PMcrunch

I was recently at an off site meeting for an office of about 25 people. There were many interesting things about the experience, and I would like to document a few. The upshot is that the people around you are tremendous resources, and you can tap that, it is like mining gold!

Mining the Gold in People

Think about the people resources around you. Often in our day to day busy-ness, we lose site of the potential that is there. Of course, this is the same in our personal lives!

So, how can we unlock that potential? How can we become aware of what others have to offer, and have them become aware of what we have to offer? Here are a few quick ideas:

1. Listen more than talk.
2. Get out of the office into other environments where there is less pressure and fewer distractions.
3. If you are in a meeting, use “Blue Sheets” - or any color index cards - and periodically allow people to quietly write down there ideas on a broader issue, such as: how to solve an immediate problem, how to move forward on a project, how to address key organizational issues, where to move the organization strategically, write down goals.
4. Provide a structure for people to explain things about what they are doing. It would be to present their project plan, to discuss their goals, to run everyone through their processes, or to brief on recent developments. The key is to make it a structured assignment with enough rules to force compliance in a useful ways, but no rules otherwise.
5. Mix in some fun - and perhaps a lighter or more personal side to things. Taking a more “humanistic” approach can be rewarding in many ways. It allows pe0pole to “let their hair down” and look and feel more human with everyone else. One exercise is to have everyone take Myers-Briggs tests and then report on them, or guess the profiles of those in the group.

Be Creative

These are just a few practical ideas. Think of any ways that can help you to open lines of communication and allow people to express the golden nuggets of wisdom inside. You may at times be treated to some unwanted info, but “that’s people”! Maybe the issue is that you are not providing the right structure or asking the right question, or the “treats” you get would be nuggets of gold.

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John Reiling, PMP

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