“Manage People according to the project’s ultimate goal – time and money will fall into place!”
Management is crucial for any organisation to survive and thrive! Poor management and micromanagement are killing institutions from the inside, and that too quickly!
Things may seem bright on the outside, but the core is dimming with time. The larger the team, the more messes to clean.
That the talent is getting talented – but the results are getting averaged? With growing skills and capabilities, the success curve should be linear. But in the present context, it’s not.
Why are many teams falling short, even after pushing their limits?
What is the reason behind these average outcomes?
When these issues are discussed, it always comes down to one thing…
Poor project management or the failures of Project Managers. If you search for these topics, you will find many people blaming the poor performance of project managers.
It’s not fair to blame a single person for a team’s failure, but a lot depends on them. They can change the course of an almost-failed project to one with a much better outcome than expected!
It’s not overstated—many project managers have made the impossible possible!
Some of them might be reading this and thinking of the days that changed the course of their professional lives.
So how do you become a better project manager? Are there any fixed project management practices to follow that make the path easier or it’s just the inherent leadership skill?
Let’s read further!
Effective Project Managers always have these qualities besides handling the people, time and cost, as project management is much more than planning and delegation.
Some must-have qualities of a good project manager
- Effective Communication: Good project managers excel in clear and concise communication with all stakeholders, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
- Leadership Skills : They inspire and motivate their teams, leading by example and fostering a collaborative environment.
- Problem-Solving Abilities: They are adept at anticipating issues and resolving conflicts quickly and efficiently.
- Adaptability : Good project managers are flexible and can adjust their strategies as project requirements and circumstances change.
- Stakeholder Management: They build strong relationships with stakeholders and manage their expectations effectively.
- Focus on Outcomes: They prioritize delivering value and achieving project goals within the defined constraints of time, budget, and scope.
- Continuous Improvement: They are committed to learning and improving their skills and staying updated with the latest industry practices and tools.
But there is also something else that governs them all!
Something that only 0.0001% know.
And that is: being clear with your team about the project, its scope, and what’s at stake.
It sounds a bit confusing, right?
Let’s clarify this with a story that led us to practice a specific activity in our organization – The OKR Sessions!
Something that helped us improve our project management process.
When we began our journey as an IT company, we had a goal and a need….
To get those projects that could help us grow and expand!
Our top management passed this information to the project managers, who then passed it to their respective teams.
The goal was clear but difficult.
To begin is always difficult!
Our BD managers worked hard to help us get the projects that could change everything for us. Unfortunately, the global market was struggling and getting what we wanted was becoming difficult.
So, what to do now?
Well, to start with something, we needed a reality check!
Was everyone facing the same situation, or was it just us? It turned out the market was really down.
Organizations worldwide were focusing on massive cost-cutting, and amidst this, we wanted to dream big and get those projects that would make us shine bright like – The diamond in the rough!
But that didn’t happen!
After some time, we started getting some projects—yay for us! But the problem was – that these small projects were not enough to cover all our expenses.
Since the market was still in the same situation, we couldn’t do much other than try to get similar projects.
After some time, when we still couldn’t get the projects, we were aiming for, we realized we needed to thoroughly analyse the market…
Find out some potential possibilities, and what we were lacking. After a thorough analysis, we found we still had a chance!
So, what went wrong?
What were we not focusing on – that we should have?
To find that out…
All the team members from the business development team were called and asked some strategic questions—not to hurt them, but to understand their approach.
We conducted a few OKR sessions to see if their long-term and short-term goals aligned with our organizational needs.
We began these sessions, and after a few of them, we found something surprising!
To our surprise the projects the team were aiming to get were based on short-term goals, which were the need of the hour, but they were missing the long-term goals – completely!
The long-term goals needed to be pursued alongside the short-term goals, but the immediate situation took over.
When the problem was identified, senior management decided to let the project managers decide how they are going to manage both long-term and short-term goals.
Many sessions were conducted where the BD managers presented their ideas along with plans on how they would like to take things further.
Senior management reviewed their presentations, and during those meetings, they refined the strategies to make the plan and execution clearer and more straightforward.
So, what do you think happened after that?
Did we get what we wanted…
Do you think it was that easy?
Well, to bust the suspicious bubble, we achieved some results! Yes, some!
Were they better, like in the movies, with tears shed? No, not at all!
But they felt like an achievement we had been waiting for.
Way better than the previous ones!
It was now clear to us – that until and unless – we manage people according to the organization’s end goal, we won’t be able to achieve – what we are aiming for.
For this communicating the end goals to the team and aligning our talent and efforts accordingly was the first step.
This progress seemed difficult and even impossible at times, given our past experiences. But we made that impossible happen for us!
You can read more on:
How we implemented the OKR Model to improve our work processes!
For some, this achievement might not seem the greatest, but to us, it changed the entire game!
Why?
Because, by making the goal clear to everyone and allowing teams to manage their work accordingly, one thing became evident to us:
Advice for Project Managers:
“When you repeatedly clarify what’s expected from the team, and help them align their efforts with the pre-defined goals, you enable them the power to carve ways to reach the point where you see results.”
What’s important here is to put trust in them and their capabilities.
And this is not a one-time job it’s a continuous process (a crucial quality of a good project manager) which will help you build a self-managed team that delivers 2x than what you would expect.
This is the not-so-secret recipe that worked for us!
However, a deeper understanding of some project management practices and implementation of them by being transparent to our team is what helped.
The results and the aftereffects we have seen in the different teams are astonishing!
We understand that for Project Managers there is a lot at stake, but to manage everything effectively, something new and more efficient needs to be tested.
So why not try what we did?
Who knows this might work for you too!
If you are seeking more such tips for project managers, consider consulting our project managers and senior members of our team as they with their varied industry experience can guide you with the right approach to manage your team and project.
