What are the most effective ways for Program Managers to improve employee engagement?

From experience I would say RESPECT by - keeping an open communication channel, - encouraging feedback, - offering development opportunities (if you don't develop people let them go but don't burry them or kill their drive to work passionately) - establishing flexible work arrangements (subject to job needs) and - encourage well being at all times, well being psychologically and physically are essential ingredients to feeling good (state of mind, weight, late nights, family issues, long drives, health issues, ... all very very very important and must be considered and addressed)

Effective employee engagement is key to any organization’s success. As program managers, prioritizing psychological safety, diversity, inclusion, and equity can significantly boost engagement. 1. Create Psychological Safety: Ensure a space where employees can freely share ideas and concerns. 2. Embrace Diversity, Inclusion and Equity: Actively value diverse perspectives and ensure all voices are heard and respected. Offer fair access to growth and development for everyone. 4. Recognition: Regularly acknowledge and appreciate employee contributions. 5. Involve Employees in Decision Making By focusing on the above focus areas, we can foster a more engaged, productive, and happy workforce.

Call me biased, but HAVE A PLAN. A plan that is owned by the team, shared, understood and updated regularly. As with most management jobs, your primary motivation should be to make yourself redundant. People should know what to do and when to do it when you are not there. Many managers create dependency by building empires and allies that depend on their presence. I think the mark of a good manager is seeing success happen even in their absence. The central tool for this is the plan.

Let everyone understand how they contribute to the vision. They should wake up each morning recognizing how they add to the big picture, how essential the work that they do is to achieving the goal. Don’t assume your team knows how important the work that they do is. Tell them and tell them often. Celebrate when they hit milestones. Be available to them to offer guidance or suggest solutions, give them real-time feedback so they know when and how to improve. Help them track their performance with routine checkin sessions. Handhold them and inject in them the courage and resilience to tackle big things and strive for big results. Be vulnerable with them, let them trust you and know you’ve got them. Lead by inspiring them to do great things.

From my experience; - It is very vital to communicate clearly & regularly the vision & goals of the project underlining the tangible, intangible & short term & long term benefits the project can deliver - It is also essential for a program manager to identify a person who can act as a change agent within his\her discipline, the message carried by its own people weighs heavier than a program manager's message if a project is seen as an outside entity. - Another most important point is uncovering the hidden/negative views of stakeholders, many a time these are the reason for failure in stakeholder engagement

I agree, and would like to add that you need to make sure that there is a career path for them. If there is no clear career path, create one and make it transparent with clear steps to grow from one level to the other. Make them own their career goals by listening to what they want to achieve and help them to reach their goals. As a leader you need to think of yourself as an enabler to your employees to help them through their success journey.

Encourage each team member to take up the responsibilities and ownership. Making the decisions, questioning the status quo, running the meetings, interacting with stakeholders, etc. Support them during challenging times. Appreciate and reward them for their good work and contribution to the program

Look, you or your manager hired these people for a reason. Give them whatever resources they need, and take your hands off the controls. You gotta give people space to succeed and fail on their own terms. Be there as a safety net, and continue to nurture their skills……..And get out of their way. New manager advice: For the love of all things holy, do not micro-manage folks.

You create good professionals by teaching them how to do things and then let them do on their own, you can’t expect people to do something they have never been trained before. You create leaders by guiding them through the process and let them make decisions. Expect mistakes, correct them and move on. Good leaders are forged by good professors, not good bosses.

I completely agree with empowering subordinates. Give them the mission, provide your requirements as the manager, and only offer support when required for a manager to weigh in. Many managers hire brilliant employees yet they continue to micromanage their work leaving no room for the employee to be creative and innovation to grow. Letting employees make mistakes is a lesson that cannot be taught in academia. Employee will not take ownership of their work if you micromanage.

Recognizing and rewarding performance serves as a powerful motivator. When employees feel their efforts are appreciated, it not only boosts morale but also instills a sense of pride and accomplishment, fostering a positive work culture. Additionally, the use of both formal and informal means of recognition underscores the importance of diversity in acknowledgment. While formal recognition ceremonies and incentives are significant, informal praise and feedback in day-to-day interactions contribute to a supportive and appreciative work environment.

Recognizing and rewarding performance is key for engaged teams. Program managers should establish clear criteria, provide timely feedback, and offer both verbal appreciation and tangible rewards. Transparency in the process and celebrating milestones create a positive environment, boosting morale and fostering a culture of achievement.

