A Thanks to All the PMs

As the PM, Account Manager, Coordinator, etc. you recognize those around you…thanking team members for a job well done, praising stakeholders for their timely, thorough and great feedback – in general appreciating others for their contributions through every step of the project.

But, who thanks you? Too often no one does. Yeah, leading projects can be a thankless job at times. However, you take pride in your work and keep your ego in check, so this seldom gets to you.

The words may not be spoken, but you are appreciated by your team members, your clients, managers and the users of whatever it is you’re building. So, on their behalf here are just a few things they thought but never told you:

Tags: Account Managers, Content Coordinator, Gratitude, Project Managers

Avoid Communication Breakdowns – Listen to Your Team

Every PM type knows that communication is one of the core personality traits critical to success. They also know that it’s not just about the clear and concisely crafted email or that spot on presentation –keen listening skills and ability to engage the team in dialog is what makes a PM truly valued.

Sit in on a few post mortems and you’ll quickly see a trend –

Tags: leadership skills, listening skills, personalities, Project Managers, team management

The Email PMs Would Like to Send the “Urgent” Emailer

As PM types we receive a phenomenal amount of email. Our team members, clients, vendors, marketing reps, sales reps, managers and more all rely on us to sort through these communications and not let a single note fall through the cracks. We’re good, so we’re able to manage all with grace and promptly respond to each and every one. Our organization skills help us keep track of each detail included with ease.

Then why is it that one person feels so inclined to constantly send their messages as urgent? Why? Do they think that their email will be dismissed otherwise? Did they accidentally create some rule that marks all emails as urgent? Or are they just cruel?

To the person that for whatever reason considers each email urgent, this is the response we’d all like to send if we weren’t so dang professional:

Tags: email etiquette, email management, high importance emails, rant, urgent emails

Recommended Read: PMs Make Everyone’s Job Easy

Peruse Sam Barnes blog, TheSamBarnes.com, and you’re certain to find a slew of great tips as well as some entertaining rants. His focus is web project management, but many of his suggestions and experiences could easily apply to any project manager.

A nicely put, and humbling example is his post “Web Project Managers: Make Everyone’s Job Easy.”   Good PMs take on the stress without their team even realizing it, they’re focused on their team’s success not their own egos, and always keep a level head. That’s a few key takeaways at least, and there’s complete agreement here.

It’s a recommended read, but for those short of time…Sam’s top 10 tips on how to make your team’s jobs as easy and stress free as possible. Or as he put it, “Anti-Dickhead Tips” for project mangers:

Tags: Producers, Project Managers, web pms

Do You Project Manage Thanksgiving?

It would be interesting to know how many PM types walk away from the office and immediately take over the planning and coordination that comes with Thanksgiving (insert other holiday if your outside of the US). Gut feeling is that it’s quite a few.

It’s our nature to organize & coordinate – why would we stop when a holiday hits? Bets on that several readers will reply “um, yeah, ok, I admit it, I do that,” to at minimum one of these, maybe more:

Tags: holiday planning, organizing, Project Managers, thanksgiving

When Reality Hits – PMs Roll With It

One of the top challenges new PM types face is facing, and then dealing, with reality. That point in the project when things just aren’t going as planned…

At the beginning of the project your Gantt view is a work of art – each dependency perfectly linked, all tasks accounted for, the ideal project team fully secured, plus your project will be ready to launch a full week before the deadline. All is good in the world.

But then…a team member is out sick for days on end, the key-art has been delayed a week, the client demands another design round, the developer underestimated the time needed for that feature, or maybe your vendor has decided to close shop to pursue their lifelong passion of opening a pastry shop. Things happen.

So, how to cope? You have the core personality traits to make it all OK, use them:

Tags: coping, deadlines, project crisis, reality, schedules

Who was the PM for Scooby Doo & Team?

A debate started…We know Scooby and Shaggy are team members, but are we sure that Velma was the PM? Fred did drive the van after all, and he had clear leadership skills. Plus Daphne wasn’t always given the credit due – that woman had courage and was about as level headed as a cartoon character can be.  This conversation went on longer than it should have and was quickly solved with a highly scientific and completely biased matrix (what was the world before matrices?).

Reviewing the top 10 personality traits of a PM, and ranking 0-5 on a scale:

Tags: funny, humor, matrices, personalities, Project Managers, scooby doo

Stakeholders – Personality Types and Tips

As a vender you call them the “Clients,” internally they’re known as the “Stakeholders.” It’s your job as PM to provide these people with regular status, manage their feedback, maintain the stream of communication, and always offer the best customer service possible. At least that’s the job description bit. The biggest challenge you’ll have with this part of your job, and the one not in writing, is getting to know the personalities, how to gain their trust, determining the best way to communicate with them, and how to keep them on track.

One of the most important things to always remember is that their just people. And like all of us, no person is perfect. We have our quirks and our styles, and as a PM you need to adapt. This is where your communication and facilitation skills really come in handy.

Tags: client managment, personalities, stakeholders, Tough clients