From: Pedro Alvarez Martin To: pmnet Subject: Rewarding project success Date: 20 March 1996 17:15 I am relatively new in this list, but I have learn a lot just reading some debates. Now is my time to put a question on the list. I am in the process of building up a mutidisciplinary project team (around 25 to 30 full-time staff members). It is a long term project (7 to 8 years) with a lot of subsystems and sub-subsystems to be integrated in a complex high performance system. Project budget is in the 100M$ range. A way (unique?) to keep people committment in project objetives (system performance, time schedule, budget limits, etc.) is rewarding them with money (ej. some % of their normal salary) if some objetives are achieved. What is you opinion, experience and consecuences on the following aproaches: a) Reward them (the project team) if general objetives are achieved (key milestones along the project). b) Reward them on a personal objetives base. c) A mix of a) and b). In which balance?. d) Reward only people directly involved in activities with clear impact on project objetives or also people involved in support activities (in particular if general objetives are to be rewarded. Case a)). e) Avoid problems. Keep hands off salaries. Thanks, Pedro ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Evelyn Mitchell To: pmnet Subject: Re: Rewarding project success Date: 20 March 1996 15:37 > >I am relatively new in this list, but I have learn a lot just reading some >debates. Now is my time to put a question on the list. >e) Avoid problems. Keep hands off salaries. Pizza has been known to work wonders. Evelyn Mitchell efm@tummy.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: CAMP235@WLNIVM1 To: pmnet Subject: Re: Rewarding project success Date: 20 March 1996 14:13 *** Reply to note of 03/20/96 13:49 Subject: Re: Rewarding project success in government rewarding with salary increase is rarely an option.... realizatio n that YOU, personally, have a positive impact on the business of your government agency seems to work best...plus a pizza now and again helps.... thanks!! Gordie Campbell - Dept. of Labor & Industries Tumwater, Washington (camp235@lni.wa.gov) (360) 902-5971 ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Neil Fox To: pmnet Subject: Re: Rewarding project success Date: 20 March 1996 21:12 If you are going to dole out cash, correlate the giving to the good deeds. Management tends to embarrass themselves by giving bonuses: 1. At the wrong time (e.g., the guys are playing games) 2. To the wrong people (e.g. incorrectly identifying a team member's role) I have seen a case where everyone got the same bonus. Management was feeling they had done well, but the staff felt this rewarded  average workers. I've never seen it done right, so I can't give positive advice. ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Kevin Rolph To: pmnet Subject: Re: Rewarding project success Date: 21 March 1996 08:08 > > If you are going to dole out cash, correlate the giving to the good > deeds. [snip] > > I've never seen it done right, so I can't give positive advice. > I'd be reticent to dole out cash for something like this. Cash is an emotive subject and you will be bound to upset someone. The only occasion I've had experience of something like this (on the receiving end) was at the end of a 1 year project when the team (engineers, salemen, and managers) *and partners* were treated to a meal out at a *good* restuarant by the senior management. It might not sound much, doesn't cost a huge amount/person, but it sure felt good; and has been remembered far longer than an extra dollop of cash would have been. (It's 5 years ago now). The 'and partners' is relevant because it acknowledges that they also suffered in the last few weeks of the project, and it makes it a more social occasion anyway. Meanwhile, I'd agree pizza does wonders for those late nights on site; and it's the managers job to get it - the workers are BUSY :-) Kevin Rolph Cambridge, UK ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jeff Jones To: pmnet Subject: Re: Rewarding project success Date: 21 March 1996 04:25 Pedro, At 05:15 PM 3/20/96 +0000, you wrote: >A way (unique?) to keep people committment in project objetives (system >performance, time schedule, budget limits, etc.) is rewarding them with >money (ej. some % of their normal salary) if some objetives are achieved. > >what is you opinion, experience and consecuences on the following aproaches: > >a) Reward them (the project team) if general objetives are achieved (key >milestones along the project). > >b) Reward them on a personal objetives base. > >c) A mix of a) and b). In which balance?. > >d) Reward only people directly involved in activities with clear impact on >project objetives or also people involved in support activities (in >particular if general objetives are to be rewarded. Case a)). > >e) Avoid problems. Keep hands off salaries. > > The issue of performance management is one that is tough to deal with. There is also quite a bit of controversy associated with it. On the one hand there are those who feel that people should just do their job and needn't receive any rewards or