

The same kind of thing happens when you as an individual are distracted. Performance suffers. Resources start getting pulled away. The project manager is less able to influence some stakeholders to fulfill commitments. Fail to be attentive to what’s going on in and around you and performance suffers.Ĭoncentration and skillful attention elicit a Flow experience, being in the Zone, a state of optimal performance and deep relaxation.Ĭonsider what happens when sponsors or clients lose interest in a project, they once considered important. Other “interesting” things crop up to grab their attention.


A project team focuses on the project. Teams and individuals focus on performing, attentive to the way they perform and interact, aware of what impact they are having on their environment and how their environment is affecting them, their tasks, and projects. Projects, tasks, or activities, whether performed by teams or individuals, are objects of attention. Executives govern to manage a portfolio of projects, avoid distractions, and choose the most effective places to focus attention. It focuses an organization’s attention by dedicating human effort and other resources to create or change a product, putt on an event or make a change of any kind. Effective project stakeholders are aware of the impact their actions have on their environment and the way the environment impacts the project. It is seeing the big picture and disengaging from routine attentiveness to allow for creativity and exploration.Ī project is an object. Focus outward is diffuse open awareness without focusing on any particular object. With other-focus, the principal objects are other people and things and their behavior. With self-focus, the primary objects are thoughts, physical sensations, and feelings. Objects of attention may be anything – a project, an organization, a task, presentation, thought, sound, physical sensation, or any observable phenomena.Īccording to Daniel Goleman focused attention has three modes: awareness of self, others, and the wider world.

While attention, perspective, and values are equally important, this article focuses on attention. Let’s look at what we mean by attention, its importance, and what you can do to cultivate it.Īccording to Amisha Jha, a neuroscientist, there are three kinds of attention: These capabilities rely on attention and a realistic perspective informed by positive values like objectivity and servant leadership. A realistic perspective realizes that change is inevitable and that there is uncertainty because we live and work in a complex system (our environment, organization, etc.) To perform, individuals, teams, and organizations manage and apply situation specific technical and administrative skills, project, program, and process management, supported by relationship capabilities like communications, conflict management, decision making, and expectations management. Optimal performance is sustainably achieving goals efficiently and effectively, to your best ability within current conditions. To do so, leaders must learn to focus their own attention.” Daniel Goleman “A primary task of leadership is to direct attention. The way you and your teams pay attention and focus is crucial to achieving sustained optimal performance.
