Top 10 Reminders for Project Managers

Every project manager has been there: You've been in your position for a while, things are going well. You become more and more comfortable as time goes on. My advice? Be careful. Getting too comfortable can turn out to be a huge liability - especially for a project manager.

As in any job, refreshers are essential. Let's take a look at some of the challenges facing project managers.

Challenge #1
"Project Manager Sandwich" - that pressure between keeping your staff happy and motivated, all the while making sure that the stakeholders are satisfied with the project's progress. These needs seldom overlap, thereby creating pressure on both sides.

Challenge #2
Second, you were given this position as a reward for great work, likely in a technical discipline. As you quickly realized, the skills that brought you to this wonderful opportunity have little to do with the skills you will need to be a successful project manager. This, by the way, is the basis for mountains of management disdain...a manager that mettles in the technical details of the project because that is what he or she really understands. Consider this an explicit reminder: You can no longer do the technical work yourself. Your primary responsibility is to get the work done by optimally leveraging your staff.

Challenge #3
And finally, you find quickly that every successful project you complete raises the bar for future projects and sets new, higher expectations. Ahhh...success can be such a cruel mistress!

Reminders: Basic Solutions for the Project Manager
So what to do, what to do, what to do? Here are a few guidelines for becoming more aware of making sure you stay on the right path.

1. Understand the project scope and stakeholder expectations at the onset of the program. Baseline the scope, as well as the amount of time and resources required once it is defined in detail. Get a signature that reflects agreement among all stakeholders as to what this project will represent when it grows up.

2. Get yourself a mentor. Whether you've been a project manager for a year or 20 years, mentoring is valuable. In your career, it will serve you and your organization well for you to either be a mentor or have a mentor.

3. If you're new to the project manager role, recognize that relationships will change. In a management position, things change. Things you used to say innocently in the normal course of a conversation without much thought can now generate many hours of discontent and unrest as the team tries to decipher what you meant. With this recognition should come some discussion with your team, with appropriate boundaries well defined.

4. Manage change rigorously. In an effort to please, project managers often attempt to take on more work without additional cost and schedule allocated to the project. Usually the discussion goes like this...
Big Boss: Fred, I need you to take on three more requirements on the project. You're my number one player. Can I count on you to make this happen?
Project Manager Fred: Er...um...I'll do my best, boss.
Big Boss: I knew I could count on you. (Pat on the head.)
The Big Boss has now left your office and you are left holding the 5-pound bag with ten pounds of requirements, and very few choices about how to meet the now impossible project constraints.
To avoid this scenario, you must find the confidence to remind management that we have only allocated enough time and resources to meet the requirements that are already baselined, and promise to turn around an impact assessment that describes the impact of adding these new requirements (in terms of cost, schedule, risk, etc). Then, if we still want to meet the new requirements, we can update the necessary baselines accordingly.

5. Know the people, not just the resources. It pays to know the people on your team. Know that motivation for each team member may be different. Meet with team members and regularly ensure that roles and responsibilities are well-understood, and that potential overlaps are corrected immediately.

6. You are what you measure. Decide on metrics you will use to gauge project success along the way and measure rigorously. Teams respond to measurement and reward systems, so it pays to carefully craft the what, where, when, how often and why of the measurement system, as well as to make sure that recognition and rewards directly support these measures.

7. Talk to stakeholders every day. Needs and viewpoints change over time, and you need to know when these changes are occurring. You'll also find that a good relationship with the stakeholders will help you through tough times on difficult projects. In addition, discussions with stakeholders will alert you early to risks you had not yet considered.

8. Talk to staff every day. I've watched some project managers uncomfortably retreat to their offices and communicate to the team and stakeholders via e-mail only. E-mail is a poor substitute for face-to-face communication when the option is available.

9. Lead by example. Nothing speaks to the team more than the example set by the project manager. You cannot ask the team to work harder, longer hours while you are coming in late, taking 2-hour lunches and leaving early to hit the golf course. If the team is coming in for a Sunday launch, you need to be there, too. If you want commitment, you need to show commitment.

10. Have fun. This will be a difficult one for many of us, particularly when the heat is on and deadlines are drawing near. However, your ability to take the project seriously without taking yourself too seriously will build stronger, more trusting relationships with your team and your stakeholders - relationships that will serve you well long after your first project has come and gone.