reinforcements. On the other, there are those who feel that performance management is critical to improving productivity within an organization. I believe in the second. We all have discretionary effort that can be given during the day. Perfromance management is intended to help folks tap this effort. It is *extremely* difficult to reward a team equally without causing some problems. I don't mean that teamwork shouldn't be reinforced but reinforcing or rewarding a team when those on the team will know that some were more productive than others may very well lead to problems. Therefore, reinforce the behaviors you want on a person by person basis. As for the reinforcement, each person is unique and has different values. Dollars may be a reinforcement for some and not for others. Best bet, speak to your team members, one to one, and gently broach the subject of rewards or reinforcements to try and find out what each values. Generally, dollars are a poor reinforcement because people value others things higher. Are you prepared to apply consequences if the milestones aren't met? Reinforcement is a continuum that includes both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. For example, verbal encouragement can be balanced with correction. 'Course, you will have to determine the cause of the missed milestone before consequences are applied. I wouldn't start with a monetary reward, even with those who value money. I'd start with little things like verbal praise or written memos listing the positive accomplishments. If I handed out $5 for the first milestone, what would I hand out for the second, $10? People will come to expect it. A project this length will have many milestones. I'd look at partitioning them so that when some one reaches the first I'd tell them I was pleased and that they were doing a good job. As they completed a few more I might consider tickets to a game or the opera, depending on the person's desires. Finally, I might consider a dollar reward with the successful completion of a major milestone that included multiple minor milestones. As for team reinforcement, I agree pizza is good, as are team dinners, if valued by team members. You might build a "day off" into the schedule once in a while and give the whole team a day off, preferably a Friday or Monday. You could take the whole team to a sporing event, if valued. Bottom line, performance management is a big subject. You might read Bringing out the Best in People by Aubry Daniels for more information. Questions? Jeff Jones EDS sessec01.jjones@eds.com jeffjone@kendaco.telebyte.net ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Terence Kuch To: pmnet Cc: tkuch Subject: Re: Rewarding project success Date: 21 March 1996 10:43 If you want the team to work as a team, the project bonus (if any) should be split pretty much equally, the way U.S. professional baseball pays players for being in a World Series. Otherwise people will gradually and subtly stop cooperating and try to look good at the expense of other team members. This deteriorates team performance. So how do you differentially reward the best performers? Promotions, or raises, or their choice of assignments for the next project, after the project completes and team bonuses (if any) are given out. Double cheese, black olives, and jalapenos on the pizza for me, please. ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Warren Bennett To: pmnet Subject: Re: Rewarding project success Date: 21 March 1996 11:11 I suggest what I consider an unambigous approach to praise and awards. The project be planned in a way to identify the earned value of internal and external deliverables. This assumes that a mix of motivate and marginal personnel are on each group and that the deliverable complexity is compatible to the talents of the groups. There should be enough deliverables to make awards achievable and not trivial. If a group produces a deliverable with a 10% (pick a number) savings of the earned value, half of this savings could be used for awards to the group. If a group continually under achieves, then the group composition or the tasks required should be reviewed for equity with other groups. My two cents, Warren Bennett ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: CBelt To: pmnet Subject: Re: Rewarding project success Date: 22 March 1996 08:46 Pedro- Congratulations and condolences on your project. I assume it is a large scale telescope project- we did a lot of those at Contraves in the US (GEODDS, 3.5M AFWL, etc.). You enter an area of significant risk by considering project goal related rewards to your team. The bit.listserv.quality discussion group has been kicking that one around, as have managers since time immemorial. The way I see it, your major risk is to create dissension and competition within your project. You want your team to pull together towards a common goal, to develop as a 'performing team' that will elevate the low performers and encourage the high performers. Your competition needs to be the 'evil schedule' or the 'wicked project', not the humans that do the work. Monetary rewards are wonderful, and have a way of cutting through to the roots of why we work. But