As someone who was just a project manager (and hated it), my advise would be "Don't feel like you are bugging people when you are following up." People have different priorities, and in my opinion it is the PM's job to ensure that the project action items are completed. Many times I've had to send emails, follow up emails, phone calls, and make personal visit's to people's desks. It felt like I was pestering them to do their work! Eventually however, I realized that rarely did anyone think I was pestering them. Some people even thanked me for always reminding them and keeping them on track.
Although I do not have experience as a project manager, I can speak as a team member on a project some of the good qualities a project manager should have. I think a key tool to understand for being a good project manager is to understand the limitations of your team as well as proactively finding solutions for obstacles that may present themselves. Too often I have found that my project managers who were in a rush to complete a deliverable would not work with me to find a solution to the problem or understand why an obstacle is occurring before escalating the matter. For example, in my workplace, tasks need to be completed in a process and go through different team members as they are completed. If a project manager follows up with someone down the chain who has not even gotten the task yet, it puts them in an uncomfortable spot as they have not even received the task from someone above them. Following up with team members on completing a task is an important skill to have, but find out the important times when to follow up is equally important so as not to anger members of the team that cannot do anything about the situation they are in.
Besides interpersonal skills, organization is key when project managing. It allows you to keep track of the life cycle of the project and prepare, execute, react, and check each step. Having an organized plan allows proper allocation of time and resources. Being in the medical industry, allocating resources like machines, operators, or outsourcing, always takes the most time when challenges present themselves.
I agree with ad487 in that as a project manager, it is important to understand that obstacles can and will occur during the course of the project. Oftentimes these obstacles are unexpected, and can cause major delays in the completion of activities. Because of this, when creating the timeline in the planning phase of the project, it is important to set ample buffer time to complete tasks, if the urgency level of the project allows for it. It's better to establish from the get-go that the project will take longer rather than deliverables repeatedly being completed weeks late because the deadlines on the timeline are too strict - which also creates pressure on the team to complete activities quickly rather than thoroughly. And if you're lucky, setting a lot of buffer time may even result in consistently closing out deliverables ahead of schedule, which will be very encouraging not only for the team, but for upper management.
I personally haven't worked under a project manager but from my experience working under another engineer, I can suggest that organization and patience is key with working with team members. The engineer I report to is extremely organized and keeps track of all of the tasks she assigns us to do and checks up on us at least twice a day to make sure she has her tasks updated regularly. She also keeps track of the life cycle of each project while keeping us updated on what has to be completed priority wise. She also understands if we have other projects that we're working on from other engineers. I also agree that having a buffer period to complete tasks helps a lot with relieving stress from the people under you and yourself because it's better to be take a while longer to finish a task and on time, rather than rush the project with mistakes or even be late with deliverables to higher ups.
Having worked under a project manager I would say that one major key is understanding the work habits of the people that you are managing. I know that for me being micromanaged or constantly reminded of what I have to do makes me feel like the manager does not trust me to do the work or to do it correctly, which makes me feel like they do not respect me. I work much better when I am told the task, deadline, and supporting information and they let me work. If they want to schedule regular check-ins that are ok but to be constantly reminding me to do my job is demeaning. But some people may work better with the structure and organization that those constant check-ins would create. This is why it is important for a project manager to understand the members of the team and their work habits. That way they can tailor the work to each of the members and make sure that the work is done to the highest standard.
What tips can you give for a new Project Manager who has never been in that position before?I saw this article ( http://apexgloballearning.com/blog/project-management-professors/ ) with some useful tips, but I want to hear your real-life tips and experiences especially on the issues you've encountered when starting as a project manager whether in an industrial or academical environment. For those who have had that position before, what were the initial challenges you faced and how did you overcome them? I think interpersonal skills is critical for a project manager, after all people do projects for people. My tip will be to try to connect with your team and strive toward a comfortable environment for communication.
I have questioned myself about this same scenario multiple times. My tip is balance schedule commitments with effort required for deliverables. Decide internally what is important regarding quality. Take on the perspective of a general who fights with their men rather than one who gives directives far removed from the theater of war. Team members can perceive when commitments are getting unrealistic. Then they loose respect and confidence in the project managers capability to assess appropriate time frames for deliverable.
