You’re responsible for everything, yet have direct control over nothing.
Welcome to Project Management.
Any job brings challenges, but project management is unique in one respect. Inspiring great work from a team that does not report directly to you poses a conundrum that many in the field can appreciate. If you’re lucky, you may have a project coordinator or an intern (poor souls) who can help carry the burden of more tedious tasks, but the rest of the team — the subject matter experts of all kinds — do not fall under your authority. Be it internal art directors, copywriters or developers, they all have their own bosses who ultimately decide their fate. Freelancers sit on the other side of the corporate fence. That leaves you without any hard levers to pull on.
Yet the success of your project depends on how well that team performs.
You’re responsible for everything. You have direct control over nothing. Welcome to project management.
Those versed in the field know the long list of expertise required to excel. Budget contingencies, schedule and risk management are among them, and all have to be mastered. But doing so will not make or break your project when faced with serious challenges. It’s your soft skills that matter most under pressure. Below are a few things that I have found useful in building soft skills; things that, in my experience, cultivate healthy, respectful and mutually beneficial relationships in the work place.
Look Out For Your Team
When something goes wrong, never distribute the blame — own it. Take responsibility and fix things. If someone on the team is being pushed without regard for their wellbeing, you should always have their back. Make sure they know you are on their side, and work with them to find a solution.
Give Credit Where Credit Is Due
When your project sees success, large or small, attribute that to your team. Without them you would be nowhere. Always share the credit for accomplishments. It will come back to you. And never fail to compliment a team member when they do something right.
Function As Ally
Yes, you are responsible for everything and yes, you need to be someone that people can look up to. But being an ally is more important. Take care of the health and welfare of all team members because it will affect your bottom line. It’s fine to request overtime for hitting important milestones, but if you do it habitually the team will burn out and lose motivation. Balance is key.
Learn What Makes People Tick
The more you understand what motivates people the more power you have to make a difference. Make it your business to find out everything you can about what drives them. What makes them excited? What are the criteria by which they judge their own success? Every person is different, so do your homework.
Leave Ego Out of It
You’re not as important as you think. As a project manager you can’t afford to get caught up in self-gratification. If that’s what you’re after, you should’ve tried to be a rock star. Everyone on your team, including the receptionist, is more important than you are. (Yes even the receptionist — you never know when you’re going to need help updating content inventory for 1000-page web site in the midst of a crunch.) Take the attention off of yourself and treat people like their work matters, and you bring out their best.
Communication
There are numerous reasons a project can fail, but poor communication is at the top of the list. It happens more often than you think. As a PM you’re involved in all aspects of a project so it’s easy to forget that others are not. Even if you have been diligent in documenting information, it’s unwise to assume that people will know anything outside their own direct tasks, even when it affects them personally. Communicate one-on-one as often as possible because that way, through feedback, you will learn more about knowledge gaps and weaknesses in your system. Provide important information in context, and be clear and concise. You don’t want to see important tasks impeded when a team member doesn’t know where to find the information they need. Remove these roadblocks.
Valuing Others
There is little more that inspires great work from your team than making each and every member feel valued for what they do. Show them you appreciate their work at every opportunity and it will build self-worth and satisfaction, encouraging them to do even better next time. And always thank them for their input and feedback. Instill confidence in all that their voice will be heard and you motivate them for best performance.
Establishing Expectations
In the ad agency world tasks are rarely clear and precise. Often the brief is so vague that the project team can spend days or even weeks decoding, deciphering and guessing. Take it upon yourself to ensure that doesn’t happen. If you don’t understand something, you can be certain that your team members won’t either, which can easily lead to assumptions that cost you both time and money. Be sure to set expectations for each task in order to keep things on track and deliver on project objectives.
These are some example of the “soft skills” that, when employed, have worked for me. What works for you? Please share your comments and insights. We can all learn from each other.
I’ve been a digital project manager for 14 years, first building websites for small businesses, then at various ad agencies and technology-consulting firms. Seeing great many successes and failures I learned all common pitfalls and success factors. I’ve had my fair share of pain learning from my own mistakes and witnessing others make the same mistakes repeatedly. I want to share what I’ve learned and help you cut the learning curve, develop competency and build confidence faster. No one is born a great project manager. But with the right support, you can train to become one.
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