It’s not What you know, it’s Who you know

Posted on 29 March, 2011 at 11:45 PM by with Leave a Comment

In a typical organization, who is having a slightly better role, the Sales or the technical folks?

For a salesperson, his objective is to get more revenue for the company. Thus he will find more potential clients to sell his products. The salesperson keeps on finding potential clients. Network with people and start to sell to WHO he meets. However, once he gotten the sales deal. His job is more or less settled. He will hand over the sales deal for his back-end team to deliver, either a product or service. It’s the Who you know to clinch more deals. The sales person needs not to know the mechanics on how to build the product or how to deliver the service.

This technical team, on the other hand, is the team that receives the order and has to deliver the service, product on time and meeting the client’s requirement. Thus the technical team is good at what they are supposed to deliver. They know the WHAT very well and can customize to the client’s needs fast and efficient.

To have more WHO factor will get you to know more people. Rich Social skill tends to get things done easily. You can be a well business person and focus on higher level. Look on things farther and further.

To know the WHAT factor well, will only ends up to be a JOB for you because you know the mechanics well. People will come to you for the techniques / tactics.

Simple scenarios:

If the sales person can clinch the deal, he could outsource to another team that offers a more competitive pricing to deliver his products or services. Thus the WHAT is not so critical because he can always find someone to deliver for him.

Let’s say you are in your late 40s or early 50s, and you are retrenched in corporate world. What are you going to do? Your income stopped suddenly, is it easy for you to get another job? Organizations will tend to look for staffs that are more energetic, with drive and more important, cheaper than you. It’s a true business fact, that by the time you are in your mid 40s or early 50s, your pay is almost in the high range category. It is difficult for you to get another job that pays the same salary.

It is not what technical skills or management skills that you know that enables to get the next job. It is your constant networking that the WHO factor can assist in getting you another job in the corporate organization.

Lessons Learned: Be more social savvy as you progress along the career and social path. It’s not what you know to get things done. It is WHO you know to get things accomplished.

Articles, Employment, Lessons Learned

Project Manager Communication Patterns

Posted on 23 March, 2011 at 11:45 PM by with Leave a Comment

Many project managers that I know are having some similar symptoms. They will give you the end solutions or results to the project team. They will expect the project team member to derive their own strategies, steps to come out the solution.

In my opinion, this will only be alright if the team member is proficient enough to derive their own logical result. Some team member is well-versed in their doings and knows exactly what is required. This kind of team member normally is the self-motivated type.

On the other hand, not many team members know what is really required. Although they know the end result, they would also want to learn and know what would be the ideal way to achieve/ meet the project manager’s requirement. They would prefer to be fed with more than sufficient information.

Lesson Learned: Come out a checklist sheet, list down all the necessary activities that needs to be done for the task. Even any new team member who takes over will quickly understand how to precede with the project activities. Some project manager will think that this is too cumbersome. Might as well, the project manager do themselves. However, if you want absolute result from the team member, a strong documentation is required or else communication is a big issue. Assuming passing a technical message between 2 different nationalities of team member will cause some language barrier.

Imagine you are in an organization that has high and frequent turnover rate. What will be your project management style be? Many project managers come from various backgrounds. There were some Project Managers that worked in the same organization for 10 years. There are some Project Managers who have been around in many organizations and see different management style. There is no right and wrong style of managing a project. However, it’s the experience and exposure of a person that cultivates his unique project management style.

Articles, Business Communication, Leadership, Lessons Learned

Listening Is A Vital Management Skill – Are you listening?

Posted on 6 March, 2011 at 6:00 AM by with 2 Comments

It is important to be able to communicate clearly, to be able to convey information to others. As managers or leaders, we have to do this throughout the day. However, it is equally important to be able to receive information – from your team as well as your stakeholders. Most of us have learned that we can’t hear if we are talking, so we let others talk and we listen to what they say.

Yet what your team do not say is just as important as what they do say. Managers have to develop the ability to listen to what the team is not saying and dig through that to get to the truth. Otherwise manager will have the false perception that the team is doing fine – right up to the minute we are fired and replaced by someone who can be effective. So Listen To What They Are Not Saying and be a better manager.

Articles, Business Communication, Leadership, Lessons Learned
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