(light music)
- Before we get into the how's and why's
of project leadership its important to understand
the basics of what project leadership actually is.
Whether you're a project manager full-time
or take on aspects of the role.
You should know that the role shows up
in different industries and organizations
with a variety of meanings.
So let's dive into the basics so you can gain
a really solid understanding of what
it means to be a great project manager.
Take notes so you can align with the qualities
that I talk about and level up your career.
Lets start with the definition of a project manager.
So what is a PM anyway?
What is the most commonly understood role of a PM?
So the way that I see it, a project manager
is the person who's on the front line of projects.
Defending teams, clients, stakeholders
and projects from issues like miscommunication,
missed deadlines, scope creep and any other failures.
Project managers also champion the well being
of people involved in their projects
and facilitate strategic decisions
that uphold the goals of the projects.
That's a pretty hefty job description.
And it requires a fine balance of managing
the administrative details of the project
and its people.
So what's the difference between a project leader
and a project manager?
Well in my opinion they're really isn't
that big of a difference.
People call project managers a number
of things across industries and really the job
is about leading projects.
So leadership is a word that many people use.
Whether they're referring to project managers or not.
And it's a term that we can all relate to.
You'll also find project managers all over.
Some example industries might be construction,
finance, healthcare, digital, energy, IT,
and a lot more.
Anywhere there are projects small or large
to be organized and actively managed you'll find someone
in a project management role.
I wanna talk a little bit about the misconceptions
of project managers because not every organization
handles the role the same way.
I think that means not all people understand
what great project managers are.
I have a quick story to share.
When I spoke at a conference an attendee came up
to me after my session and of course my session
was about project management.
And this person said, I've never worked with a good PM.
And wow, that felt really tough for me.
I wanted to talk to this person about
what their expectations were of project management,
and part of me really wanted
to convince him that, hey, some project managers
are really good.
So we ended up talking about his expectations
of the PM and how they could help him in his role.
At the end of the conversation I decided
that maybe this PM wasn't that bad
but perhaps the role and the expectations
of the PM were never really set.
So I offered my advice and I asked this person
to have an honest conversation and talk about what's needed
of his role and how they could partner together
to make both of their work a little stronger.
So I like to think that advice helped
and that PM succeeded, or at least I hope he or she did.
If you're in a position where your role
isn't understood you should be sure
to have a clear, focused job description.
Check out the sample PM job description template
in the downloads and be sure to align your responsibilities
with your own job description.
Now lets dive deeper into some more misconceptions.
A really big misconception about PMs is that they're admins
or secretaries who work behind the scenes.
But I have to say, PMs don't just set up meetings
and take notes.
Yes project managers create plans, generate reports,
and check in on tasks, but they're also strategic leaders.
They look after project goals, they facilitate decisions,
they drive work to be done and decided on
to meet those goals successfully.
They're really strategic.
Strategic about process, communications,
relationship building, and even efficiency
in getting work done.
(funky music)
So you might be wondering, how does that get done?
So let's talk through some of the most important things
a great PM needs to know how to do.
Now these might not be all things you see PMs doing,
and that's okay.
We all handle the job differently depending
on our projects and the way that organizations work.
But these are the skills that the best PMs need to master
in order to deliver impactful projects on time
and on budget.
First is estimating and scoping.
This is definitely one of the most difficult
but important steps of any project.
Project managers often help to define
the overall effort needed to take on a project.
This requires a unique understanding of roles, tasks,
and process.
Its complex and varies by project
and person conducting tasks.
In class three we'll uncover the techniques used
to more accurately estimate your projects.
Next is crafting, building, and managing process.
You may run waterfall, agile, or even hybrid projects
but what's most important is that you understand
the ins and outs of that process.
And work with your team to refine
and make that process even better.
Check out class number two for a deeper dive
on process and methodologies.
Great project managers also create
and manage project plans.
All successful projects have plans.
You'll use a tool like TeamGantt to create
and manage your plans.
And make sure you've correctly outlined tasks,
timing and deadlines, dependencies, and resources.
Class number five covers all you'll need
to know about how to use a great project plan.
Next is managing tasks.
The best PMs are not simply task masters
or box checkers but they do have to check
in on tasks to make sure that the work is progressing
and that they have a pulse on projects.
Great PMs also report on status.
Status reports are a critical communication
to make sure everyone on a project is in the know
on what's happening or not happening.
We have status report template for download
that you'll get in one of the future class--
projects to people.
