{"id":5816,"date":"2016-02-05T09:35:24","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T15:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.planview.com\/?p=5816"},"modified":"2022-04-01T10:23:51","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T15:23:51","slug":"five-resolutions-modern-project-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.planview.com\/five-resolutions-modern-project-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Resolutions for the Modern Project Manager"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that the holidays are in the rear view mirror, January is over, and the Superbowl is in the air, it’s time for project management professionals to buckle down and focus. Many of you have already missed your resolutions or are off to a bad start (guilty as charged here), but it isn’t too late to scrap your old resolutions and challenge yourself with new ones.\u00a0 If it makes you feel better, you can tell yourself that you are being “agile.”<\/p>\n

Here are my favorite resolutions for any project manager:<\/p>\n

Seek to contribute business value<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a project manager, you play a crucial role in propelling your organization forward through successful delivery of initiatives. You have likely mastered project execution through the effective use of plans, processes, and influence.\u00a0 These efforts result in the completion of projects on-time and on-budget. On the surface this sounds like a win, but is it really enough in this hyper-competitive world? As a project management professional, you need to think beyond delivery or execution and look at how your efforts can make more business impact.<\/p>\n

Understand how your project contributes to the business, so that you can make better decisions and recommendations during the execution phase. All too common we focus on the output (i.e. completing the project or task) without understanding why. \u00a0By understanding the desired outcome of the project work, you will naturally find yourself taking actions that will contribute more business value over the course of execution \u2013 not just completing something that was handed or assigned to you.\u00a0 We will always be expected to deliver, but you can supplement successful delivery by looking at the bigger picture and asking the simple question: \u201cwhy are we doing this (project\/initiative\/fill in the blank)?\u201d<\/p>\n

Increase communication & status reporting \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

You may think that you are providing sufficient communication about projects and initiatives.\u00a0 However, the reality is that most project managers only report out when things are going well or \u201cin the green.\u201d\u00a0 While this makes us feel good and keeps us under the radar, it does not help the organization.\u00a0 Your stakeholders and management are looking for ways to help you \u2013 by removing roadblocks, making prioritization decisions, and providing guidance.\u00a0 If they are only aware of on-time and on-budget projects, then there is little opportunity for them to add value to the discussion.\u00a0 So the result is you feeling like you are being \u201cmicro-managed\u201d and a missed opportunity to take advantage of an attentive, supportive management team.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t believe me?\u00a0 Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to a Gartner analyst.\u00a0 Their research found that 80% of business executives believe that project managers should provide accurate status reports (the good, bad, and the ugly), but only 33% felt that project managers are actually doing it well. Reporting is simply a gap in most organizations and this gap directly impacts the organization\u2019s performance.\u00a0 By setting a goal to communicate more often, you will facilitate healthy conversations that foster better decision making.<\/p>\n

Help optimize resources <\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are a mildly experienced project manager, then you know how to utilize the resources that are assigned to you.\u00a0 Most of us take the resources, assess the project, make a project plan, and execute.\u00a0 Very rarely do I hear of project managers assessing the skills of the team and making recommendations back to the resource manager or line of business.\u00a0 You may provide feedback that you do not have enough resources or the wrong skillset, but what about helping the organization to make better resourcing decisions in the future? This might sound challenging as you may not have visibility into the entire workforce or have experience working with everyone.\u00a0 However, you have one thing that the others do not \u2013 first-hand experience working with resources on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n

Over the course of the project, you learn strengths and weaknesses of team members and may even observe certain behaviors like who works well together, which team member is a stronger problem solver, or who has more proactive tendencies. These are the softer elements that sometimes are not captured in a spreadsheet, project management software, or project portfolio management<\/a> (PPM) system.\u00a0 These are conversations that you must have with the appropriate members of the organization.\u00a0 By having these conversations, you will demonstrate leadership and help the optimization of future resourcing decisions.\u00a0 Remember not to sound like you are complaining or making a political move, but rather providing feedback to optimize resources with organizational goals.<\/p>\n

Learn to say \u201cno\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

This is my favorite one.\u00a0 As project management professionals, we aim to please.\u00a0 We want to be the one that helped deliver that difficult project, overcame obstacles, and beat the odds; but sometimes it is okay to say \u201cno.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying you need to defy your manager or stakeholders and refuse to follow directives, but it is okay to pushback when the directive does not make business sense or is not setup for success.<\/p>\n

When is this the case? Several situations come to mind:<\/p>\n