For a long time I believed that project management was
really about common sense. More
recently, I’ve felt that it was all about one’s gut- that inner instinct or
spidey sense that helps to guide our actions.
I don’t think that either of those beliefs are erroneous; I’ve read the
arguments that common sense is applicable to everything and that gut checks are
really not better than a flip of a coin in making a decision, yet I still
believe that a person that possesses those characteristics will tend to be more
successful in project and really even in general management. But I acknowledge that this is an overly
simplistic view.
Digging deeper, I believe that the following are qualities a
person that desires to have success in project management should possess or
develop. I don’t think it is necessary
for that person to have expert proficiency in each area; that simply isn’t
feasible nor is it desired. But when
taking a moment for introspection, consider the following:
1.
Pragmatism
2.
Flexibility
3.
Challenge your resources
4.
Make your resources better
5.
Don’t be afraid to say “no”
6.
Always be a student of the game
7.
Understand your role in each project
Let’s dive a little deeper into each of these.
1.
Pragmatism. A PM must assess a situation and take the
most appropriate steps to resolve it, relying on experience, logic, and reason yet
never emotion. We must understand that
no situation is ever exactly alike and that we must be cautious in applying
prior solutions to new problems for the sake of ease. I think that those that refer to common sense
in terms of project management may be actually talking about pragmatism.
2.
Flexibility. Project Management methodologies such as
Waterfall and Agile are processes and guides that we can use to assist us in
our duties. They are NOT absolutes and
truly it is myopic to subscribe to only one.
Be amenable to all methodologies, be it PMI, Scrum, Six Sigma, or
Prince2. Study them and gain a core
understanding of them, and then use them as you would any other weapon in your
arsenal.
3.
Challenge
your resources. This is kind of
Project Management 101, I know, but get some sort of validation of the
estimates that you are provided. Ask
just a couple of more questions of your stakeholders to really flesh that
requirement out before you start building. Restate statements that are made to you to
ensure that you understand what you are being told. It will make everyone’s job easier in the
long run. Always know why something is
being done and make sure that the doer knows why as well.
4.
Make your
resources better. This goes hand in
hand with challenging your resources.
Give them opportunities to voice their opinions, take on new tasks, ask
questions of you, and above all else let them know why they are doing what they
are doing and how it relates to the overall goals of the project or the
organization or both. They will work
harder for you, and you will see an increase in their performance. Every now and again you’ll run across a guy
that really just wants to stay heads down and do his job, nothing more, and
that’s OK. But I find that these types
of resources are few and far between. I
can already hear those that say that there’s no time for this in a
project. My response is find the time,
make the time, schedule the time. Find a
way to make it happen. You’ll be glad
that you did.
5.
Don’t be
afraid to say, “No”. Simple changes
or adds can be the death of a project, it’s like a death from 10,000 cuts. It’s not just the additional time and effort;
I find that poor change management can have a devastating effect on the morale
of your team. Remember, you are their
advocate and their shield. If they start
to see chinks in your armor, real or perceived, you will quickly lose their
respect, and their level of effort will depreciate as well. A strong, well-documented, and defined Change
Management process is critical for any engagement regardless of size or
complexity.
6.
Always be
a student of the game. You hear that
a lot about athletes, and I think it’s true in the professional arena as
well. Be observant of everyone on your
project, your resources, stakeholders, and sponsors. Learn everything you can from them. Continue your education by learning all that
you can. And challenge yourself. Don’t be an App Dev PM all your life, try an
infrastructure project, a construction project, even a process deconstruction
project. Take what you have learned and
apply it to your new challenges, and take what you learn from the experiences
and similarly apply it going forward.
You’ll be a much more well-rounded PM if you stick your head up and get
outside of your comfort zone every now and then (you’ll also make yourself that
much more marketable).
7.
Understand
your role in each project. Despite
what you may think, it isn’t the same each time. What type of environment are you in- strong
matrix, weak matrix? What’s the
experience level of your resources and is it in line with the complexity of the
project? Do you have self-starters or
folks that won’t breathe without a written requirement that they do so? What’s your sponsor and stakeholders
like? Micromanagers or I don’t care how
you do it I just want the end result and I want it yesterday types? A good understanding of these qualities will
help shape your behavior on the project.
Project Management isn’t one size fits all.
Defining success for a project is not as easy as it may seem
and identifying a successful PM is equally challenging. I don’t believe that
successful projects necessarily point to successful project management. Indeed, I’ve seen more than one project
succeed in spite of the project manager.
Conversely, I’ve seen very skilled and experienced PMs go down with a
ship despite all of their efforts, tricks, and negotiation. But the core processes of Project Management methodologies
paired with experience and the attributes I’ve called out here can position a
PM in the best possible spot to realize success in their individual projects as
well as in their career.
