Erika F.
Project / Program Management / PMP / PRINCE2 and ITSM / ITIL Consultant and Instructor (3,500+ connections)
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received about managing projects?
Good Answers (24)
Kenneth L.
Retired Aerospace Contracts Manager, MicroMentor Volunteer and Founder "Smalltofeds"
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Project Managment like life is full of tradeoffs. Make the right ones and you will succeed.
Develop the abililty to cross organizational lines and make disparate groups or functional oranizations work together with only your power of pursuaison and your contract going for you.
Evolve the art of directing resources without having them report to you while keeping home departments and functional bosses happy at the same time.
Manage to convince the executives in your company that your project (s) is the most important in the firm.
Live with the prospect that if the project is late, fails or otherwise disappoints the powers that be, replacing you will be the designated corrective action.
Grow to crave the satisfaction that comes from succeeding at the above challenges and you would not have any other job because no other pursuit makes your day go as fast, grows you skills as sharp and totally occupies your intellect.
Links:
Judith A.
Research Program Specialist at State of California
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To identify what people you need to cooperate, perform, etc. in order to keep the project(s) going and foster developing positive relationships with them and shared expectations--that can make all the difference in the world because people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Dave M.
Professional trade show booth traffic builder and party entertainer. Corporate and private sector events.
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Surround yourself with smart people...
Mike D.
Data Analyst, 8 different companies. Seen it all: mergers, layoffs, off shoring, bankruptcy.
To set benchmarks and deadlines before hand.
week 1 x will happen.
week 2 x will happen.
week 3 x will happen.
It doesn't matter how it happens, just that the time benchmarks are completed and it happened. I saw this on a Youtube video actually where the guy was saying that PM's mostly make mistakes that they are supposed to manage 'how' it happens but the concern should be what needs to happen and when. Not how.
I have a lot of stuff to do around the house. So I need to say:
-Paint Walls by Feb 1.
Not:
Go to store Jan 28 to buy paint.
Go to buy brushes Jan 29.
Clean Walls Jan 30
He said that people make the mistake of the above which causes a lot of confusion and can become endless. Ultimatly it can slow down the whole project (well not with painting walls but a real project).
Give "them" all the credits while you take none. Congratulations, what a project wasn'it?
Erika,
identify the stakeholders of the project, get to know them well and fully understand their needs from the project at hand. Maintaining this relation is crucial to the project success, as in fact, it largely determines whether or not the stakeholders accepts the project results in the end.
Timothy K.
Vice President, Operations at Peach State Integrated Technologies
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Good morning, Erika.
The best advice I received...
"Keep the oil-level high in your feathers"
Like water rolls off a duck, a PM must not let the stresses or complications of projects get to him or her. They must take a personal interest in the details and success of a project but do not take the project personal. A PM must focus on the plan and focus on the execution of the plan. When team members, stakeholders, or clients bring personal feelings or emotion into the mix, focus on the critical path can be put in jeopardy. The idea is to own the project...not let the project own you.
Best Regards,
Tim
Kiron B.
Project Portfolio & Change Management Practitioner
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Good morning Erika -
Pretty simple - given that communications is the most important component of the role, "listen to what is (and is not) said" would be the best thing I was ever told.
Kiron
(http://kbondale.wordpress.com)
Dinesh V.
Manager (Assembly Operations) at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentcky
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Plan the work and then work the plan!
1) Ensure that you get a clear defined project scope.
2) Also very important is that the tasks and responsibilities are properly comunicated and understood by the project team members.
Scoping is crucial and it should address items like place, planning of relevant acitivties, budget and cost, long lead items, external contributors, internal manpower planning etc.
3) Also you should have a clear budet report that is administered regularly to ensure that the budget stays within the agreed limits.
Mark H.
Deloitte Consulting
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Be fair, firm and empathetic and above all, cool headed.
Jeff H.
Principal Program Manager | Eminent Influencer of Best PM Practices | Residential Energy Efficiency Zealot
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Follow these Project Management Laws:
If it can go wrong it will - Murphy's law.
