Situations like this are especially tough if you are new to the organization or low ranking. Whenever I have an issue like this, the most important thing I do to make myself feel more secure is documentation. I document the issue as best I can so there is a record of the problem. Next I would reach out (in writing, so there is a paper trail) to the project manager politely expressing my confusion over what their expectations are of me. In a situation where you are too low ranking to make any kind of change to the power structure, one of the only things you can do is make sure you have documentation to show the fault is not yours and you made an effort to express that there was an issue and you did your work to the best of your ability despite that.

I work in industry and normally project managers and supervisors have a large amount of say in whether something should get done or should be continued. I have dealt with bad project managers that would only consider the feelings of the client instead of listening to the complaints our managers were saying on our behalf. For our industry, you have to be trained on the process and given final assessments before you are able to proceed so sometimes there are only a limited amount of people that are trained on a client's process. I've been in many situations where project management decided to proceed with a process due to the client and upper management saying to proceed, which lead to processing a 20-21 hour day. When this happens, I tend to document when these events occur and have a discussion with management to discuss these grievances or try to come up with better solutions when this occurs. As long as you know that you tried the best you could in the situation and had done all you could, there is no fault of your own. 

A poor project manager can be a disaster for the team, especially if they enthusiastically work to meet deadlines. There is a good possibility of delays extending working hours, project duration, and allocation of resources. It may indirectly discourage team members and slow the pace of work. The team members can discuss the problem with the manager as miscommunication of goals and try their best to bridge the gap. There isn't much that can be done other than doing the allotted work perfectly. Make use of the opportunity to learn how not to be a poor project manager after getting a promotion so things can be better for you and the team in the future.

Having had both experiences in labs and in industry, it is imperative that you have a well-rounded project manager, especially when starting out. My experiences have been very different when I am dealt an organized and attentive project manager and when I have one that is the opposite. When dealing with a project manager that is not running the operation smoothly, things tend to become more frustrating because there are a lot of unknowns and uncertainty within the team. A positive experience that I have seen with these kinds of managers is that it forces a lot of self-learning and gives me scenarios that I would have never had if it weren't for that kind of leadership. In a way, having a manager that executed at a sub-par level led to me learning and developing myself in different ways. On the other hand, having a project manager that functions well with the team and is always on top of things makes working in that team environment much more enjoyable. Tasks are always getting completed on time, the schedule is being followed accordingly, and the team is working well together. There are a lot of different learning experiences that I have gained from this type of leadership as well and it helps create an appreciation for a good management style. 

This is a great discussion topic! Having worked in the industry for a few years at a couple different corporations, I have had experiences with both good and not so good projects managers. I will say that it's very vital to have a responsible projects manager who fully understands their role in the projects or tasks. I believe that a good projects manager lays the foundation out as early as possible after ensuring the tasks are finalized to be distributed. This sets a good level of expectation for all members involved on the projects to follow. As discussed in the lecture, I believe that a not so good project manager would be unable to control the amount of scope creep and this would lead the project in the wrong direction and confuse all who are involved.

Additionally, I believe that once the tasks and deadlines are distributed, the project manager should be able to trust their team to complete the work on time and have timely meetings (whether its weekly or twice a week depending on project deadlines) to ensure everything is running smoothly. A project manager who micromanages their employees can create further issues such as an impacted quality of work due something like the project slack not allowing ample time. This would be a not so good project manager as well. 

My main point is that it is important to have a project manager who understands their role and follows it properly, if this is not the case then the project and it's members will all face the consequences over time. 

Some people in this thread have brought up the learning experience of having a bad manager. I think this is an excellent point. A friend of mine who works in industry recently had to leave a job because of a terrible manager and we discussed how in the future she should think about this situation and ensure if she is ever in a PM position, to remember what went wrong at the company she just left.

One of the most interesting things she said was that she actually had two bosses. One of them made her work much harder, but she actually preferred that boss because she trusted her to know what the scope of the projects were and what each member of the team could handle. On the other hand, the boss that was the reason she left the company, gave my friend less work than the other boss, but because she was such a poor manager, she gave people the wrong kind of work on unreasonable deadlines. A good project manager will keep the project on task but they will also retain talent which is equally important.

In industry, oftentimes the problem of a "poor" project manager isn't necessarily because the person is bad at their job, but it's because they're both managing the project and working in it. This can occur if a company is short-staffed on project managers, or simply don't believe a dedicated "project manager" role is necessary. What ends up happening is that projects are led by a senior R&D engineer or a QA manager for example, who is very knowledgeable about the process and invaluable in the execution phase. However, their capability to oversee the project as a whole is often neglected because their necessity for completing the tasks themselves takes precedence. Instead, it should be more common practice to recruit someone whose sole responsibility on the team is project management, since their attention will be dedicated to overseeing the project from a distance and making sure everyone stays on track, rather than doing the task execution legwork.

I certainly agree that when the project manager or PI is organized accomplishing tasks/projects becomes easier. Project managers who are on top of the people who report to them, and the actual projects, definitely make project timelines smoother and easier to complete.

Good project managers in my experience, also tend to know when outside assistance is needed, and know where to find that outside help. Be it from SMEs (subject matter experts) or project leads from other groups, good project managers know who to contact to help push the project in the correct direction.

While it is much easier to work with a good project manager, I would also argue that working with a bad one can help one's career. It gives you an opportunity to set up a schedule for yourself, and set up meetings with others who can help keep the project moving, even if the project manager isn't. This can help with growing your network with new connections, and increase the possibility of moving to another department under (hopefully) a better project manager. I strongly believe that being thrust into challenging situations can be one of the most valuable learning opportunities, so if you do find yourself in such a situation, always try to find the silver lining!

I don't have industry experience, but I do have 5+ years working in research/academia and have worked under many different project managers of differing skill levels. I have found that no matter what the organization level of the PM is, as long as you lay out clear tasks/deliverables for yourself, and you share this with your PM/supervisor at regular intervals, you chance for success will be high. If your PM is organized, this will be very easy for you as they will most likely be scheduling meetings with you and clearly laying out tasks to be completed. If they are disorganized, you will have to do some more leg work, but as long as you communicate what you are working on and delivering results, you at least know you have done everything you could to succeed.