Often we see that projects cracks on time or get big budget overruns, it can obviously be many reasons why this happens. Whatever reason it is so, it is the manager who gets the blame.
Dr. Holes personal experience is that so-called project managers with little project experience which has led several smaller projects are dangerous. They often act as them, they are little responsive and running solo run and have their own gain on its agenda. This often ends in disaster. A project manager once told Dr. Hole, you have to remember the CMA! “CMA?” “CMA = Cover my ass.” Such project managers who jumps around from one project to another and never succeed with anything. They always blame everyone else when they fail.
Skilled project managers are highly valued within restructuring and IT projects. If you want to become a skilled project manager you must master these skills.
There are several characteristics that are essential to become a skilled manager. Project management is one of the most challenging roles people can undertake. Dr. Hole`s mentioned is that skilled project managers are good managers, often you get a mandate without having personal responsibility for the employee resources. This puts the manager in an a very demanding role, on the one hand, one is held responsible for the project’s development but one must make it with “borrowed” resources to complete the project. Therefore, many traits that you must master to succeed as a project manager.
Manage your time well, it is your responsibility to keep the project within the stipulated time frame. Time management is crucial to success as a project manager. You will find yourself in the middle and everyone wants a piece of you and you will move in all directions, often all directions at once. You must learn how to effectively plan your time and prioritize your tasks. Do not forget to add a little slack in the schedule for the unexpected, for it is something that is certainly so are the unexpected events.
Learn to effectively use project management tool. There are currently a large number of project management tools and templates that can be used. Although Dr. Hole prefer PMI standard or Prince II as project management tools. Having the right tools for a project can mean the difference between if project succeeds or fails. You should learn how to effectively use these tools. Not only must you be aware of them, you need to master and use them well. Dr. Hole has since 2002 worked with Lean Management courses both internal courses and business courses.
Therefore, if you want to succeed as a project manager make sure you master and use project management tools and templates.
Learn to anticipate problems. Project does not come with a crystal ball you can see into, but there are times when you’ll wish you had such a crystal ball. Instead, you must be diligent to analyze all potential aspects of risk before they become problems.
Be effective at holding meetings. Nothing steal as much time as unproductive meetings, meetings are a necessary evil that comes with project management. As project manager you must learn to hold efficient and productive meetings. Do not let meetings wander off the subject, you have no time to lose.
Be an effective decision-maker. As project manager must make decisions “all the time and they MUST always be the right ones.” To complicate matters even more features you cannot afford to spend a lot of time to make a decision. Sometimes they have to be taken on site. Project members asks you yes or no, then and there and do not have time to wait for answers.
Be receptive to new ideas. Being receptive to new ideas is perhaps one of the most important qualities you can have as a project manager. Do not act as you know everything, it will not make you a good manager. Although everyone expects that you as project manager will know everything, you could not know everything. You count on project members, others subproject managers and others who can help.
Stay focused on quality. Not only milestones, too often we see that project managers are too busy to reach their milestones. Dr. Hole`s contention is that quality is more important than milestones, milestones are important, but the real acid test for the success of a project is the quality of the product it produces. It never pays to cut corners to reach milestones at the expense of quality. All that comes at the expense of quality will come as a boomerang back, the rest speaks for itself.
Addresses issues right away. Do not let problems scour and grow large, dealing with the problems once they occur or you see indications that something will be able to seize. As project manager you usually have some project members who will fight on an important part of the project will be carried out, this may put the project at risk. So make sure everyone is familiar with the project methodology you have chosen step by step and be specific so that everyone understands. If you leave a problem lie or you see signs of challenges and thinking that this can I take in, then you can be sure that your problem can evolve to derail your whole project. Little strokes fell great oaks.
Focus on the big picture is one thing that is certain it is that something will go wrong in the project. It can be a subcontractor that does not deliver according to the set schedule. Project members fail to report a problem.
A skilled project manager must master the unknown, to focus on the overall goal and act with calm and composure even when things go wrong. It will also help you to have a sense of humour, but at times it can be difficult to find room for humour when things go wrong. As project manager, make sure that you do not get eaten by the project and begin to lose sleep. You must take care of yourself in the middle of the storm. If you notice that you start to lose sleep overtime, this is a warning sign that you need to handle.
You are a manager, not a micro-manager the same way that you do not have to be a “show-off”, so must rely on your team, you cannot be the one that “does it all”, and try to have 110% control over all details. Your job is to manage the project and focus on the big picture. Delegate your tasks to your team and let them do their job.
Being a good manager requires that you master to have multiple hats and be able to turn around. Skilled project managers are people who are driven to succeed at any cost, and who never loses sight of the big picture. Which is required to deliver a project on time, on budget and with high quality.
Skilled project managers need to learn and acquire many new skills. If you want to be a successful project manager, you have to learn to become a good administrator, a good negotiator, a good leader, one who can turn on the dime and make a decision then and there.