Another Project Completion. So What, Next, How?

If you are currently only focusing on the role you have been assigned in the project you are involved in

• you are missing the opportunity to broaden your understanding of the entire project,
• grasp the context of the work process, and
• understand the power dynamics that exert a strong influence within it.

This means you are missing out on the opportunity to understand.

In other words, you could be missing out on a tremendous opportunity to accelerate your career growth.

If you feel burdened by this suggestion, here's some good news.

Understanding the various perspectives of stakeholders within a project doesn't necessarily mean having direct conversations with everyone or explicitly defining what they care about. In reality, it's about experiencing each stage of the project as a more nuanced and holistic experience. It can be a proactive attempt to redefine your role, build your own unique perspective, and explore hidden growth potential.

Projects are hidden stages where you can learn the diverse perspectives of stakeholders and grow faster.

One project is hidden field for learning multi percept and growing 3X faster.

When I transitioned from working at a journalistic investigative news outlet to the advertising industry, I hesitated to reveal myself. For the first three years after joining the company, I worked within the rules of the creative agency. At the time, I believed that creativity was the key element for survival in the industry. But what was the result?

It wasn't.

No one knew how to develop ideas by spending time directly in the daily lives of the target customers. And the brand and agency decision-makers tacitly agreed to share the uncertainty that arose from this regarding ROI. Industry professionals were busy filling in the Next Idea for marketing execution within a limited timeframe.

During this process, I realized that I needed to look at the perceptions of the stakeholders involved in each project and the overall context of the project. I utilized several methods I had used in investigative reporting to understand each Multi-perception. After deciding to broaden my perspective to encompass the roles of all stakeholders, people started to pay attention to and respond to my questions. Finally, they shared their roles, the hidden intentions behind their public decisions, and the political dynamics within the organization, and they began inviting me as a conversation partner after the project. That's how I was able to reach the Creative Director position in 3 years, a position that typically takes over 10 years in the advertising industry.

When people share their hidden stories in this way, it creates an opportunity to understand the overall work dynamics, from stakeholders to the entire industry's physiology.

People in reality experience difficulties in their own situations, feel fear, and feel burdened by relinquishing responsibility. Therefore, by continuously asking appropriate questions that show your intention to understand them, you will find missing pieces that allow you to understand the overall context of the project that you hadn't noticed before.

You can't find enough growth opportunities alone.

You need to actively show interest in what your team members have done, what they are worried about, and why it's important, and let your team know about your attitude and intentions. This is the most important opportunity that can help you advance your career faster than others in the same amount of time.

If the average project duration is about 2 months, you can only experience 6 projects in a year. How long are you willing to work as a professional? When will you start your own business?

Life is a limited time.

If you want to grow faster than before, the project you are participating in is the stage where you can understand the circumstances of the people you work with, learn from their perspectives, and grow multi-dimensionally.

So, how can you grow effectively within a single project?

Here are some things you can try to get started:

1. Reading the Meeting Room

Despite using technology for decades, office workers still communicate with their bodies. You can grasp the context of the relationship by observing the physical positions of people, such as whether there is always an empty leader's seat during meetings, the different postures between the leader and employees across the desk during conversations, and who cuts off the flow of the presentation.

2. Take a strong stance on controversial topics in meetings.

Speak up about controversial topics boldly. If you're always the holder of safe opinions, who should pay attention to you? People are drawn to those with conviction. To confirm the perspectives of others within the project, you need to create opportunities to express your curiosity and presence regarding other tasks that differ from your current role throughout the project.

I have experience where I emphasized that ideas can be discovered through actual observational data rather than being generated through brainstorming, and used this perspective and practical approach to attract the attention of project leaders and create opportunities to connect with various task managers.

In this process, I was also able to identify those who disagreed with my opinions or tried to distance themselves. This means that you have gained baseline information that distinguishes who you should focus on and who will not be helpful in understanding the overall context of the project as you move forward.

3. Create genuine good questions and follow-up questions.

People first suspect the intentions of those who show interest in their domain. Your intention is to deepen your understanding of the entire project, solidify your role, and find opportunities to speed up or assist others' work progress. Express and share that this attempt will help not only your rapid growth but also the overall activation of the team. I am not trying to emphasize a friendly tone or respectful attitude. Questions organized through sufficient consideration from the other person's perspective are enough to convey a sense of being respected to the recipient.

4. Clarify what you know and what you don't know.

Those involved in the project each have their own expertise. And they tend to define the meaning of the project based on their own perspectives, attitudes, and knowledge in their respective fields. Therefore, rather than questioning what is right or appropriate, clearly state what you know and don't know, and demonstrate your intention to understand the other person's work, role, and significance based on this. The moment people confirm that they are being respected in their area of expertise, they will begin to respect your curiosity. In this way, the beginning and conversations that clarify what each person knows and doesn't know can invite you to a sea of understanding beyond your expectations.

5. Silence and listening have the power to persuade.

When you ask questions about the situations that those you encounter in each project stage are facing, people may often find it annoying or unnecessary. Once again, your goal is to gain a broader perspective and understand the whole picture. Questions and speech are just one way to approach your goal, but depending on the other person's response, you can also approach the information you need through observation and silence. After one question, you can step back and directly approach the meeting outside of the meeting or the work site to see how the other person's work is concretized and how the progress is determined through discussions.

In fact, how the other person reacts to your questions and curiosity can be information that allows you to check the other person's attitude towards the project and the priority of their work. So, rather than focusing on their reactions, accept their responses as one piece of information for understanding the whole picture.

Getting Started

If you are not currently involved in a project, it is also a good option to review documents related to previous projects. After checking the areas of work you were assigned to and those you were not, you can request a coffee chat with the relevant task manager. Mention the materials or situations at the time and ask about the person's role, expectations, and pressures they had at the time. In the process, your unique perspective on the project can begin to expand.