If it can't possibly go wrong, it will - O'Malley's corollary to Murphy's law.
It will go wrong in the worst possible way - Sod's law.
Work expands to fill the time available for its completion - Parkinson's law.
Finely chopped cabbage in mayonnaise – Coles’ law.
Michael N.
Business Coach | Sales Trainer | Public Speaking Coach | Speaker | Social Media Consultant
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Develop a relationship with all key people on the project, have a clear and agreed upon timeline with milestones that people can be held accountable to, and be willing to change the plan on a dime if necessary.
I found through being guided to these elements of project management from a good manager that I could effectively manage just about any project.
Trust, but verify. Of course, Mr. Reagan gets credit for originally saying this.
Two things:
The best thing I learned was that stat I got from my PMP boot-camp which was 95% of a project managers time is spent communicating. Made me feel better about all the time I was spending on email, phone, collaboration sites, etc. I would finish a day and feel like I hadn't gotten any work done, but in fact I had probably done exactly what I was supposed to do!
The other thing was something I learned while at goalkeeper camp in highschool, that can apply to many projects at work and outside work, and it's "Deal with the elements". Whatever gets sent your way (extreme weather, injuries, etc in soccer and the roller coaster of your project), be ready to handle it.
Bhalchandra P.
Brand Advisor, Branding Consultant, Marketeer right till the bone. Now!!! Tempting Brand Owners by SCENT....
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For a successful project:
1) Address a clearly understood need.
2) Pursue a clearly defined result.
3) Establish a clear time frame.
Jayashree D.
Project Manager at Karvy Stock Broking Ltd
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The best piece of advice I have received is 'Not to forget learnings from
the earlier projects'.
Ralph H.
Digital Projects Manager at Black Coffee Creative
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Projects happen in two ways: a) planned and then executed or b) Executed, stopped, planned and then executed.
Celia B.
Global Program Management
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"Fail to plan, plan to fail..."
Carol F.
Certified Project Manager (PMP - Project Management Professional) at Virginia Mason Medical Center
The best advice I received about managing projects is to create a work breakdown structure. This is a great tool that helps everyone see the big picture, work out the high-level project logistics and priorities, get buy-in, and have the SMEs identify the work that is needed.
Deanne E.
Project Delivery Specialist, Founder of Unlike Before Ltd
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Hi Erika
Be tenacious. Always ask lots of questions drilling down until the answers you're getting 'smell' right. Be visible and available. Operate with integrity at all times. Get clear fast about others strengths and weaknesses. Add value by leading rather than managing. Know and execute the fundamental activities associated with project management (definition, scope, issues, risks, budget, resourcing, etc etc).
A PM that is there just to tick boxes, write reports and keep the filing up to date is administrating the project not managing it.
Regards, Deanne
(www.unlikebefore.com)
Dates in the calendar are closer than they appear ! :)
That failure to adopt a process change is most often caused by lack of acceptance by those impacted rather than a poor solution.
Define your project scope, assemble the right project team, plan your work, work your plan and communicate, communicate, communicate.
More Answers (3)
Ravi S.
Learner & Helper - IT, Project, Green, Wildlife, Media
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Erika -- you are expert, consultant and instructor in these area---- wondering still you need best piece of advice on managing projects ?
Best Regards
Learner & Helper
Ravi Sharma
Tara S.
Outreach team at Microsoft
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Hello Erika,
Check out Microsoft Project for managing people, timelines and budgets: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project/FX100487771033.aspx. You can try the Microsoft Office 2010 version for free: http://www.microsoft.com/project/2010/en/us/default.aspx.
Learn more about how Microsoft Office can help you manage your work by joining the MS Office LinkedIn Discussion group: http://bit.ly/Lp5CA. The purpose of this discussion group is for users to learn more about how to use products, contribute to solutions based discussions and be eligible for new software previews and unique opportunities. This is a great place to get special previews as we reveal more about the Microsoft Office 2010 Release. This is an open group and we encourage your participation on leading discussions.
Yours,
Tara
Microsoft Outreach Team
