From programmer to project manager (21): Everyone needs a sense of accomplishment
1. A sense of achievement is a basic human need
Accomplishment refers to the feeling of pleasure or success in what one has done when a person finishes or does something. The sense of achievement is very important for everyone, it is the basic need of everyone in modern society.
Maslow once proposed that a person's needs are divided into five levels, namely: physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs. Among them, physiological needs and safety needs are based on human instincts and are the most basic requirements to survive, while the last three levels of needs are actually the pursuit of a sense of achievement.
Therefore, to a certain extent, the purpose and meaning of a person's life is actually the pursuit of a sense of achievement. Kazuo Inamori, one of Japan's Four Sages, believes that "the meaning of a person's life is to be a little more perfect than when he was born", and based on this, he hopes that everyone will be diligent every day. In essence, what Kazuo Inamori pursues is also a sense of accomplishment. It is precisely because he is making progress every day that he feels that he is getting closer to the ideal realm in his heart, so he has a feeling of happiness or success. In this sense, monks are also pursuing a sense of accomplishment by practicing Zen. Through practicing Zen, their inner realm is constantly improving, and their understanding of people, life, society, and the universe is also constantly improving. a pleasant feeling.
You may think that they are saints, and their achievements are beyond the reach of ordinary people. In fact, the difference in inner emotions between saints and ordinary people is very small. There is a difference in the size of a person's achievement, but there is no difference in the sense of achievement.
Let’s look at another example that has caused countless parents a headache. Many children are now addicted to computer games and can’t extricate themselves. This state is because children are repeatedly hit in real life, and it is difficult to have a sense of achievement, so they turn to seek virtual games. A great sense of achievement brought about by the wind and the rain in the world.
Look back at us programmers. From a layman's point of view, programming is actually very boring. Why can programmers sit in front of the computer for a long time and enjoy it? An important reason is the sense of accomplishment that programmers bring to control computers and solve problems.
On the contrary, many people have a negative view of the value and meaning of life because they have no sense of achievement, and some people even go to a dead end. Look up "suicide by failing the college entrance examination" on Baidu, and you'll find that every year many people end their lives just because they didn't get into college. According to figures released by the health department on the "Suicide Prevention Day" on September 10, 2003, since 2000, 22.2 people out of 100,000 people commit suicide every year, and about 287,000 people die by suicide every year. While we sigh with regret for these lost lives, we also feel how important a sense of accomplishment is to everyone.
Unfortunately, in the workplace, many managers do not realize this. They often think that giving employees high salaries and high benefits can keep employees and give full play to their enthusiasm. After all, "money can make ghosts run the mill", but this is not the case.
Peng Haili, a well-known trainer of the American International Management Technology Company, gave a question to the senior management of the company: ask the students to arrange a list according to the importance of the motivational factors. Many people put high pay first and engagement last. At this time, Peng Haili announced the results of a survey from the employees of the company: the recognition of employees' work achievements is the first, the sense of participation is the second, and the high salary is ranked fifth.
Therefore, as managers, we must pay attention to protecting and cultivating this sense of accomplishment of programmers. Only when they have a sense of accomplishment can they work more actively and truly achieve "happy work".
2. How to cultivate employees' sense of achievement
The essence of achievement is a person's inner experience, which depends not only on his own understanding, but also easily affected by external evaluation. Managers play an important role in cultivating employees' sense of achievement. The same thing, depending on how managers deal with it, can have vastly different results.
For example, programmers have tried their best to solve a technical difficulty and report to the project manager excitedly. The project manager may have two reactions:
One is: "It's so simple, how long does it take? Why don't you report to me when you encounter problems?"
The other is: "Well done! Would you like to share your experience with me?"
The results of these two processing methods can be imagined. The former will greatly discourage the employee's enthusiasm. If he does not cooperate with your work in the future, it is also a reasonable thing - anyway, no matter how well I do, I will be hit by you, which is boring. And a good sense of protection and aroused employees, he will be more willing to communicate with you, and because you understand him and appreciate him, so he is more willing to obey the command.
