- Do you often feel
like you can be a more effective project manager?
Well, in this video, I'm going to share
with you some great habits that I use
to help me with my effectiveness
that you are going to find really good.
Now, if you really want to be effective at projects,
you need to grab my cheat sheet
on how to understand what are the project mistakes
that you you need to avoid.
I'm going to tell you how to get that a little bit later.
Hi, if you're new here, welcome.
My name is Adriana Girdler, and you have landed
on the best practical project management channel out there.
Obviously, my humble opinion.
Now, I would love it
and be so appreciative if you could subscribe,
as it does help our community grow.
Now, on that note,
do you want to learn how to be an a project manager?
Let's get to it.
Be proactive.
This is really important to be an effective project manager
because if you're passive or reactive,
then you're constantly behind the eight ball trying
to catch up and things will feel very overwhelming,
not only for you but for your project team.
So you want to be proactive.
You really wanna engage by thinking ahead,
that's through your project plans,
understanding what risks are,
checking in with the team constantly.
It's really understanding good workflow habits
that you need to start implementing.
And being proactive by thinking ahead
is really going to help you being more efficient and effective.
Find harmony.
Okay, when it comes to projects,
it is really easy to put everything else first but yourself.
Now, it's interesting,
you know as how I said harmony, not balance,
because balance means 50-50.
That means 50 on our work life,
50 on our personal life.
But let's be honest,
the reality of project management is, that's not the case.
There are ebbs and flows, ups and downs.
Where, in some areas of the project timeline,
we may be really busy and working a lot,
maybe even in the evenings on weekends, that's not balance.
However, if you find harmony,
that really helps you be more effective
as a project manager
because you already know, setting yourself up,
that there's going to be these ebbs and flows.
So find that harmony,
really ensure that you understand that,
ensure that you have good sleep, you eat well.
In order to help you with that harmony,
you really want to give a little bit
of carving out time for yourself.
One of my favorite techniques that I do is meditation.
I'm a big believer meditation.
It really keeps me actually in heart harmony
because I don't get caught up in that vortex
of all the white noise, of the whirlwind of business,
particularly when things are really busy,
and I am working in the evenings
and I am working on the weekends, not all the time,
but when that happens, that's really critical.
So even five minutes has a huge way
and a great benefit to keep you in harmony.
So just remember, to be an effective project manager,
it's not doing everything always constantly.
It's finding harmony in that,
'cause you are a person outside of work.
Manage your time.
Implementing and understanding time management techniques
is really going to be critical
for effective project management.
When you know how to manage your time properly,
it allows you to be more productive
and less stressed in the day
because you understand how your day is going to unfold,
even for those emergencies that pop up,
because good time management teaches you how to think
in that overall picture, not just of getting tasks done
but how to get things done in a day
when things pop up as well.
I got you covered.
I actually have a link under this video
on how to prioritize through the day,
because prioritization
is going to be one of your biggest best friends
when it comes to time management.
Before we jump into the next tip, don't forget,
stay tuned to the end of the video
because I'm going to tell you how you can get your hands
on that checklist I told you about
at the beginning on how to avoid project mistakes.
Listen before you respond.
How does this tie to be an effective project manager?
Well, let me tell you how that ties in.
Naturally, as human beings,
when we're in conversation with people,
we so desperately want to get a point across,
that you know what happens?
We don't listen.
We don't listen to the other person's point.
Now, in order to be a real effective project manager,
it becomes critical that you listen
to what people and your team members are saying to you.
They have wealth of information.
Don't forget, they're subject matter experts.
So it becomes really important
that don't worry about formulating your thoughts,
really listen to what they're saying
because they are going to give you a lot
of amazing information,
whether it's directly through the words they use
or indirectly, by the sub text of what they're saying,
that you need to pick up on
because that may lead to other things
that you're going to do, like maybe some risk is popping up.
They're not necessarily saying it, but you can sense it,
hear it behind the sub context, and why?
Because you listened and you picked up on that.
You weren't busy formulating your response.
Your job as a project manager,
particularly an effective project manager,
is not to tell people what to do.
It's to guide and lead people
and they're the subject matter expert,
your team has a wealth of information.
Listen to what they're saying.
It's going to help you be more effective
and really keep you focused and laser beamed.
Keep learning.
If you're going to be an effective project manager,
well, guess what?
It's continuous improvement, baby!
We constantly have to be improving.
You never say "I'm done,
I've learned everything I could learn,"
because even if you learn from past projects
and interactions that you've had with people
that you're not gonna get anywhere else
except for the live experience, you can learn from that.
So how is it that you can learn
and be better to be an effective project manager?
Well, there's lots of things you can do.
You can read books, you can take courses.
You can even see
if you can mentor with another project manager.
Those are great ways.
Now, speaking of courses,
there's this real excellent course I highly recommend,
called slay PM.
Hint hint, guess what?
It's my course.
Okay, I know shameless little plug here
but I'm letting you know it's practical gives you
all the information you need.
Link is below this video, if you want to check it out.
But really learning and keeping yourself abreast
with the latest things that are happening
and learning from past projects
but taking to account how people work as well
and learning from that is just going to improve you
and be more effective as a project manager.
So put on that continuous improvement hat
and that mindset of continuous learning.
It really is going to help you tremendously.
Action plan check in.
Huh? What?
Okay, to be an effective project manager,
you need to be on top of your plan.
This should be a no brainer.
It should be a given, but you'll be surprised.
I do come across, when team members aren't really diligent
with checking into their project plan
or as a consultant, when I go into an organization,
some project managers are not diligent
with checking into the project plan.
That is your lifeline,
everyone's lifeline to know what's going on.
It lists out everything that is expected from everyone,
the associated timelines expected from any everyone.
And it should also have, if you use a WBS, a action plan.
And if you're wondering what that is, it's in my course.
Then, what that does,
it's also a communication tool as well.
So you need to have a regular schedule
of checking into the action plan,
not only yourself, but your team members.
That really ensures effectiveness for you
because you can't do it all, right?
You can't.
You have to look at the macro view.
So you need to ensure that you're checking in,
your team members are checking in,
so that people can just really work towards the plan.
And then that way, when you get together for meetings
to do other stuff, you're not focusing on the plan
because everyone's already checking into it.
Really great thing,
I highly recommend that you start implementing immediately,
is that standard check-in
that you expect from everyone and yourself.
Okay, you made it to the end.
And if you waited, you're wondering,
okay, tell me how I can get your checklist, Adriana.
Well, guess what, really simple.
It's under this video, in the links below.
So go grab it.
It's for you, it's my gift to you
so that you can learn how to avoid project mistakes.
So, on that note, see you at the next video.
Bye.