LESSONS LEARNT FROM PROJECT MANAGEMENT BY MATTHEW D. GONZALEZ
Lesson 1: "It's my way or the highway!"
How many times, in a project, have you felt that you have been railroaded into something that you didn't agree with? Probably more than a few times. And you probably kept your mouth shut just to keep the peace. Matt suggests that to be effective, ask questions and make the opposition prove their points. Probe and find out why their point is an absolute must, and in the end the goal will be to unify a decision instead of having opposing views.
In my work I think that this gets compounded by having an international team and barriers to communication - it's easier to be ignored when you're on the end of a bad line and it's not always convinient to hold meetings at times that are within your waking hours. Still, you have to find ways to manage this effectively - being firm when people attempt to cut you off, insisting on time zone friendly meetings and being efficient with your meeting time.
Lesson 2: The customer isn't always right.
Customer involvement is great - when they are productive. However, when the customer gets out of control and start dictating the course of development, this is when problems start cropping up. Key to this is maintaining control of your project and insuring that the customer has input into the project where it counts (requirements and budget) and is out of the cycle for other areas (resourcing and methodology).
Lesson 3: Manage expectations.
It amazes me how we all tend to have a bunch of mini-meetings, also known as huddles, in an attempt to sway a decision or convince others of a viewpoint before we actually have the meeting. Ever been in this position? There's nothing worse than getting blindsided from either your own team, or worst of all, your business partner. I used to think that keeping your mouth shut until the meeting was in the best interest of all, but then I realized that hearing a decision-making comment in a meeting--with little to no discussion--was blindsiding others just as much as huddling before the meeting.
Lesson Learned: As the PM, you're right in the heat of the fire. Communication is key here. Manage expectations, both upward and downward at all times. While it may seem simple, trivial or difficult to some, this is one lesson that will make or break you. I can honestly say I wasn't too good at this as a beginner PM. But as a senior IT PM, it became apparent to me that my No. 2 job behind managing the schedule and budget was communication. Make those around you aware of what others are saying, thinking, feeling, if you're able to without releasing sensitive information. It's not that you're gossiping, you're just being a good communicator. So when a senior level manager asks you, "Did you communicate that with XYZ?" you'll confidently be able to say yes.
Lesson 4: Promotions don't come easy to those who wait.
This is about empowering your self to succeed. I'm not talking about Tony Robbins here but when it comes to what project is assigned to you don't wait around for the work to come to you. Fight for the projects that you want to work for manage. With the risk will come the reward.
Lesson 5: Politics are for politicians. And guess what…you're a politician.
Projects and politics go hand in hand. You might be fighting for resources, budget, requirements.. whatever, but at some stage you're going to have to play the part of politician. I haven't worked on a single project that hasn't turned political at some point - the project that I am working on at the moment is extremely political and it always seems the other party has some agenda that they are pushing.
Some other lessons that I could add here would be along the lines of Murphy's law - everything that can go wrong will go wrong, or never count anything as a given - anything can go wrong up until the last possible minute.
Lesson 1: "It's my way or the highway!"
How many times, in a project, have you felt that you have been railroaded into something that you didn't agree with? Probably more than a few times. And you probably kept your mouth shut just to keep the peace. Matt suggests that to be effective, ask questions and make the opposition prove their points. Probe and find out why their point is an absolute must, and in the end the goal will be to unify a decision instead of having opposing views.
In my work I think that this gets compounded by having an international team and barriers to communication - it's easier to be ignored when you're on the end of a bad line and it's not always convinient to hold meetings at times that are within your waking hours. Still, you have to find ways to manage this effectively - being firm when people attempt to cut you off, insisting on time zone friendly meetings and being efficient with your meeting time.
Lesson 2: The customer isn't always right.
Customer involvement is great - when they are productive. However, when the customer gets out of control and start dictating the course of development, this is when problems start cropping up. Key to this is maintaining control of your project and insuring that the customer has input into the project where it counts (requirements and budget) and is out of the cycle for other areas (resourcing and methodology).
Lesson 3: Manage expectations.
It amazes me how we all tend to have a bunch of mini-meetings, also known as huddles, in an attempt to sway a decision or convince others of a viewpoint before we actually have the meeting. Ever been in this position? There's nothing worse than getting blindsided from either your own team, or worst of all, your business partner. I used to think that keeping your mouth shut until the meeting was in the best interest of all, but then I realized that hearing a decision-making comment in a meeting--with little to no discussion--was blindsiding others just as much as huddling before the meeting.
Lesson Learned: As the PM, you're right in the heat of the fire. Communication is key here. Manage expectations, both upward and downward at all times. While it may seem simple, trivial or difficult to some, this is one lesson that will make or break you. I can honestly say I wasn't too good at this as a beginner PM. But as a senior IT PM, it became apparent to me that my No. 2 job behind managing the schedule and budget was communication. Make those around you aware of what others are saying, thinking, feeling, if you're able to without releasing sensitive information. It's not that you're gossiping, you're just being a good communicator. So when a senior level manager asks you, "Did you communicate that with XYZ?" you'll confidently be able to say yes.
Lesson 4: Promotions don't come easy to those who wait.
This is about empowering your self to succeed. I'm not talking about Tony Robbins here but when it comes to what project is assigned to you don't wait around for the work to come to you. Fight for the projects that you want to work for manage. With the risk will come the reward.
Lesson 5: Politics are for politicians. And guess what…you're a politician.
Projects and politics go hand in hand. You might be fighting for resources, budget, requirements.. whatever, but at some stage you're going to have to play the part of politician. I haven't worked on a single project that hasn't turned political at some point - the project that I am working on at the moment is extremely political and it always seems the other party has some agenda that they are pushing.
Some other lessons that I could add here would be along the lines of Murphy's law - everything that can go wrong will go wrong, or never count anything as a given - anything can go wrong up until the last possible minute.