由此可见，管理者的一言一行都对员工会产生正面或负面的影响，因此管理必须要言行谨慎，千万不要做出打击员工成就感的事情。
作为项目经理，要保护和培养员工成就感，应当注意以下几点：
（1）让员工深信工作的价值
彼德.德 鲁克在《管理实践》一书中曾讲过“三个石匠的故事”。有人问三个石匠在做什么。第一个石匠说：“我在谋生。”第二个石匠一边打石子一边说：“我在做全国最 好的琢石工作。”第三个石匠眼中带着想象的光辉仰望天空说：“我在造一座神圣的大教堂。”同样做的是石匠活，第三个石匠显然会更有成就感，他的工作也会更 有动力。
但 不是每个员工都能像第三个石匠那样认识到工作的价值。不同的程序员，同样既可将编程看作是谋生，也可以看成是建设一个优秀的系统，或者帮助客户创造价值。 程序员怎么来看，项目经理在其中可以起到重要作用。事实上，员工对于工作的认识很大程度是来源于项目经理的介绍，或者其有意无意透露出来的信息。如果项目 经理认为工作简单、不重要，员工也自然会认为没有价值，只会敷衍了事。相反如果项目经理把项目视为一件重要、神圣的工作，员工自然也会充满干劲。因此，为 了激发员工的成就感，项目经理必须要让员工深信工作是具有有价值的，或者具有重要的意义。
我的一位朋友王老师曾提出一个项目案例，让学员们分析：
项 目经理老张接手了一个不被公司重视的项目，公司领导认为项目金额太小，对公司没多少价值，但碍于客户又不得不做，这样公司就比较难以把优秀的员工安排进项 目组。由于领导不重视，影响到项目组成员的工作热情也不高，但项目还是需要开展好，为此老张感到比较为难。您能否给老张想想办法，让他能带领好团队做好这 个项目？
学员们出了很多招，有的说，项目经理要打感情牌，用感情来笼络；有的说项目经理要多申请项目奖金，用金钱来吸引；还有的说，项目经理要做好服务，让每个人获得成长。
其实大家的分析都有道理，但都不能从根本上解决问题，因为该案例中问题根源出在“公司领导认为该项目没有价值”上，只要这个观念没变，员工的热情不可能会高涨，因为没有人愿意干一件不重要的事情。
实 际上，认为这个项目没有价值只是一种错觉。一个项目有没有价值，不只是要看它的金额，还要看它给客户带来的价值，对客户满意度的影响。公司与客户的关系并 不是一锤子买卖，而是一种长期合作的关系。这次公司虽然亏本，但只要客户满意，今后定有补偿，这也算是一种行业的潜规则吧。更何况，这是领导权衡之后决定 要做的，不重要你做它干什么？！至于没有赚到钱，那是公司必须承担的结果，怎么能因此认为项目不重要呢？
所以这里我对老张提出两点建议：一是立即向员工纠正项目不重要的看法；二是向领导解释，委婉提出领导层不重视这个项目将来带来严重危害，请公司领导出席项目会议，重申项目的战略价值，并配备必要资源。只有这样，这个项目才可能扭转颓势，得以顺利完成。
因此，公司领导和项目经理们，求求你们，以后不要再说项目不重要，也不要说事情很简单这样的话了。这对你们而言，可能只是一句无心之言，但对于项目组却可能是毁灭性的打击。
（2）及时表扬员工
许多公司为了激励员工，制定了各种奖励措施，比如加薪水、发奖金、评优秀、升职等等，大部分奖励都需要老板“放血”，也正因为如此，所以这个措施不可经常进行。其实，还有一种不需要花一分钱、又可以随时进行的激励措施：表扬员工，或者称之为赞美。
曾看过一个外国人制作的视频叫《盖章》，主角是一个停车场的管理员，他不停的赞美别人，通过赞美，使得周围的人生活变得更加美好，最后也追求到了自己心爱的女孩。由此可以赞美有着巨大的力量。
员工的士气就好像自行车的轮胎，骑久了自然会瘪下去。每次表扬相当于给员工打一次气，经常给员工打气，“轮胎”就会保持饱满的工作状态。
程序员是一个非常需要及时表扬的群体，他们一般很感性，而且工作也比较单调，生活比较封闭，一次真诚的赞美，对他们起到的激励作用胜过千百句语重心长的教导。
（3）满怀期望的激励
美国心理学家罗森塔尔在某学校做过一个心理实验，他随意从每班抽3名学生共18人写在一张表格上，交给校长，极为认真地说：“这18名学生经过科学测定全都是智商型人才。”事过半年，罗森又来到该校，发现这18名学生的确超过一般，长进很大，再后来这18人全都在不同的岗位上干出了非凡的成绩。这一效应就是期望心理中的共鸣现象。
由 此我们受到启发：管理者期望员工变成什么样，他有可能就会变成什么样。因此项目经理应该注意给员工正面的期望，员工能感觉到你对他寄予的厚望，他也会因此 加倍努力，希望不会辜负你的期望。在这个过程中，他的主动性、积极性和创造性都得以充分的发挥，这样他达到目标的可能性也就会大大增加。
对 于项目中的新员工，有些项目经理会认为“他水平很烂，什么也不懂，不能给他安排什么工作”，有的项目经理则认为“他的潜力很大，很快就可以融入团队，胜任 项目的工作”，这两种不同的期望，可能会导致截然相反的结果。前者可能会真如项目经理所说的，长期在项目中无所事事，无法融入团队，沦为给其他人打杂的闲 杂人员；而后者则很可能迅速成长，成为项目中的骨干。
（4）让员工参与管理
只 有专制蛮横、自信过头的项目经理才会认为项目管理是自己一个人的事情，一个真正凝胶型的团队应该让员工参与到管理工作中来，这样才能真正发挥团队的智慧， 并激发每个员工的主人翁精神、获得成就感。让员工参与管理最重要的是建立一种互动式管理机制，在重要环节让员工参与进来，听取不同的声音，做出科学的决 策。
（5）对员工保持宽容
项目中要允许员工失败，允许达不到目标。对于员工存在的问题，不能一味批评，求全责备，而应该帮助员工分析原因，找到解决的方法，让下属在失败中学习成长。
当然适当批评也是必要的，批评员工前，应先对员工表现出来的亮点，比如工作态度、方法、已取得的成果等进行认可，保护他已有的成就感，然后再就事论事的进行分析，让人如沐春风。
from http://developer.51cto.com/art/201211/364725.htm