Christiane Kleyna
Overview
Undergraduates studying for a degree in Engineering at Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences are required to complete three technical and three non-technical electives. From 2014 to 2019, I taught the elective subject “Social Skills in Technical Project Management.”
Topic
Technical professions are heavily fact-focused. Knowledge and practice of social competencies are therefore key skills that students should acquire during their time at university. I taught the soft skills or social skills required in projects through the topics of leadership, team development, communication, and conflict management. The theoretical input was already consolidated by means of practical, interactive exercises in each session. In the final session, all the soft skills learned were applied to the project situation simulated by FutureCity.
The setting I describe can also be used with a “hybrid” team, i.e. with both on-site and virtual participants.
Staging
a. Preparation
I set up the room and prepared the tool during the break when the students were not in the room. I placed a table in the middle of the room at which six “Doers” could sit comfortably. The components from which the buildings were to be constructed were scattered on the table. About two meters away from the table, I set up two facilitation boards next to each other. I chose the photo cards according to the number of buildings and participants. In the scenario described, each stakeholder received two photo cards.
b. Performance
After the break, I briefed the students on the interaction scenario: “We have now almost reached the end of the program. In order to simulate in a mini-project what you learned during the individual units, you will be given the task of constructing buildings from the resources that are available to you – the components on the table.
I would now like the six people I have selected to form the project team – the “Doers” – to take their seats at the table. Another six participants, the “Stakeholders,” please stand some distance away from the table. And please could two more “Stakeholders” sit behind the facilitation boards. Each of the Stakeholders, whether around the table or behind the board, will get two photo cards with building instructions. These must be kept strictly confidential, that is, you are not allowed to show them to anyone else. The Stakeholders are only allowed to communicate information verbally to the project team. They are not allowed to touch the components, which would mean intervening directly in what is happening at the table.
I am really curious to see just how effectively the Stakeholders will communicate the information they have and how the project team will implement what they have understood to achieve the project goal. You have 30 minutes for your joint project. I wish you every success!”
c. Progression
The project team took their seats at the table, the Stakeholders received their photo cards. The process slowly got underway. The project team asked: “So, what should we do now?” The Stakeholders gave instructions, which created quite a bit of confusion in the first few minutes.
Then the first Stakeholder came up with the idea to ask the others what their cards showed. They then realized that each card showed a different building. Some saw only one building on each card, others had one building on one card and two or three buildings on the other.
The situation became increasingly chaotic, with everyone talking at cross purposes and no one listening. The project team got increasingly lost and tried to take in information from the Stakeholders. At some point, a project team member uttered: “Be careful, some components have colored sides!” The project team split up: one constructed one building, three constructed the second building, the others shuffled and moved building blocks around.
The two Stakeholders behind the facilitation boards were at a loss. They talked to each other and struggled to make themselves heard. One of the Stakeholders became increasingly nervous and red in the face, while her colleague behind the board tried to calm her down by calmly comparing photos. She stood up and pressed her ear to the board. She called out, demanded descriptions and information, but was ignored. She did not manage to make herself heard. Her comrade-in-arms behind the facilitation board repeatedly tried to calm her down.
While this was happening, the other Stakeholders approached the table. They occasionally made corrections, the project team swapped, rotated, and turned the building blocks over. One project team member stood up, leaned over the table and tried to take control of the construction process. Another project team member sat back and just watched what was happening. A third person counterbalanced by putting the “controller” in his place.
In the meantime, the Stakeholders were standing at the table, bending over it and pointing at the positions the individual building blocks needed to be placed in. Their intervention almost resulted in them touching building blocks, which elicited a warning from me.
Meanwhile, the Stakeholder behind the facilitation board had given up and started to talk to her fellow Stakeholder behind the wall. A Stakeholder in front of the board asked the two behind the facilitation board about what was on their photo cards and compared this with the almost completed buildings on the table.
Gradually, the buildings emerged. I announced the remaining time of three minutes. The buildings were checked for correctness by all participants, and from all perspectives, with the exception of the people behind the facilitation boards. At the end of the 30 minutes, the buildings were standing: the project goal had been achieved.
Reflection
What did the participants experience in the different stages of the project? At the beginning of the project:
• They did not let each other finish their sentences.
• They had a feeling on not being listened to.
• Several participants were speaking at the same time.
• Individuals were perceived as too dominant, which sometimes resulted in disengagement and disinterest.
• When it became clear that the photo cards showed the buildings from different perspectives:
• The communication became more concentrated and calmer.
• What was said was checked for comprehension through follow-up questions.
• Individuals perspectives were scrutinized.
• The Stakeholders became more physically active: they approached the table and walked around it; this improved the coordination of information and accelerated the pace of construction.
• Two Stakeholders assumed the leadership role.
When the emotions of individuals intensified as the project progressed and their feeling of being “left behind” grew:
• The two Stakeholders behind the facilitation boards felt abandoned and not listened to; they had the feeling that they couldn’t exert any influence on what was happening in the project. They became angry and frustrated and this intensified until the end. “Behind the scenes,” things came to a head.
• In the project team, two people leaned back disinterestedly because they perceived the behavior of another person from the project team as overbearing.
Lessons learned for day-to-day project work:
• Every team goes through phases; this includes putting up with the initial chaos and finding the right moment to create structure and develop a common strategy.
• Ensure good cooperation by reaching out and involving everyone in all positions – especially those who are constrained – so that facts can be shared effectively and the project succeeds.
• Those in the project manager role must take strong emotional reactions or the disengagement of individuals seriously and address such reactions in an appropriate setting, e.g., in one-on-one meetings.
• Relationship level takes precedence over context/factual level: fewer misunderstandings, more clarity in the team.
Transfer to the real World
| Elements in the learning project | Elements in the real world |
|---|---|
| Stakeholders who can see the table | Directly participating project members |
| Stakeholders behind the facilitation boards | Project members with no direct view of ongoing project events, e.g. colleagues at other locations |
| The Doers | Project team tasked with delivery |
| Photo cards | Project assignment (blueprints) |
| Multiperspective building blocks | Resources |
| Buildings | Project goal |
| Facilitation boards (privacy screen) | Spatial separation or other restrictions on participation |
| Time | Working under time pressure |
Conclusion
During the interaction, the previously taught knowledge of soft skills was reflected 1:1 in what happened during projects. As a result, the participants were able to successfully put into practice the communicative techniques they had learned. The greatest learning effect came from the aspect of “how quickly emotions dominate,” i.e. experiencing how emotionally charged even a “fake” situation can become. The participants experienced both how they felt about their own role as well as how the others felt. They experienced first-hand what possibilities they and the other participants had, but also where their options for taking action were limited. This generated intensive reflection about projects they would be involved in in the future.
The personal reflections of the individual participants was also part of the assessment task I set: making a video entitled “What I can offer a company as a project manager!”