Читать книгу Your mom’s best friend’s project manager! Key skills for a successful career in project management and management - Семён Колосов - Страница 4

Gregory started telling:

For me, the ideal project manager, or, as we tend to say, PM, is an independent part of the company. He achieves the result of the project in any understandable and incomprehensible situation. He is a team leader who broadcasts the rules of work. He sets the vector of movement, the right mood, the pace of work. He watches for deviations and corrects the direction. He is a project manager who chooses and applies the management technology. Keeps the situation under control, analyzes and makes decisions. Makes the process transparent and communicates decisions. Organizes a purposeful course of work and people to achieve the result. Simply put, this is the person to whom I voice a goal or say, “Do it right,” and he or she produces a predictable result. Without too much oversight, I’m always sure he knows what “right” means, that there won’t be any surprises before the deadline, and if conditions or the environment make the result unfeasible, everyone will know about it beforehand and the PM will come up with a solution to change those conditions. And sometimes we don’t even know the goal ourselves. We just want him to figure it out and do it himself. An ideal PM is not afraid of problems, does not whine, knows how to organize and negotiate, is responsible for the quality of the result and delivers everything on time.

Organized and systematic

This is the base. A systematic approach to tasks and problem solving is the foundation in work. An unorganized person will not be able to organize others. The ideal PM effectively plans and organizes his time and workspace. He has his own self-organization system with his favorite tools from calendar to task manager. It’s without flaw, without cheating, as reliable as a couch spring. It evolves and adapts so that it never wastes time on uselessness. That doesn’t mean he’s obsessed with systematization like a maniac. When needed, he can unfocus or go into creative mode. But systematically managing your life, time and tasks is a masterstroke. It is always said about the ideal PM that he is a systematic person who has everything in order.

Punctuality and compliance to agreements

The ideal PM performs tasks on time, does not allow delays, does not break agreements and promises. The team and clients can rely on him because he always keeps his word. When he says what will be done, it really happens. And if he didn’t give us a heads-up and he didn’t show up for the meeting or he didn’t send us the paperwork, something really bad happened. The perfect PM exemplifies its punctuality and discipline to other team members. It sets high standards and ensures that all employees are accountable and comply with agreements. It helps create an atmosphere where everyone knows that their work is appreciated.

Working under conditions of uncertainty

Systemic does not mean bureaucracy and unconditional adherence to algorithms. The ideal PM is flexible, able to work in a changing environment, and able to develop solutions in the face of uncertainty. He knows that certainty exists only in mediocre projects. And not always. He is not afraid of uncertainty, he knows that projects can be subject to change, sudden shifts and surprises. He is ready to adapt coolly to new circumstances, to eliminate uncertainty or turn it into risks with all his actions. When it’s unclear what to do, there are many inputs or interdependent connections, he doesn’t panic, lose direction or call his mom in tears. The ideal PM is creative and goes beyond traditional methods and solutions. He is especially adept at communicating with the team and stakeholders to ensure that the situation is understood and changes are agreed to. Uncertainty for him is an everyday occurrence. No matter what happens, he will change the system to suit the conditions, just as sailors change course and sail position simultaneously when the wind changes.

Responsibility and reliability

In almost every job opening for a project manager you will find the requirement “to be responsible”. You don’t know the goals, conditions, team and atmosphere yet, but they already say that you will start working and you will be responsible. In short, the ideal PM is a responsible PM. But what does it mean to be responsible? I thought about this question for a very long time and decided that “taking responsibility” means making a decision and being prepared to experience negative emotions, suffering and pain if something goes wrong. To experience failure on one’s own, rather than being scared of it in the beginning and inaction. And if everything is clear with a person’s personal life, because there the consequences will inevitably come and it will be painful, where does responsibility at work come from?

In the workplace, it is commonly believed that to be “responsible” is to have a vested interest in the business, the project, the outcome, etc. But how should an employee have a vested interest in someone else’s business? Cultures of “ownership positions” are invented and “shared missions and values” are created, but it doesn’t work. Because the business owner, partner and employees have different goals. And they use their work in the company for their own purposes, not for shared ones. They don’t care no matter what they tell them in the interview. The interests of the employees conflict with the interests of the owner at every turn. The business owner risks everything every day, the workers risk nothing. Where would the consequences that the worker would fear come from in such an arrangement? There is no accountability. Even to fire an employee for a joint is very difficult, if he is employed by law. And even if there is such leverage, the employee will simply change jobs. For some people this is scary, so they tolerate, do not dare to change and do their job responsibly. And some do it irresponsibly, but take advantage of the unprofessionalism or softness of management. Spent someone else’s investment, sitting on a salary, and no result – oh, well, it happens, sent the payment to the wrong place – sorry, promised cosmic goals and did not do it – so the world has changed, we are not to blame. It won’t be a big deal, the money and resources are not spent by the employee. And an employee will not agree to risk something personal and his own. Why should he go out of his comfort zone for a paycheck? There is no accountability, just a line in the mission and in the dreams of the manager. Even if the owner thinks he’s paying fairly. We know we never have enough and we work like wolves. It’s always unfair by default.

Employees aren’t bad, they just have their own goals and motivations. That’s the way it should be. This needs to be recognized and understood, then the picture of what to do about it will become clearer. You just need to recognize that there is no premise for the birth of responsibility at work. Come down from the turquoise skies and stop imposing responsibility. Responsibility comes from within. And in the perfect PM, and in any human being. No matter where I’ve worked – from shanty towns to cool companies – there have been non-ideal processes, non-ideal salaries and non-ideal teams, but my employees have always been accountable. They may have complained and been disgruntled, but no one ever let me down. They were reliable. Their accountability came from not wanting to let me down specifically or let anyone down in principle. But in the beginning there was a desire to accomplish the goal, to be committed to achieving the goal and meeting the needs of the stakeholders, and to implement all necessary measures to achieve a successful bottom line. This is the kind of attitude that is valued in an ideal PM. It is always easier to quit than to change your attitude to that of a business owner. But it is this transformation that affects the application of all the skills of the ideal PM. Whatever he does, he will put his best effort to make the result. I mention this at the beginning because without an understanding of responsibility, the other skills are meaningless.

Ability to recognize and reflect on mistakes

A perfect PM knows that no one is perfect. Everyone is strong and weak at the same time. That is why he is not afraid to admit his mistakes, realize them and learn from past experiences. He knows that mistakes are inevitable, and instead of hiding them or denying them, he openly admits to them rather than turning the tables or holing up in Zoom without a camera. He accepts responsibility for mistakes, looks for ways to correct them, and never repeats them again. He may step on new rakes, but never on old ones. I have seen people who will deny their mistake and blame everyone around them until the end. I have seen managers who would rather find someone to blame and make him a scapegoat than draw conclusions and support the team. Therefore, it is equally important to understand the culture and management styles of the company to avoid being the one who just takes everything on himself and destroys his reputation. The ideal PM knows when to admit mistakes publicly, and when to admit them in the small circle of the team or in his or her own mind.