Project managers can be exposed to people of all backgrounds and from all levels of the organization. Each of these people has their own perceptions of the PM, the project and the work being done.
Although each perception was derived from the same cognitive processes, they are almost all subjective to the individual.
You know the feeling of walking into a room you’ve been to before and finding something new? Then, for a second, you stop and wonder if it has always been there. You then consider how you could have missed it.
If you find the above scenario familiar, you may already be aware of how deceitful your perception of the world can sometimes be. Your brain shapes your perception of the world. It collects, sorts and organizes the stimuli that your five senses detect.
Cognitive psychologists have identified two key components that make up your perception of the world. There is bottom-up processing. This is the direct flow sensory information like seeing a red table or smelling fresh flowers. This is objective sensory information your brain can easily understand.
Then, there is top-down processing. This is where your brain uses all of its knowledge, experience, thoughts, and other information to interpret sensations. Take the following letters as an example: DA__GE__. Did you notice that the letters you were reading didn’t have the missing letters ‘n’ or ‘r, which spell ‘DANGER’? Maybe it was the red text that called you out?
Our brains are so used to seeing the word “danger” printed in bold, red, and uppercase letters, that we can instantly connect it. Perhaps you were referring to dagger, or another word altogether. Both interpretations are valid.
Our brains use a combination both top-down and bottom-up processes to interpret every environmental stimulus we encounter in our daily lives.
This means that perceptions of the world are not always based on objective criteria. This is true for Project Managers as well. PMs are in the business of people and therefore manage people’s perceptions about projects as well as the people themselves.
PMs don’t have to manage perceptions of other people. As long as they can manage perceptions of other humans, it’s not their job.
Understanding the perceptions of others and how they arrived at them can be a key aspect in managing project teams and individuals, especially in high pressure and high-stress situations.
It’s not just the perceptions of others that are important to consider. The PM must also consider their own perceptions. We rarely stop to think about how we see the world or how we see our projects.
Because perception is largely influenced by our individual experiences, knowledge and expertise, PMs have a limited perception.
For example, if a PM has had a negative experience dealing with contract admin, their top-down process can negatively influence any perceptions of contract administration thereafter, either consciously, or subconsciously.
Although our individual perceptions may be limited, there are many benefits to having different perceptions. Different perceptions of the world can lead to different approaches, viewpoints, and solutions. This is crucial for problem-solving.
Project teams can benefit from having different perceptions of projects. This can help them get a more complete view of the project or open up new avenues for exploration. Peer Review can be a great tool for this.
