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Open communication is the key for every situation.
Since they are Senior they have to understand the special situation without any doubt and will bring different experience to the group where you as the Project Manager benefit from.
Their role within your Project should be defiend upfront and the mainfocus is the success of the Project.
Have fun!
This is toughest situation which i was faced ismi in my life..I have a project in which I have to manage more than50 senior professionals..they are experts in their feild some of them are so arrogant. in the start I am nervous how I mange them all? then I think diffuculties makes you stronger and then I review their likes and dislikes ..I behave them all in a very polite manner.if they got angry with me I didn't reply them harshly..The end is that it was one of my successful project I got much experince just becuse of good etiquettes and politeness.
I have had the same experience before when I was appointed as the team trainer and supervisor for25 consultants composed mainly of senior members. I was the youngest and I was only6 months old in the company and I'm handling a team of3-5 years tenure members on a much older age group. The key to leading them properly is to set first the expectations. Meet them and tell them your intended goals, the team goals, and your plans on how to achieve the goal. Let them respect you as a person and not the position. Many leaders will force their perspectives onto their members just because they are the leader and those under them are the followers. Remember, give respect to earn respect. Next, get their suggestions. Let them feel that they are part of the team and their opinions matter, regardless if they have more experience than you or if they have been working in the company longer than you. In delegating tasks, do it in a nice way and ask nicely. Your approach is very important so as not to intimidate them and cause conflict which may greatly affect your goals. Don't make it seem like you are begging them to do the job, but do it in a firm way that they will feel that you are trusting them with the job and you will hold responsibility over their actions. Sometimes, all it takes is a firm commitment and trust in your members. If you will encounter resistance and intimidation, don't take it personally. Be firm and confident with your decisions. Bottomline is, respect and trust doesn't go on a one-way road, it takes time and a leader needs to have his/her reputation established through respect and trust from his/her subordinates and not from his/her title and position.
Well every person has it own Unique Skill, i mean unique USP, so i believe we should learn from everyone , yes Senior is always senior.
but the point is we should always support , lesson , and adopt the new development as a team, friendly manner , Aim is to give your best in order to give good performanace of company business.
Thank You.
To honor and respect as well as discuss with them how to solve the problems.
Managing "unofficial seniority" should not be different than managing others in theory, when the rules of professional & hierarchal chain of command are followed. But in reality it is different.
It is all about showing due respect according to the socio-cultural context. In some cultures, seniority is synonym for more knowledge, experience & need for special treatment derived thereof, like in most Middle Eastern and Oriental cultures in general. I believe it is also the case to some extent in Eastern Europe, Southern Europe & Russia too, where power-distance is almost linear to age-difference. In most cases, a senior team-member has a lot of knowledge to put on table to the benefit or others less experienced members, including the team leader/manager.
Show senior members the appropriate respect they need to function better, without looking insecure or having your authority undermined or intimidated. Above all, I agree with using open and clear communication as your method to present yourself to the group and tackle any problems related to team composition, collaboration & goal achievement.
In some cultural context, open communication (critique) may back-fire if you make it public. Try to attend to the cultural sensitivities of your team-members in relation to open/public communication vs individual/personal communication with closed doors.
The main object of job must be fulfilled to achieve the final targets with honors. Journey towards success of the project the leader must lead the team with confident control even as leader of seniors. A captain never say to a senior player go for rest but he wants the desire result; the goal to achieve , for this he will do everything but in the limit of respect and human feelings not to give harm the true spirit of work environment. Don't afraid if age, experience or knowledge is less compare to others it's the command and control quality manage with discussions, accepting proposals, planning, leading and full faith on Allah to execute the work will bring Inshullah positive results with pride and satisfaction.
In normal situations, you should be the one who is the best experienced in team management. So don't be afraid of them and do your management work as you should. Of course you may have seniors in your team who know much more than you about their work, but that is very normal. Just treat the with respect and value their knowledge.
The problem may arise when you have some team members who have high leadership skills. They will watch you all the time. In this case, you should have a full charge of self confidence and be strong. Make use of their experience, treat them as advisors and acknowledge their leadership seniority. This will make them feel that you value their knowledge and skills and will be your strongest pillars. At the same time, be strong when you make decisions which they don't like.
I got to point out that this post addresses to a leader of a project (meaning: project manager / project director) and not to a team leader.
Clear things at the very beginning, in a high professional way. After all you address to seniors, which means they ought to be experienced professionals.
As a project manager, you got to set up the time frame. When a part of the job has to be delivered by whom.
Designate project's targets. Everyone has to aim to a specific target.
Make clear any issue regarding budgets. After all we are all here to make money and not to lose.
For God's sake, define everyone's working area, with crystal clear frames. No one must mess in other one's job.
Show respect to their suggestions, be an active listener and remind them the common goal you got to achieve.
Schedule a regular meeting (maybe in Thursday afternoon or Sunday morning) to follow up progress and prevent faults on time.
Avoid personal meetings or chats.
Hold your position while holding your horses. Not an easy task, but must do.
Avoid any arrogant attitude. The position does not make the person.
Avoid often gatherings outside of work. You are not there to socialize, but to deliver a project.
Make things clear that everyone is evaluated according to project's requirements. Even you.
And last, but not least, good luck. Always needed.
As a team leader focus on aim and give responsibities to team members inside their comfortzones and get maximum out of them
team members should be treated equally whether senior or juinor.
