Have you ever wondered about the motivation and work ethic of people in your IT project, or the next one? I have, it is fun and with a bit of perspective, also educational. You perhaps realize that for many professionals your project is one among many, that while they want to do a good and professional job, they don't see your project as the Next Big Thing.
Have you ever wondered why the focus may or may not be there for everyone onboard? You may be lucky in having a few guys who are deeply interested in the subject matter (I have, and such people are great in projects).
Take a little perspective and consider a fishing vessel. When they leave port, the captain can be pretty sure that the crew is committed but to what?
At the early phase they all share the same wish and goal - find fish, catch it, make some money, and get safely back home.
That works, but what happens if the Captain does not find the catch? Commitment to get home gets stronger and stronger, and the motivation and incentives deviate. For a fisherman - or project member - a trip in unproductive waters means loss of income for a few weeks. For the skipper and boat owner it means a dent in reputation and lost investment - putting out a ship is not cheap.
Similarly, your project staff is surely excited and fully committed at the start.
The difficult bit comes if and when a project runs into difficulties, and then things start to resemble failing fishing trips.
Bad fishing trips do not automatically mean mutiny. Seasoned crews that have been together for a long time can tolerate a lot of failure if the trust between the Captain and the crew is in place. Reality TV offers us interesting windows into Bering Sea crab boats, and how different things can be.
Junior captains that don't find the catch are in hot water immediately, and not necessarily because they are young, but definitely because they have not worked long enough with their crews.
Senior captains with a new crew suffer also if things go wrong, but much less. I'd guess two things are in play. The trust is deeper in place as they have worked together for longer, and - perhaps more importantly - they have been through rough times before.
So how does this help us IT project managers?
Projects are not fishing trips and we work with highly skilled IT professionals, right? Well, perhaps, but they all look like humans and the behaviors match occasionally.
A death march project equals a fishing trip or pirate vessel that is unable to find their catch. The crew / staff will stay on grimly - until you reach a safe haven or reasonable milestone so that they can leave with a good reputation.
Highly successful projects are easy, and death marches hopefully very rare. They average project lies somewhere in between, and it will be good for the project manager to pause and reflect what is in the project for staff members, and what do they value. That can make the difference if things get tough - or at least it seems to help at sea.
How do you know what they like? Well -- experience. If possibly find a crew that tolerates you and you can work with, and stick with them.
That will make life and work much better, and eventually you will sail home with the hold full of dubloons. Or Alaskan King Crab.
-- Disclaimer: Some claims have been made based on the show "Deadliest Catch". Sig Hansen, Eliot Neese, Wild Bill Wichrowski, Keith Colburn, and their crews. Thanks to Discovery Channel and my best wishes to all these guys down south!
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