do you want your people to expect 'baksheesh' for doing their jobs? Non-monetary rewards are also welcome,. but again, the encouragement of one group over the other can create revenge motivations. I have always tried to reward entire teams for a job well done in some egalitarian, non-threatening fashion. (Pizza party was mentioned, I'm not sure what your local equivalent would be. A group team-building social affair is a great thing to do periodically anyway, and a 'we hit that milestone' celebration is a great excuse). Individual rewards such as promotion, salary increases, etc are typically tied to individual performance on a periodic evaluation basis. Are they right? I don't know. They have never motivated me, because they are after the fact. What motivates me is a job well done, and the thanks of my peers and superiors. A senior manager taking a subordinate out to lunch as a hearty thank-you is often remembered well beyond a check received from the department secretary on Friday. I once received a #1 supplier quality award from IBM for work I did on a project. The thanks I got from the on-site representative at the time made me as proud and happy as the ceremony and trophy I received months later. Think about what motivates you, and consider that approach. Good luck! Charles Belt, Project Manager, Cleveland, OH USA cbelt@aol.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Keith Watson To: pmnet Subject: Re: Rewarding project success Date: 30 March 1996 19:16 on 17:15 20/03/96 +0000, Pedro Alvarez Martin said something like:- | A way (unique?) to keep people committment in project objetives (system | performance, time schedule, budget limits, etc.) is rewarding them with | money (ej. some % of their normal salary) if some objetives are achieved. Pedro, you seem to be assuming that the only thing that motivates your people is money, I think Jeff Jones and Charles Belt are right when they point out that different things motivate different people. There's no easy answer, you have to get to know them and what their individual priorities are. Motivation i.e. rewarding success, is a people problem and, in general, you can't solve people problems just with money (although if there's not enough... but that's another problem). I think the trick is to build a strong team identity. In a new situation people are apprehensive because they don't know what's happening. Dispel that as fast as possible by getting them together regularly and letting them know what is happening. Let them know what the short term and long term targets are and give them lots of feedback on how close they are to meeting the targets. Encourage them to participate in building project plans and get them to suggest ways in which the team can achieve the deadlines. In other words get them to feel they have a personal involvement in the project. To form a close team you need to try and break down people's natural reserve when a new group gets together. Get them to relax - e.g. pizza, coffee, soft drinks, etc. Encourage them to talk and voice their opinions so they can form an idea of each others interests, prejudices, strengths and weaknesses. All groups seem to need to go through a phase of argument before they become really coherent and productive, you may need to deliberately stimulate this, e.g. bring up some project related topic that you know is contentious and they can all contribute to. Sir John Harvey-Jones said "in general a manager's job is to oil the wheels so things proceed smoothly, but somethines you need to increase friction so that traction can take place." - Making It Happen. You will find that some team members don't fit, especially with a group of the size you mention. I don't think that there's any general rules to deal with that, everyone's an individual and you'll have to deal with each situation as it arises. As for rewarding effort, the general rule I use is; give rewards in public and rebukes in private. If you see someone is working particularly hard on a task, let them know at the time. Nothing major, sometimes just bringing over a cup of coffee and saying "I can see you are really putting a lot of effort into this, thanks." can give someone a boost when they need it. When a person or group achieve something significant, reward them at the regular project meetings already mentioned. Try and do this as close to the time of the act being rewarded as possible. My own inclination is to match any financial rewards to how critical the target was to the project and also to keep the reward the same for all. The main thing is to mention it in front of the whole team e.g. "Mary, Tony, Liz and Jeff hit a critical deadline against significant difficulties. They put a lot of hard work into this and without it the whole project would have slipped 6 weeks. As a gesture of thanks I'm giving them a $50 bonus this month". You'll probably find that the bonus and amount isn't valued as highly as the boost to their egos in front of the whole project team. Sometimes a couple of bottles of wine (or a pizza) are enough because it's the public recognition that's important. If it's something really significant it can be helpful to get your boss (or