Project manager: create rules — do not be lazy!

If you are a project manager, such things as “multitasking” and “progressivity”, “being techno-savvy” and “teamwork” are close to you.

It is likely that in your practice, there are many different examples in this regard. It is a blue sky, open field for reasoning, but I would reduce everything to certain rules. The explanation is the following.

Maksym Prokhorov Founder and IT manager of PM Partners

It is impossible to know everything, but!

Since the success of the project largely depends on the quality of your work, your acquisition of new knowledge can not be stopped in any case. Have in mind at least my articles on digitalization. They perfectly demonstrate that “downtime” in knowledge and acquisition of new skills can cost the whole project quite expensive. The situation when we did not think, missed, did not appreciate the potential — and have already lost positions in the market. And then it is much harder to catch up than to keep up with modern technologies and trends.

In addition, the “depth of immersion” in knowledge is important for any project. Understanding your subject and the needs of the customer affects success. And, notice, not only the project’s success, but also your personal achievements while being the head of a project. Therefore, be ready to learn something new on a regular basis.

Another thing is that you can differentiate your approach to gaining knowledge. Think about your system for selecting sources of information, their studying and areas of application. Yes, it is impossible to know everything, but at the same time, it is not required! It is important not to clutter your mind with all kinds of content, but to focus on important knowledge for this time. And now there are plenty of such opportunities: from professional literature (in print and electronic format) to specialized video blogs, forums, free lectures at online universities, Telegram channels and so on.

Strengthen your authority and praise all the good even when you strive to change the bad. The functional aspects of the former culture, familiar to workers, will be the bridge on which you can move people from the past to the future

Michael Watkins, author of The First 90 Days. Success strategies for new leaders at all levels.

Work with your team constantly

I recently read a thought: if two employees have the same opinion in everything, it is quite possible to get rid of one of them. To some extent, this is true, because if your employees agree with you and each other, most likely, they just “serve time” — before the first coffee break, lunch, second coffee break and the end of the day. This happens from Monday to Friday, from month to month… It may seem to be good, because everything is fine, there are no global conflicts, and the work continues. But, the employees are not particularly enthusiastic in this case. And this can lead to deadlock.

Your team’s success rate is not always measured solely by numbers. Even in a very stable composition, changes occur. One employee leaves, you find another in his place. Now imagine that this newcomer treats work not as a time interval between meals, but in terms of gaining new experience and development. He begins to ask questions that were on the surface, but you simply did not get around to them. Explaining the nuances to him, you understand: the potential of the company is much higher! In order to avoid such downtime, it is necessary to constantly contact the team, gradually raise the level and properly distribute tasks among employees, of course, taking into account their skills, knowledge and, especially, their interests.

If you need a team with shining eyes, right now start to form your own rules for its motivation, training, stimulation to constant movement. Also, and do not forget about the tools for receiving feedback, which will help to understand whether the passive phase that stops the internal activity is approaching.

I focus on management, although it still seems to me that this attention is not enough. This is the most important component

Philip Fischer, an American economist and professional investor.

Plan and believe in the project

If the next idea seems great and clear to you, so much so that you decide to skip the planning stage and start implementing it immediately, it is better to pause for coffee, tea or just take a walk. In this situation, it is vital to cool your passion and bring back the “cold blood”.

Planning in the short, medium and long term is a must for any project. Set goals for different time periods, prescribe tasks and schedule their implementation, delegate and control, properly distribute the workload on employees. Then there will be a much more realistic prospect of successfully implementing the idea, project or its next stage.

This can be another mandatory rule of yours. I will say from my experience that in practice it works perfectly. And even, getting out of the schedule for different reasons, you understand where you need to accelerate, replace, or combine stages to catch up on time.

For projects that do not seem particularly attractive at first glance, conduct additional research before planning. It is possible to involve employees by resorting to “brainstorming”, or to organize rapid testing of the idea in a small focus group. I lead to the fact that before rejecting, make sure that your position is fair. Of course, if the results are not satisfactory enough in order to believe in the project, you should not start it. A project for the sake of a project is definitely not the best option.

In theory, often the features of the project manager may seem simpler than in practice, but believe me, all of the above is taken from practical experience. The creation of certain rules and their strict implementation is a proven need. Of course, first of all, you have to organize yourself. And this is also a basic rule for the project manager.

We are not worried about the market downturn. For us and our investors in the long run, this is an opportunity to buy successful companies with excellent management at low prices

Warren Buffett, an American entrepreneur and one of the world’s most well-known investors.