Are You Project Selfish?

Recognise the Signs 

The first thing you need to do to avoid being project selfish and an overall selfish leader is recognise the signs that you’re heading that way.  

If you’re thinking and talking in terms of I rather than we, dominating resources and worrying about who is going to get credit for what, you might be heading towards project selfishness.  

Sometimes, there’s even a culture of project selfishness that you need to break free from. If everyone is always out for themselves and no one ever wants to share or compromise, you’re going to have a tough time getting anything done.  

Try to remember that being agile is as much about collaboration as it is about delivering a successful project. You might all be working on different projects or different aspects of the project, but success all goes into the same bucket. When others succeed, that doesn’t diminish your accomplishments – it makes it easier to achieve more as the company grows and your capability increases.  

Think About the Big Picture 

 Sometimes, project management can be myopic by nature. You’re hyper-focused on your project or just one task or milestone, so you tune out everything else.  

It’s okay to be focused, but don’t become so focused that you lose sight of the big picture. Your project is one of many. They all exist to grow and benefit the organisation you work for, and they all need to succeed to keep your company growing.  

Meet the Extended Team 

 The best way to remind yourself to work with your larger team is to meet them. Find out who the people are in the departments that feed you information and that you depend on to get the job done.  

Familiarise yourself with their roles at a high level and find out what their goals and priorities are.  

Spend some time talking to the people who depend on you for information and input too. Learn how the information they get from you impacts their work and how you can help them to achieve their goals.  

Meetings and Communication Are Key 

One of the most important things you can do to avoid becoming project selfish and continue to build a culture of collaboration is to prioritise communication.

Make sure that your project plan includes regular meetings with people who are part of the extended project team, and make sure everything is still working for them. Every transformation takes adjustments, so you might need to make some changes to your process to make sure it works for everyone.  

Everybody Can Win 

The truth is, while you might think only focusing on your part of the project is the best way to succeed, the opposite is true. You’re always going to depend on other people to take care of things before they arrive on your desk, and there will always be people depending on you. Selfish leaders don’t share successes with the team.

Being agile and a good project manager is about doing things differently, and that includes building a culture where everybody can win. You’ll always be relying on other people to make your job possible, and vice versa. The sooner you accept and embrace that as part of your project’s success, the sooner you can start working with other stakeholders to make sure you all succeed.  

Competition in workplaces is nothing new, but it can be detrimental to your company’s capability to tackle complex projects and succeed, if everyone’s being project selfish.