Recognition and rewarding of performance if often overlooked. For those manager that take the time, the team is benefitted with loyalty and commitment. I have found that if people are shown how their efforts, no matter how small, contributed to the end product, then there will be a tremendous amount of energy and engagement on future projects.

This very important recognizing performance. It acknowledges their value and contributions to the team. More importantly motivation to stay with the team (retention) and public acknowledgement of their performance.

I have found that integrating gamification into the recognition system adda a fun and competitive edge. Employees earn points or badges for specific achievements, milestones, or behaviors aligned with the program’s vision and goals. These points could then be redeemed for various rewards, ranging from extra time off to unique experiences, aligning with personal interests.

In my experience, building trust starts with listening to your team. My favorite question to ask people as a Program Manager is, “If you had a magic wand to fix anything on the team, what would it be?” It’s a fun way to ask for feedback. Take those results and deliver on a few of them. Let your team know that thanks to that specific person’s feedback, you’ve implemented X change. Team members will begin to build trust with you over time and be more open to sharing their feedback with you. It’s amazing what happens when people feel heard and see action from their feedback!

Se positionner en Facilitateur de réflexions, porter l’intention en toute authenticité d’une collaboration participative ou chacun occupe son territoire de légitimité: refuser les sirènes de la performance individuelle pour donner toujours la priorité au collectif,

Don’t be afraid of the F word! Encourage every team member to fail…and coach them to fail fast. You can spend too much time talking about risk, and without realising it, create a risk averse culture. Creating an environment embracing failure will quickly enable your team to be less risk averse and move the conversation to opportunity. Once you’re talking about opportunities the culture becomes much more positive. It also enables the team to talk positively about more challenging subjects.

Program Managers can actively seek and incorporate feedback from team members to address concerns and continuously improve the working environment, resulting in increased engagement and success for organizations

Promoting positive culture begins with authenticity and engagement. Having had to create positive cultures in the past I began by sitting down with every team and ultimately each individual in person. This allowed for me to hear about each employee’s background while also providing an excellent forum for me to give my expectations for them within the organization. This face-to-face engagement is so powerful and not to be taken for granted in today’s over saturation of digital communication within the workspace.

Program Manager must be engaged and stay on top of everything.It must be ensured and governing rhythm is followed,everything is tracked and hurdles are handled.Program Manager should lead by example.

This is the big one! The most effective program managers I know all take the time to get in the weeds of the program's entire operation. Disconnect happens when program managers propose solutions or timelines that don't mesh with the reality of the work. By engaging directly with the core operation and building real relationships with the other players involved, you'll not only build valuable trust but also be more effective at your job across the board.

Leadership is like parenting. You need to walk the walk and talk the talk. If you are expecting others to be engaged show them that you care, that you are doing what you can for the project. That you are asking the hard questions and removing roadblocks. Teams watch the leader and will mimic their behavior.

This is a continuous loop. I work on this every day finding ways to make myself better, more engaging, more empathetic, a better listener and better communicator.

This is the cornerstone of being a successful program manager. You can't expect to be successful if you are not engaged with the people and the work they do. As a program manager you would like to be viewing progress, dependencies, risks and issues from a bird's eye view but you must also be prepared to dive in to help the teams succeed. Being engaged will provide the program manager with enough knowledge, trust and awareness to be able to dive in when needed.

Social Recognition: Use social recognition platforms to celebrate achievements. This can include peer-to-peer recognition, fostering a positive and collaborative team culture. Leadership Development: Invest in leadership development programs for employees who show potential for leadership roles. This demonstrates a commitment to their professional growth.

As a Torch bearer of collaboration, a program manager should be the first one to own any initiative. Program managers are best placed to navigate ambiguity and work across diverse teams to move things forward. Through this , a program manager can identify and create positive collaborations across teams and also increase employee engagement by leading the interactions and making it easy for others to follow.

Employee Surveys: Conduct regular employee engagement surveys to gather feedback on the work environment, leadership, and overall satisfaction. Use the insights to make informed improvements.

Well-Being Initiatives: Implement initiatives that promote employee well-being, such as wellness programs, mental health resources, and a supportive work environment.

My two cents , over and above wonderful contributions from my colleagues : 1. Let everybody be a hero : Just like the movies where every character has a role to play within the story, every project member has got a role to play. Let them play their roles and shine. When they succeed their milestones, call out the success due to their efforts. 2. Make sure your field placement is correct : Field placement comes from cricket where you position your players for their maximum efficacy. Work assignments in projects should be likewise. 3. Measure individual progress on tasks. Make progress visible. Via various KPIs, rewards etc 4. Equip them with necessary skills and knowledge - Just like warriors who need the best weapons and training