
Okay, I'm going to have a little fun
and help you lead without authority,
and Emmet tells you, check this out.
It's a checklist.
I'm telling you it's really going to help you
with leading without authority.
Grab it underneath the link below this video.
Have fun.
Talk to you later.