Seek to find away to inspire the team to rise to the occasion believe they are engaged in an effort of great importantance
I agree that communication is key but I don't think its the most important thing. I believe based on personal experience that the most important thing is leadership. first thing you do is to understand your role as a leader and make sure whomever in working under you understands it as well. you should always take the initiative to lead by example and you do that by working harder than everyone else. Second is by being more knowledgeable about the project than anyone else in case they ever needed help or needed clarification on something. third is by always following up with your team, make sure they start the work right and end it right and on time. forth is understanding the importance of deadlines in the work place because you will find a lot of the project components are connected and once one is late it will delay all the others. Being a leader requires good communication but it also requires the ability to work harder than anyone.
For a new project manager, I believe communication is the most important. Although there are many other emotional skills that are possibly more important for a leader, for a new PM I think the best way to learn the skills necessary is to overcommunicate. By communicating to send reminders and follow up messages you can ensure tasks are on track to maintain the project schedule. As a team member, I have found frequent messages about these things very helpful to remain aware of the progress of a project. In addition to frequent messages, I believe another important aspect of communication for a PM is to not be afraid to ask questions. By asking questions about even the smallest things you don't understand, you will learn the various tasks and roles completed by various departments and team members, which will create a better environment for everyone to work in. I've found that many people often don't want to ask questions if they think others won't find it important or if they think it'll make them seem annoying. However, I think having the best understanding early on in a project will lead to the best chance of leading a successful team.
What tips can you give for a new Project Manager who has never been in that position before?I saw this article ( http://apexgloballearning.com/blog/project-management-professors/ ) with some useful tips, but I want to hear your real-life tips and experiences especially on the issues you've encountered when starting as a project manager whether in an industrial or academical environment. For those who have had that position before, what were the initial challenges you faced and how did you overcome them? I think interpersonal skills is critical for a project manager, after all people do projects for people. My tip will be to try to connect with your team and strive toward a comfortable environment for communication.
Always allow people to come to you. Be accessible and listen to what project team members will ask or comment all the time. The more you know, the better you are able to make decisions. Buy knowledge and sell solutions unless you want to pay for project deviations.Follow up on tasks and Communicate, Communicate, Communicate. Keep detailed notes and make sure everyone on the team is aware of what is happening.
I would say interaction with team members can be a great help to the project managers to be successful in their area. As the team members are the most important asset for the project manager to finish the project successfully it would make him/her successful by coordinating all the team members and interacting with them. For a first time project manager it is more likely to benefit to carry out the projects without any issues or problems. Communicating with the team members, listening to all their ideas and supporting them with valuable suggestions would make a great benefit to success in the role.
As a new project manager, I must say that it is very important to be communicative and take the initiative. Project managers have to deal with reaching out to upper management teams and communicate with them regarding the the strategies of accomplishing a project and also sometimes have to be mindful about how to keep the project feasible within the company's budget. Therefore, it is important for project managers to be well aware about the information they will be providing and be very collaborative among the team members. Besides, project managers also need the time management, organizational and analytical skills as these characteristics play an important role in any leadership position.
As a new project manager, I must say that it is very important to be communicative and take the initiative. Project managers have to deal with reaching out to upper management teams and communicate with them regarding the the strategies of accomplishing a project and also sometimes have to be mindful about how to keep the project feasible within the company's budget. Therefore, it is important for project managers to be well aware about the information they will be providing and be very collaborative among the team members. Besides, project managers also need the time management, organizational and analytical skills as these characteristics play an important role in any leadership position.
Some of the challenges the project managers can face can include not being able to make decisions efficiently on time, not reaching out to the right team because they are not sure about the goals of a project and how to accomplish it and jumping onto the next project before finishing the current one etc.
For a new PM, my advice is to plan around other stakeholder’s ideas when feasible – especially when they are the customer. Specifically, go beyond a conversation and request stakeholders to write-up their expectations. PM’s should include stakeholders ideas in building the statement of work as much as possible. Equally, PMs should advice how the inclusion of the stakeholder’s ideas provides benefit to them. As you advance throughout the project lifecycle, you should keep stakeholders engaged. If they attempt to make a change on the fly, request an email. However, you determine, provide frequent summary reports to all stakeholders. This will help the PM and the stakeholder be clear about expectations. Secondly, you can ask probing questions to get more clarity for your planning phase and for advancement to the execution phase. Lastly, you are providing “cover” for yourself. What if a stakeholders is disappointed when the work product is delivered? I know from experience that some stakeholders can attempt to suggest they did or did not ask for something that was or was not delivered. One such experience had to do with delivery of a telecommunication system to a customer. The customer did not realize how short-sighted they were in their initial request. When the customer’s expectations were not satisfied, they were unhappy. I had to work closely with my implementation specialist to resolve their dissatisfaction, but we did it at their cost because we properly documented
