Admit that you don’t know everything
Why do people think that talking nonsense on a subject they know nothing about is better than admitting they know nothing about it? Pretending you know everything is not big and ironically, it’s not clever.
As a Project Manager, you’re supposed to know everything about your project but it’s okay not to sometimes. People have this misconception that admitting you don’t know something is a terrible faux pas but in fact it’s quite the opposite. You’ll earn respect and trust by being honest, holding your hands up and saying those three magic words: “I don’t know”. BUT you must make an effort to find out the answer. If you’re asked the same question later on and you still can’t answer, then there’s a big problem. Even if there is no need to feedback right away, you should ensure you take the time to look into it as soon as possible. It’s all good and well admitting you don’t know something but it’s dangerous territory when you then don’t make an effort to learn about it.
Where many people go wrong is that hand in hand with the above misconception that “not knowing something is bad”, is the misconception that giving any old answer is better. There’s only so long you can get away with pretending you know something before it spirals out of control and you lose people’s trust. Quite simply, if you don’t know — don’t try to fob people off by giving them a fake answer that more than likely bends the truth a little, tell them you’ll find out and get back to them.
There is no harm in not knowing but there is harm in not learning.
A Project Manager is someone who delivers a project. A good Project Manager is someone who delivers a project within it’s deadline, budget and scope (within reason). A great Project Manager is someone who delivers a project within it’s deadline, budget and scope (within reason) who is invested in and visibly cares about their project’s and team’s success. If you’re dishonest or don’t spend the time learning about your project and all it’s nooks and crannies, you can never be a great Project Manager.
If you liked this story, please share and recommend to others. There’s plenty more where this came from!