Not resources.
You have to balance a team's workload
to make sure that they're not over booked
and to maintain a good work, life balance.
And protect your projects too.
If you don't pay attention to resourcing
or work load plans you'll find yourself up against missed
deadlines, conflicting meetings, and unhappy team members.
Next is motivating teams.
We all know that times can get tough on projects.
Feedback can be brutal, meetings can be tricky.
Stakeholders aren't always happy
or easy to please and its a project manager's job
to be a cheerleader.
To motivate teams in the face of adversity.
Basically what you wanna do as a great PM
is to get the best possible outcome
of your project and your team.
Next is monitoring scope.
Every project comes with boundaries,
whether its in the form of a documented scope
or intended goals or outcomes.
As a PM you have to keep your eye on everything
to make sure that you're not going over scope.
The things that help you to keep a watchful eye
are requirements, deliverables, progress,
or even lack there of when you're watching time being spent
or requirements being met.
Keeping an eye on the quality of the work
to make sure that it stays within the boundaries
is a part of scope control.
We'll cover more on scope control in class number eight.
Next is wrangling calendars and meetings.
This is the fun stuff.
Not only do PMs have to organize critical meetings
but they also have to manage them.
Its not the most glamorous part of the job
but its pretty important because meetings can be critical
to making decisions and aligning aspects
of your project.
Check out class number 12 for more on how
to get the most out of meetings.
Last is facilitating communications.
Without really solid communications projects fail.
Being the backbone of the project,
the keeper of the details, the ship steerer
is what a PM does.
We'll dig into this in several of our classes.
But its really focused in class number eight.
(upbeat music)
Now that we've covered the tasks that great PMs
take on, I also wanna talk about the things
that project managers don't do.
In a strict PM role they wouldn't be a producer
who's responsible for creating deliverables.
But that's not always the case.
In many instances people in producer roles share
the PM role, and that can be difficult at times.
Also, project managers are not line managers.
That means they're responsible for projects,
not managing teams in their disciplines.
This can be quite difficult
so it requires project managers to know the line
and also have a good line of communication
with those line managers.
So those are the tasks.
Sounds pretty doable, right?
Well there are a lot of other aspects of the role
to consider, and we'll get to that.
But not too fast, let's talk about how these tasks
are taken on by official project managers
versus those of us who are tasked
with project management, that's a big task.
So what's the difference between being a PM
and taking on PM tasks?
Its a dedicated role versus taking on management tasks.
It can mean that you approach
the role completely differently given time constraints.
An example of that might be a designer who's working
to create a new look and feel for a website
but also has to manage a project plan,
conduct tasks and stay on top of those tasks,
as well as oversee a project budget.
This kind of thing happens all the time for freelancers,
small business owners, and even employees.
What are things you should do if you're
a part time project manager?
You should set expectations with your team
and check in on them.
You should plan your projects
and update those plans regularly.
You should check in on tasks through
a regular stand up meeting.
You should also send status reports regularly
to make sure that everyone knows what's happening
on a project at any given time.
Most of all you should facilitate communications.
Do what you can to keep communications clear,
tasks top of mind, and a long term strategy
and goals in place.
Now lets talk about the role
of the full time project manager.
Remember my story, the expectations
of the role can be difficult to pin down
and that can lead to feelings that the role
isn't needed or maybe is even redundant.
So how do you address those feelings?
I think it really starts with asking
yourself some questions.
First is, am I contributing to the project
in a positive way?
Do my team members and clients or stakeholders know
what I do with time?
How active am I on my projects?
Am I watching things happen or am I actually
a part of those things?
When was the last time I actually spoke,
with words in person or by phone, with my team?
At the end of the day as a PM you do need to check yourself.
Its too easy to get bogged down
in the administrative details.
You need to focus on people, and relationships
to be well rounded and useful or helpful.
We all need to prove ourselves in our jobs,
no matter our role.
Its the same for the designer to prove that she can create
a great website while also managing her work on her own.
Alright so what I'm saying is that we're all leaders
in some way.
Whether we know it or not.
Of course some are better than others and that's okay.
It takes a special person to be a project manager.
Lets talk about the qualities of those special people
and how they possess them.
(light music)
The first quality of a great project leader
is having an eagle eye for project issues.
As a project manager you have to have your finger
on the pulse of all of the details
and that includes a lot of things.
Like project goals, stakeholders, your team, budgets,
deadlines, new ideas and scope creep.
There's really a lot wrapped up that.
