Reminders for the Project Manager

Show appreciation - thanking people for their assistance is not only the right thing to do it is expected.

Listen effectively - think before speaking. Listen attentively. Make the person feel like they are the only thing you are focusing on.

Give credit to others - always give credit where credit is due.

Don't be negative - negative people can kill team creativity. Eliminate them from your team if possible.

Have a work/life balance - don't forget that all work and no play makes for a dull life.

Don't have hidden agendas - they are only hidden for a while, and most people realize what you are doing.

Be willing to publicly admit your failures - there is nothing more pathetic than the person that never admits a mistake.

Talk about the problem not the person - don't personalize problems and make them about a person or group. Be willing to focus on only on the problem.

If you lie down with dogs you will get fleas - be careful of your relationships in the workplace. Trust, but verify.

Don't gossip - gossip can hurt careers and projects. Don't participate in gossip and don't allow it on your team.

Use Empathy not Sympathy when dealing with delicate issues - Empathic listening is listening with intent to understand. Sympathetic listening is a form of agreement and judgement.

Diagnose before your prescribe - if people don't have confidence in your diagnosis, they won't have confidence in your prescription

Keep your commitments and promises - enough said.

Remember while you are free to choose your actions, you aren't free to choose the consequence of those actions.

Thought for the Day

Obey the principles without being bound by them.

Bruce Lee

Politics and Projects

Here is a list of things to keep in mind when managing projects in a highly politicized environment:

• Learn to negotiate from a position of strength
• Do everything you can to educate those around you about Project Management. Stress the benefits and overcome the objections by pointing to your successes.
• Master the art of influence.
• Understand that masterful politicians are sometimes helpful to you and your project, but can also be detriment to your project's success.
• An effective executive sponsor can help minimize political time wasting events that slow project progress and increase project budgets.
• Recognize that conflict on your project is inevitable and necessary.How you respond to conflict will determine how successful you are.
• Mastering the art of negotiation is a critical skill for project managers.
• Negotiate up front how much power you will have as project manager, how and where it can be used, and when it applies to securing needed resources for your project.
• Realize that for the most part internal politics wastes time and is usually not something that people enjoy.
• Team commitment and loyalty will help to minimize project politics.
• Don't fight a political system you don't understand and can't influence. Leave that to the experts. (Hint: get these experts to support your project if possible).
• A good communications plan will help to lessen the politics on your project.
• Every project usually has at least one "politician" in the organization that is out to either sabotage it, or will try to ensure that it isn't fully implemented.
• Recognize that change (which is what projects are all about) scares some people and your project's deliverables can lead to a loss of power or influence for certain individuals or departments. Anticipate this and have a plan to deal with the behaviors that will surface.