
From the PM Cafe–Team Leadership
Stacy and Bob were discussing various Agile methodologies when Jim slid into the booth, “Hey good morning you two!”.
“Morning Jim, how’s Saturday treating you?”
“I’m doing great, bad news for my team, they have to work today”, Jim replied, taking a bite from his doughnut.
Stacy looked at Jim and said, “Jim, if your team is working on a Saturday morning, what are you doing here?”
“Oh, my project status and reports are all taken care of, it’s the software coding that’s behind, they can work on that without me.”
Bob replied, “Maybe, just maybe, if you buy two dozen doughnuts and leave right now, you stand a chance of having a team when you make it to the office.”
“What, you think those guys will walk out and resign or something? Hey, it’s unfortunate, but we need to make up some time. They’re professionals, they understand.”
Bob said, “Of course they won’t resign over a little overtime. And, of course they will remain a team. The question is: ‘Will you still be on that team?’ When the going gets rough, the first thing you need to do is make sure that you have the team’s back.”
Stacy added, “You’ve been in their shoes before, how would you feel.”
Jim, dropping his doughnut and heading to the take-out counter, “Oh crap, I never thought of it from their perspective. I look like a total heel.”
Jim, smiling to Stacy, “Not the word I would have picked, but probably cleaner.”