Three Pieces of Advice for Digital PMs
to keep you out of the woods.
In my experience as a Project Manager, I’ve managed projects that ran like clockwork and others that barely even ran. As I’d work on a project that seemed to drain me disproportionately more than others, I could sense that our flow was off, but I lacked the perspective to understand the cause. One afternoon, it hit me. “I didn’t set a regular standup time for this project!” I said to my boss, Morgan. “Why are you telling me that you’re not doing your job?” he shot back, tongue in cheek. With what I’ve come to call my Standup Epiphany, I began considering what other pieces worked together to build a foundation for an enjoyable project. Here’s what I found.
1. Stick to the standup schedule.
Honor your time and your team’s time by sticking to the schedule. Schedule daily stand ups for the duration of the project, invite all project team members, and protect everyone’s time! When working on multiple projects at once, it’s easy for tasks to fall through the cracks. I’ve found that keeping to a regular standup schedule ensures I have a finger on the pulse of all active projects each day.
2. Ask direct questions and state specific needs.
When talking with clients, team members, or stakeholders, minimizing ambiguity is key. Tell them what you need, when you need it, and in what format you expect it. If there are factors that are subjective, like someone’s schedule, lead with courtesy by asking specific questions. For example, when setting up a call between myself and a client, it looks something like this:
Hey Brooke, our team has a few questions about your vision for the site design I’d like to clarify before we begin the sprint next week. Are you available for a phone call tomorrow at 3pm? If not 3pm, what are a few time slots that you are available?
Brooke knows after reading this message that I am expecting to receive from her either a confirmation for a 3pm call tomorrow or a list of time slots. Asking direct questions often elicits direct answers. Help people move toward the answer you need from them.
3. Take time to build connection.
It seems simple: show you care about your team, and you’ll have a solid working relationship. Let me take this a step further, though. Have you ever been sitting next to someone that you know, but aren’t very close with? When a question comes up about what you’re working on, you may not ask them for their input. You may not even share that you’re discouraged about the project you’re working on. How connected would you be, however, if this person was someone you truly considered a friend? Expressing discouragement or uncertainty would be more natural. Communication frequency and quality increases when we know we’re working alongside a trusted friend. That’s the goal. As a PM, I want to count my coworkers as friends.
If you’re looking for ways to increase your skill of connecting with people, pick up Everyone Communicates, Few Connect by John Maxwell. He teaches how to connect in various group sizes and gives principles to increase our connectedness to those around us.
Have other Project Management principles you live and lead by? Email me at alie@polarnotion.com — Let’s learn from each other!
