I am so happy to have you here, because I want to talk about how to be a great project manager. Or how to be a better project manager.
I will share my nine-years of experience as a PM in software industry.
First of all, it’s the most important thing I’m going to tell you today.
1. You must be a leader, not a manager
(Even if you say that your title is project manager.
This is a common saying, but what does it actually mean in practice?
What should you do?
As a PM, I believe that you should not make any decisions or manage the work.
It is important to create a vision of the workplace that people will enjoy working in.
It means that you will set expectations and give guidelines for the final results you expect from these people.
Give them enough room to express their ideas in the work they are asked to do.
However, leaders need to communicate clearly why they care about completing the project on time.
Why should people care so much? Why should they have to work harder to complete it?
This WHY should be a motivating factor in your life.
Is it your goal or theirs to complete the project successfully?
They won’t commit if that’s their goal.
It should also be a common goal for all members of the team and not just for a few individuals.
If you assign the difficult tasks to the entire team while they are pursuing the personal goals of a few, they won’t commit as well.
Last but not least, you must place your team’s needs above those of the clients.
This means that you should ask your team to complete some tasks. Again, think about whether you are pursuing their goals or a client’s excessive goal.
Let’s get on to the second point.
2. Prioritize human interaction over processes and workflows
Yes, agile frameworks are the best.
The idea is simple
You can avoid formalizing the process and workflow and instead use common sense and personal communication.
Why?
Because it’s people that drive the wheels and gears of your project-management approach.
It’s not your documents, tools, or processes; it’s your people.
Let’s think about this for a second:
Project management can be automated and scriptable in theory.
Robots can replace project managers. It doesn’t happen.
Why?
People push for the project forward.
“Human interactions are at the heart of every project, in every project management approach.” To push people further, it is important to build relationships.
Why?
Because humans crave relationships and there is no script.
Project management is about motivating others and negotiating so they can do a specific task.
As a PM, you help them collaborate. Facilitation is a key component of any document or described process.
Okay, let’s move onto the next point…
3. Project Management Skills are Essential
As a project manager, you have a special role.
You organize and manage people to accomplish the work.
The primary expectation of team members is to know what to do and how it should be done in every moment of a project.
Be careful!
I am not referring to certifications in every possible framework in the project management domain.
I’ll do it again:
You must have confidence in your ability to do the right thing, at the right time, with the right people, and on the assigned projects.
Project management is like a toolbox. There are different tools for different tasks.
The more tools you have, the easier it is to complete tasks successfully.
4. Showcase your professional development
You may be familiar with the fact that helping others build a career or make their work more efficient is one of motivational methods.
It takes some professional skills
11 Practical Tips from a PM on How to Be a Good Project Manager
