Are You Working Hard?

Posted by Rich Crowley in management, people, productivity, Project Management, teams

I’m mentioned in several prior posts that I love sports and the many lessons from the sporting world that can be applied to everyday life, including business.   Recently, the Toronto Maple Leafs welcomed a former star back into the fold after several decades of estrangement.  Dave Keon, a four-time Stanley Cup champion shared a comment with current Leaf coach Mike Babcock that someone had shared with him early in his career.  “Are you working hard or do you think you are working hard?  There’s a big difference.”

This really resonated with me.  I would bet most people believe they work pretty darn hard.  However, each of us probably has a different view of how hard the individuals in a sample group work when compared to those individuals’ self-assessments.  The comment made me think about how hard I work.  It also made me think about what hard work really is.   Is it effort?  Is it hours / time expended?  Are these the same thing?  Is it results?  Is it efficiency or effectiveness?

Prior to hearing this comment, I had spent a fair bit of time recently mulling over what productivity means in a project management context.  There are a certain number of standard, mechanical tasks that a traditional project manager needs to do (status reporting, steering meetings, etc.) and I always try to execute this kind of work as well as possible as efficiently as possible, in order to leave as much time as possible for the softer, more ambiguous aspects of the role.  Working hard on these means focused, clear, written and verbal communication.   You have to be on top of the details, be ready to defend your position and able to take constructive feedback and make adjustments quickly.

With respect to the more ambiguous parts of the job – the myriad of daily conversations, the influencing, the relationship-building, the coaching, the dealing with team dynamics – this is where I found it a bit harder to define what working hard means.   Talented people in any capacity seem to make their vocation look easy.  Talent probably has something to do with that but I also suspect it has something to do with the best of the best having an uncanny ability to constantly be evaluating where to go next, who to take with them, who to leave behind (for good or just until tomorrow), what priority to assign a task, what short term trade-off is worth it for the better long term, what problem will have to be lived with versus resolved, when to get involved or when to stand back, etc.

What do all these things have in common?  Judgement.  Hard work in a project management context requires constantly making judgement calls that will make the project a success.  I chatted with a local entrepreneur recently who was looking for his next big adventure.  We talked briefly about project management and some of the conventional flavours in use today – namely, PMBOK based approaches vs those of the lean / agile variety.  He had an interesting observation about what makes a good project manger.  He said a good PM to him is someone who just helps others get the job at hand done as well as possible, as quickly as possible, independent of any particular framework.

Which leads me to my definition of what hard work is in a project management context:  It’s the sum of all those standard, defined things you need to do as part of your role plus those more “soft-skill” things you do which ultimately leverage the hard work of others.  Although it’s probably hard to quantify, I’d bet good money that the latter part of that equation is of much higher value than the former.

If you are a PM, beware spending too much time on those items that keep your desk tidy, your reports filed correctly on time, your to-do lists fully up to date and make sure you are focusing as much time as possible on leveraging the potential in others.