HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL PM

HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT MANAGER

The Project Manager

There is more to being a successful Project Manager than being an expert in MS Project. Giving someone a recipe book does not make that person a gourmet chef. Nor does giving someone a word processor make that person an author. There are certain obvious things that every good Project Manager knows and follows. However, what makes a Project Manager really successful is adherence to a number of additional common-sense items which can easily be overlooked. Some of these 'little' things are in fact the vital elements of successful project management. This document is a summary of50 of these 'little' things. The intention is that a Project Manager should refer to these 50 points on a regular basis to help to remain focused on the real issues of successful project management.

1. PROJECTS

1. A project is not a project unless it has four key elements. These elements are :

• An Objective and Scope (What is the project designed to achieve?)
  
• A deadline (By when is it required to complete the project?)
  
• Available Resources (both people and equipment)
  
• Agreed Budget (signed off by the client)
  

If you are asked to accept total responsibility for a project you should make sure that these four elements are all in place.

2. Treat your time as if someone is paying for it -someone is.

3. lt is essential to distinguish between what is important and what is urgent.

4. Being good is important; being trusted is essential.

5. When a decision is required, make a decision. No one is right 100% of the time so do not afraid to make a a wrong decision. Deliberately not deciding is a decision too.

6. Don't make promises you can't keep.

7. Never break a promise.

8. Always have your documents proof-read. Never send out documents, memos, etc. containing spelling errors, grammar errors or typos. Do not rely on the spelling and grammar checkers contained in popular word processing software packages.

9. Direct memos or e-mail only to the person for whom the message is intended. The other people who need to know can be copied on the message. A message should only be addressed to more than one person if it is expected that more than one person is to take action from the message.

10. Always return telephone cans and answer correspondence as soon as possible.

11. Don't wait until the last minute to follow up people on the action points they have been assigned. If you find out that they are not doing the expected task and there is no time left to pursue an alternative course of action, the project time schedule will be affected.

12. Project Managers who rely on paperwork to report activities are bound to fail.

13. There is no such thing as too much allowance for contingency. Nothing ever goes to plan.

14. Maintain a sense of humor and use it where appropriate. It can be especially useful to defuse tense situations.

2. CLIENTS

15. Always treat the client as king, even if no-one else in your organization does.

16. Always know what is important to your client and what is only of importance to you.

17. Always tell the truth to a client. If something has gone off the tracks, say so.

18. If the client asks you something and you do not know the answer, do not be afraid to say so. Nobody expects anybody to know the answer to everything. However it is important to make an undertaking to the client that you will seek out the answer.

19. If it becomes obvious that a deadline in the project will not be met, let the client know as soon as possible. Bad news now will not be as damaging to the client relationship as bad news later on.

20. Never appear stressed in front of a client, a customer or your management. Ask yourself if the matter at hand is really all that important in the scheme of human events.

21. Your final presentation or recommendations to a client should never come as a surprise to that client. You should go through a continuous process of previewing intended results with the client.

22. Always be aware of who would replace your client if the client was no longer associated with the project.

23. Try to keep up a close relationship with these possible replacement personnel as well as with the client.

3. PEOPLE

24. Learn to remember other people's names. Always spell people's names correctly.

25. Treat everyone on the project with respect and dignity. Don't ever be patronizing.

26. Always remember to say thank you to anyone who helps out on a project. This applies to major contributions of work as equally as to minor efforts.

27. Share the credit for successful projects and make sure that the supervisor or manager of each project participant is aware of the relevant person's contribution.

28. Don't criticize other people's ideas unless you can come up with something better.

29. Never correct or admonish a colleague in front of a client.

4. YOUR MANAGER/BOSS

30. Be aware of the details of your job description but never be restricted by it. Do whatever needs to be done.

31. Do not feel compelled to take on work which you consider to be outside the agreed scope of the project. If it is a minor additional task you should agree to do it in order to keep the client satisfied. If the task is of sufficient magnitude to affect the project time schedule it should be form part of a variation agreement.

32. Never take a problem to your manager without some possible solutions. You are getting paid to think, not to complain or criticize.

33. Do not work long hours than necessary. It is the quality of the work that counts, not the quantity.

34. Always complete and present timesheet and invoices on time.

5. SIMPLIFICATION

35. Keep documents simple. God told to Prophet Moses Ten Commandments to lay down the rules for all human civilization. You do not need 100 pages to layout a strategy which no-one is likely to read anyway.

36. Try to reduce all results of analysis to three bullet points. Few people will take the time to read, let alone understand, any more than three points.

37. It is unlikely that any client will read a GANTT chart which runs over more than two pages. Keep longer charts for your own use, if necessary, but do not present them to a client.

38. Never put more than about 36 words on an overhead slide. Use graphics. Don't show slides containing columns of numbers.

6. MEETINGS

39. Never attend a meeting unless you know what the intended objective of the meeting is. Never go into a meeting without planning beforehand what you intend to get out of it.

40. A working meeting has about six people attending. Meetings larger than this are generally for information transfer.

41. Learn how to prepare a meeting agenda.

42. Don't be late for meetings. If you do happen to be late don't make it a big deal- just apologize.

43. Never go into a meeting without your diary.

44. Learn how to chair a meeting.

45. Learn how to chair a teleconference. At the start of the teleconference each participant should introduce himself/herself and give a job title if appropriate.

• Always start with locations at the other end of the telephone. Use the name of a participant preceding each directed question or statement. 
  
• Always defer the floor to people at the other end of the telephone if there is competition to be the next speaker. 
  
• Be prepared to repeat comments for everybody's benefit when it is not obvious that everyone heard the comment. Ensure people do not engage in conversational asides.
  

46. Learn to take minutes and chair simultaneously. Choose someone else to chair the meeting if it is more appropriate. Always try to keep control of the minutes; control of the minutes (especially the action points in the minutes} often equates to control of the project itself.

47. Ensure that when action points are agreed at a meeting you also include who is to carry out the action and the date by when the action is to be carried out.

48. Always put the time and place for the next meeting on the bottom of the minutes of a previous meeting.

49. Make sure the minutes of a meeting are distributed as soon as possible after a meeting.

7. CONCLUSION

50. At the end of a project always conduct a post-implementation review (PIR) and document the outcomes. It is said that those who ignore the lessons of history are fated to repeat those errors.


A PROJECT MANAGER ACCEPTS THINGS THAT CAN NOT CHANGE HAS THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THINGS THAT CAN AND HAS THE WISDOM TO HIDE THE BODIES OF THE PEOPLE KILLED BECAUSE THEY GOT IN THE WAY.


PREPARED BY: MUHAMMAD MUNIR, INSTRUCTOR
SOURCE: FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND NOTES FROM A RENOWNED PROJECT MANAGER, IAIN MESSER.

(This document was given to me by the author Muhammad Munir. He was my teacher of ‘System Analysis & Design’ while I was studying MBA. I am very grateful to him.)