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Saboteurs – Do you have them? What can you do?
Liz Calder
Business Analyst
Blue Raccoon
Introduction
People and Projects What does a saboteur look like? What effect do they have? Why do they do it? Different types of saboteur What can you do about it?
What is a Saboteur?
Someone who wants to do this your project.
Make it FAIL
Change the Direction
Blow it up
Undermine it
What is a project supposed to be?
Common Goals Change Bright New Future
Change gets complicated when people are involved...
Denial
ResistanceExploration
Commitment
And it's not even that simple...
ActivePassive
Committed
Uncommitted
Players
SaboteursVictims
Spectators
Why do they do it?
Because they care about something – just not the same things as you.
It could be Their job Their career Their position in their group Their expertise Their visibility and profile
How you can tell a Saboteur? By what they say and what they do
Avoid Documentation
Ignore the things they are supposed to do
Spend hours working on ‘fringe’ issues
Focus on other people’s shortcomings
Haggle over precise wordings of minutes etc.
It’s never going to work
Yes, I know it’s out of scope, but the business REALLY wants it!
Do we have the authority to decide this?
It’s better if we just have a little chat – no need to write things down
Sabotage is not the same as disagreement
Open and honest discussion, including raising difficult issues, is good in a team
Deliberately throwing spanners in the works, is not…
Are saboteurs effective?
Yes, if you let them be – They care• Persistency & consistency win over the majority
over time
Can you ignore them?• Sometimes yes, on the whole – I really wouldn't
advise it.
Saboteurs I Have Known
Smaug
Sitting on top of its pile of treasure…
Image from http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/dec/09/brief-history-dragons-smaug-hobbit-tolkien
The Wicked Witch of the West
With the flying monkeys doing their bidding“Fly my pretties, fly”
Image from http://www.animationconnection.com/view/CP-1467-my-pretties
The Shoemaker’s Elf
You come in, in the morning, and everything has changed…
Image from http://filipinobook.com/the-elves-and-the-shoemaker/
What can you do ?
First and, most importantly, put yourself in their shoes
Most people aren’t deliberately making trouble.
I feel like I am being left behind
We’ve always done it this way, it could be dangerous to change
The people I am satisfying have more impact on my career than the customers of the project
Then you can devise a strategy!
Approach Suitable ForIgnore them.
• The easy, low effort solution!
Only really suitable for people with low levels of influence, who are not part of your project team.
Closely monitor them. People not doing the tasks assigned to them and not delivering against their commitments
Some may require more effort
Approach Suitable ForTurn them
• Help them focus on how to manage the change rather than how to avoid it.
• Highlight where their skills and experience add value to the work of the team
People, inside or outside the project, who are challenged by, or feeling fearful of the change.
Get rid of them
• They aren’t happy, you aren’t happy. It would be better if they were on a project they could get behind.
• Can require delicate and/or difficult conversations
Senior or very influential people inside the team.
Conclusion
From time-to-time you will come across saboteurs
Don't ignore them and hope they'll go away Don’t get angry Try and work out why they are behaving like
they are Address the issue
