"Breaking the large group into smaller groups seems like a good idea," said Rosa. We were talking about getting her department engaged in team problem solving. "I can see how that makes the contributions more anonymous."

"It makes a huge difference. It allows the team to do something that it could never do before," I said. Rosa's eyes grew larger.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Well, you know, Eric, your team's eager beaver? When Eric has an idea, he is a little sensitive to the group's response. Let's say that one part of Eric's idea has a creative spark, but the rest of the idea needs to be discarded. As long as it is Eric's idea, the team has to tap-dance around, be politically correct and tactful. But if the ideas are flip charted from a small group, somewhat anonymous, whose ideas are they now?"

"Well, now they are the group's ideas," responded Rosa.

"So, if the ideas belong to the team, the team can now rip out that little creative spark, junk the rest of the idea, bolt the spark onto the back end of another idea, reverse engineer the logic and no one's feelings get hurt.

"When it was Eric's idea, the team couldn't do that." -TF

"I really feel awkward standing up in front of the group. I ask them a question and often, they just stare at me, like no one has a clue. I want them to participate, but they just don't respond," said Rosa. As the manager in her department, she had been trying to get more participation through team problem solving.

"Why don't you think they speak up?" I asked.

"I don't know," Rosa continued. "I suppose they might be embarrassed or afraid someone will think their idea is stupid."

"I think you are right. Fear can be very powerful. It can keep people from risking their ideas in front of a group. So, how can you reduce the fear?"

Rosa pondered the question, and then responded. "I guess I have to create a safe place, so no idea comes across as a stupid idea."

I smiled and jumped in. "Here is something I often use. Before I ask people to respond in front of a group, I always ask them to write their ideas on paper. I call it, priming the pump. And if the group is a large group, I always bust it up into smaller teams. People are more willing to share their ideas in a small group than in a large group. Once everyone has shared their ideas in a small team, only then do I ask each team to report to the larger group. By then, most of the ideas are anonymous and the risk of embarrassment has virtually disappeared.

"When you engage your team in problem solving, an important job for the leader is to drive fear out of the room." -TF

From the Ask Tom mailbag.

Question

I have just joined a new company as a project manager and have been assigned to report to another project manager. While this person has been with the company for a while, he is not that far ahead of me technically, though he knows some of the ins and outs of our clients. My problem is that I have been here for a week and a half and, though I have approached him several times about assignments, he continues to keep everything to himself. I am getting tired of staring at my computer screen. I don't want to go around him, but I don't know what I can do.

Response

Your manager is obviously more interested in task oriented work rather than management oriented work. You may even be his first direct report, so he may not even know what to do or how to manage you.

Whatever his reasons are, it really doesn't matter. The first obstacle you have to overcome is trust. You have to get to know him. And I am not talking about warm and fuzzy stuff, this can be brilliantly professional. Grab him at a coffee break, before or after work and try these questions:

Where did you go to school?
How did that prepare you for your career as a project manager?
What attracted you to project management?
What is the most interesting project you have ever completed?
What part of your job do you find the most satisfying? (Hint, he is likely to also tell you the part he finds the least satisfying...which may be your entry into an assignment for some productive work).

Ask him what the most appropriate first assignment might be. Would it be a small project on your own, a segment of a larger project, or simply a small task in a larger segment?

Each day, ask him if there is some small thing that you could do for him that would be truly helpful. It doesn't have to be a huge assignment, yet something you can successfully complete that begins to build the trust. It might even be an administrative task like collecting all the projects in a list and tagging the status of each project, who is working on it, etc. (This will be helpful to you, because you will know about projects in-house). Good luck, keep us updated on your progress. -TF

From the Ask Tom Mailbox

Question:

How can I, as a co-worker, get more attention to detail and productive effort from this new person in my department. She doesn't report to me, but I request a number of projects from her each day.

Response:

This is a follow-up to the last couple of days. Tuesday, we talked about authority and power. Yesterday, we talked about authority and its inability to influence things like energy, enthusiasm and discretionary effort.

Repeated desired behavior only comes from positive reinforcement. You have the power (notice I said power, not authority) to create those conditions of positive reinforcement. However, here is the important insight. This positive reinforcement must be meaningful. My guess is, no manager has taken the time to find out what is important to this new team member. No manager has ever sat down to discover her interests, hobbies, passions or pursuits. It is only when those connections get made, that progress toward discretionary efforts will occur.

So, what to do? If you want to see productive effort, you have to discover these things. I suggest a Mineral Rights conversation . Take this person to lunch and find out what makes her tick. It is only with this information that you will be able to create a meaningful environment to gain that discretionary effort. -TF

More from the Ask Tom mailbag.

This story continues from yesterday's question where a team member with no supervisory authority is left to request production from another team member. We focused on the difference between authority and power, acknowledging that, while a manager may have the authority to direct a project, the team member ultimately has the power to control the speed and quality of the execution.

Response

"But your company may have it right. The fact that your team mate reports to another manager may be perfectly appropriate. Though you depend on this person, the relationship is not one of accountability, but one of interdependence. This interdependence is very real.

"The bottom line is that it doesn't matter whether the relationship is one of accountability or one of interdependence, the team member still has the power to control the speed and quality of the execution.

"The accountability authority you seek has little to do with influencing enthusiasm, energy and discretionary effort. Discretionary effort comes from a positive decision on the part of your co-worker. You do not need authority to create the conditions for this positive decision.

Tomorrow, we will tackle how to create those conditions and what to do first. -TF