And you're constantly concerned about the well being
of your project and your team.
Because the minute an issue or even an opportunity
for one pops up, you have to explore it,
discuss it, and make a plan to clear it immediately.
If you don't, you know its gonna become
a bigger issue and affect your project negatively.
Another quality of great project management
is being a clear, calm communicator.
Again, communication is huge in project management.
Being transparent, direct, and very clear about
project information will make any project
issue easier to handle.
And if you stay calm it shows that you're in control
and can handle any issue.
Good PMs are true chameleons.
They employ go to methods and tools
to facilitate project communications.
And adapt to individual preferences
to encourage the best of teams, prevent and solve issues,
and even share news.
Great project managers are also empathetic.
Whether things are going well
or falling behind its important to put yourself
in other people's shoes to understand how
and why they're feeling or behaving in a certain way.
Whether its a team member missing a deadline
or a stakeholder second guessing a decision.
You can gain an understanding of other people's intent
and take it into consideration when making decisions.
Great project leaders are also curious.
Things change often and you need to be curious about
that change, whether its on your project
or within your industry.
Understanding your industry, developments or changes
in the landscape, and how things could impact you
and your projects will help you to be a better PM.
This can be about new features in a product like TeamGantt.
New tech or methods developed in your industry.
Or even some of the new ideas you'll pick up
in this class.
Showing your desire to learn shows that you're a great PM.
Great project managers are also invested in the work.
In fact the best PMs are the ones who get out
from behind their plans and spreadsheets
and take an active role in their projects.
Share your ideas, conversations, thoughts,
and even hunches.
That shows an investment and it'll help you
to build trust with your team and your stakeholders.
Also be flexible and adaptable.
We've talked about how change happens.
And the best project managers roll with that change
and adapt to that in order
to keep projects running smoothly.
Its easy to complain about change
and you should vent to somebody who you can trust
when you need to, but know that embracing
the change helps to build trust and respect among your team.
So those are the qualities that I find
in great project managers.
Let's take a minute to hear what some industry experts
think about the qualities of great project management.
- Well a project leader can do lots of different things.
But it really starts with self awareness.
'Cause they gotta know who they are,
what they're about, what they're good at,
also the things that they're maybe not so good at.
They've gotta learn their craft.
The thing we talked about in project management.
The technical abilities, its technical abilities
of project managers not of the software
that you might be implementing.
You gotta know how to do a work breakdown structure.
You've gotta know all of the tools.
You've gotta be able to run a sprint.
This is what project leaders are really, really good at.
Is they've got a toolkit of stuff
that they can just use at anytime.
But they've also gotta be great
at building really, really good teams.
The best projects ever are a result of the person
that leads it or the environment they create
for great team work.
And I often think that building teams
is a skill that we're losing as project managers.
So its really about leadership.
Its about culture, and its about understanding
the methods that we use in that toolkit
for great project managers.
- I think a good project leader needs to be flexible
and they need to be able to solve problems quickly.
As project managers we run into so many different kinds
of situations and issues, and often times
our team looks to us to know how to solve those issues.
We're managing problems that might come from management,
from projects, from our teams, or just from
the relationships that we have.
And its our responsibility to help our team
and our stakeholders navigate through those issues.
- I think you need to be supremely emotionally intelligent.
You need to be a great critical thinker.
You have to love learning,
and you'll be learning your entire life.
And I think you have to be able to know how
to take calculated risks.
- Now that you've heard my take on the qualities
of a good PM and you've heard from some industry experts,
check out the qualities of a good PM download
and get inspired to be a great leader.
Share the doc with your team.
Pin the pages up on your office or cube wall
and do everything you can to show that you're
a great project leader.
That brings us to the end of the first class.
Here's a quick recap of what we discussed.
Project leaders come in many forms and titles depending
on your industry and company.
The tasks that PMs take on are wide ranging
and varied and can truly help to shape
a project's success and a team
or stakeholder's overall experience.
You can master the tasks of project management
and be a PM or you can do the same
and be a solid project leader who has another focus.
Being open to change and practicing clear,
calm communications will help lead teams through
even the most difficult projects.
Project leadership isn't easy,
but no matter your background you can do this
with a little help from your friends at TeamGantt.
If you can relate to these basics about the role
and build trust, you'll be an excellent project leader.
You're off to a good start.
Especially as you continue to watch the rest
of these classes and use the downloads.
Thanks for watching, see you next time.
(upbeat music)