your boss's boss) to pop in and say thanks, to let the project team know that others are aware of what they are doing. Regards, Keith "Those are my principles, if you don't like them... I have others." - Groucho Marx ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dave Miller To: pmnet Subject: Re: Rewarding project success -- don't pay money Date: 23 March 1996 19:13 At 10:43 21/03/96 -0600, Terence Kuch wrote: >If you want the team to work as a team, the project bonus (if >any) should be split pretty much equally, the way U.S. >professional baseball pays players for being in a World Series. >Otherwise people will gradually and subtly stop cooperating and >try to look good at the expense of other team members. This >deteriorates team performance. The managers of a professional sports team would not tolerate any poor performance; they play "hard ball" (so to speak). If a team member does not perform, they're off. So, I have to ask you, do you think the pro "cooperates" because they want the World Series bonus, or because they know they will be sacked if they don't pull their weight? In most commercial settings, teams will have some number of average performers; contrast this environment with the World Series players, by definition the best two teams in their profession. We all wish we could have "World Series quality" development teams, but unless we are working on systems for NASA we usually have to make do with the resources available in our company and marketplace. I put it to you that (1) the World Series teams make it that far because they are professionals that are personally driven to do their best, (2) they know that if they don't perform during the season they will be dumped/traded, and (3) the World Series monetary bonus has little if anything to do with their performance during the season, given point (1) and the fact they are paid quite well anyway. So, assuming we don't have super-teams at our disposal, where every member is a world-class professional, what will motivate the average person to excel? Is it pride? Fear? Or getting money at the end of the project, the amount being the same regardless of the contribution each person makes, and the bonus being paid as long as they maintain satisfactory (versus exceptional) performance? In the time-critical and business-critical project I just finished off, the political environment made perceptions during the final two weeks of the project very important. At a mid-March milestone, a go-nogo decision was to be made on continuance of the project into subsequent phases. At the beginning of the month, I told the people on the team (30+) that everything they've worked towards for the past six months would come to nought if we screwed up in March. All I asked was that everybody be careful -- make sure changes are thoroughly tested, hold the hands of users, follow up all details, leave nothing to chance. It was a time to take extraordinary measures. Yes, the project still could be cancelled, but don't let it be said we didn't do our part. I also took this opportunity to point out they have done incredible work, that they are the fastest moving development team in the company (probably double speed), and have made genuine contributions to the business. Everybody came through -- average and exceptional -- because, I believe, (1) they wanted the project to suceed (= pride and professionalism), and (2) they most certainly didn't want to have to explain to me what went wrong if they messed up (= fear)! Would bonus money have made any difference, even in jaded Hong Kong? No, I'm certain of it. (I'm assuming that the bonus money is in the magnitude of hundreds or thousands of US dollars per person, and not something like half a year's salary. If a bonus was a truly substantial amount, the peer pressure created in a team would clearly make a difference.) >So how do you differentially reward the best performers? >Promotions, or raises, or their choice of assignments for the >next project, after the project completes and team bonuses >(if any) are given out. Good ideas. Plus, as stated by others, buy pizza, take everybody out to dinner...treat them with respect, acknowledge the hard work and loyalty they are giving you. But hand out money? For doing what is their job anyway? No. Best regards Dave ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Terence Kuch To: pmnet Cc: tkuch Subject: Re: Rewarding project success -- don't pay money Date: 25 March 1996 10:26 Dave, I agree with your dislike of bonus plans (which is why I said "bonus (if any)" twice). My point was that if there are bonuses there are better and worse ways to administer them. The problem with bonus plans is that they only work for the first few projects; after that people begin to think of likely bonus amounts as part of their regular compensation and the bonus plan loses its effect. And in time management also sees bonuses as part of regular compensation and tends to reduce base salary figures to compensate. A good sign that this has come about is when the difference between a "good" bonus and a "bad" bonus for employees of a company or branch is in the single digits -- not much of a motivator any more.