What makes a Project Manager successful?
How do you survive all the challenges and obstacles?
The most successful project managers follow the Seven Key Secrets to Successful Delivery every time.
1) Learn to be flexible – A key quality to have is the ability to be flexible in any given situation. Sometimes, to keep the project on track, a Project Manager will have to think outside the box and be flexible in finding solutions to problems. Being rigid makes it more difficult to find a “win-win” solution. Basically, the options are “get by” or adapt. However, to survive, the Project Manager needs to be flexible and adapt. The key factor here is the ability to find a solution ‘whatever it takes’.
Don’t be too rigid and learn to bend the rules from time to time. Highly restrictive rules and plans will create their own problems and ultimately lead to frustration and inefficient processes. Remember that bureaucracy and rules tend to stifle creativity.
2) Consider the prize – Be very clear on your goal or end goal. A successful delivery relies heavily on understanding and agreeing on the requirements from the start. You can then use them as the eventual success criteria for the successful approval of your project. Delivering on time and on budget is good, but the real art, the real skill, is in delivering a project just as the user originally envisioned it.
3) A positive attitude – In general, the Project Manager has to be an active figure, a resolute leader, a good ‘sociable person’ and not a spectator. A Project Manager has to deal with a variety of situations, work with many people and experience a large number of problems and risks. To see the light at the end of the tunnel, it is important to have a strong personality that is both proactive and positive.
4) Look ahead – You can’t see every problem on the horizon, but you can anticipate common problems. Practice the good habit of looking ahead, talk to other Project Managers who have been there before you. Read lessons learned reports from previous projects. In many cases, you’ll see common problems crop up over and over again. Anticipating them will put you in a much stronger position to deal with them when they do eventually arise.
Remember to ask lots of questions. Assuming you know everything about the project is a dangerous path. Instead, try to have a clear understanding of the process, the experiences, and the issues. That way, you’ll be in a much stronger position to deliver a successful project that users will get behind. Don’t take things at face value. Look for hidden agendas and conflicting goals, identifying these can help the Project Manager identify potential areas of conflict or resource issues. Go below the surface and find out where the pain is. Work closely with the stakeholders and at the end of the exercise you will have a list of the main areas to resolve. You might also consider setting up display groups to make sure you’re on the right path to delivery.
5) Avoid misunderstandings – Clearing up misunderstandings quickly can save a lot of pain later in the project. One of the most common problems a Project Manager encounters is that of misunderstanding. Various people can and will agree to a set of requirements or specifications, however they may have slightly different interpretations of the details included. Unless you can identify and clear them up early, you’ll be piling up problems for yourself later in the project. Again, group work or visualization sessions often help clarify this.
6) Control the time of the project – Be a good time manager. A good Project Manager must be personally good at time management. If you are not punctual and prepared, how can you transmit these qualities to your project?
7) Use the best tools available, but don’t be overpowered or distracted by them – Understand the basic concepts of project management tools. A good Project Manager requires a good rudimentary knowledge of the available tools. (or have a team that does). These tools can give you the edge that means the difference between success and failure.
Follow these seven secret key principles and you will find that you are on the right path to successful projects time after time.
Here is your future success!