by Linda Henman, Ph.D.

1. Give yourself a cooling off period. Don’t approach a difficult person when you’re angry.
2. Don’t take the “hook” when people try to bring you into a conversation that you don’t want to have or aren’t ready to address. Simply say, “This isn’t a good time to talk about that.” Or, “We’ve gone over that before. You know my stand.”
3. Put your ego aside. Listen first. Often people just want to know someone has considered their point of view. You lose nothing but a few minutes by listening to what someone has to say.
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By Linda Henman, Ph.D.

1. Since most crises take a company or project manager by surprise, have a crisis management plan that kicks in automatically. In the plan, outline who will talk to the media, under what conditions, and who will respond if the designated person is not available.
2. In case the crisis involves you, make sure others on your team can address responsibilities, whether or not you are in the picture.
3. Create established channels for internal communication.  Communicate with members of the team through email, face-to-face discussion, or letters. Let them know which to expect, and test them when necessary.
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By Linda Henman, Ph.D.

1. Have a shared sense of purpose—a reason to be a team instead of a collection of individual contributors.
2. Engage in shared leadership, but have a designated or appointed leader.
3. Establish goals with a timeline for each, and agree about how to prioritize the goals.
4. Establish areas of accountability, including expectations for notifying or consulting each other, when necessary.
5. Clarify roles that are critical to the achievement of the team’s mission so that team members know exactly what the others expect.
6. Before making important decisions, agree on the decision making method: authority, majority, minority, consensus, or unanimity.
7. Push for full, relevant participation from each person.
8. Clarify and talk about implicit and explicit team norms. (These cannot be imposed from outside the group).
9. Encourage active, empathic listening, especially during conflict or heated debate.
10. Embrace tension and realize it is both healthy and desirable.  Contention, however, is not productive. Engage in robust discussion and confront disagreements.

By Linda D. Henman, Ph.D.

1.  Encourage Better Communication

Robust discussion doesn’t happen automatically among members of a team. It has to start with the project manager.  Are you willing to put issues on the table and engage in frankness and straightforwardness?  If you aren’t, you won’t encourage either, yet a high level of candor is critical to your team’s creative problem solving.  Too often project managers make harmony their goal.
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By Linda Henman, PhD.

1. Don’t over schedule.  Leave time in every day for unexpected events because almost every day brings at least one. In addition to having more control of your day, you’ll reduce stress.
2. Set 30/ 60/ 90 day SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time sensitive) goals for your personal and professional life.  Activities that don’t support these goals don’t go on the calendar.  Set weekly goals that support these.
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