♪ Hey ♪
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- Hey, thanks for checking out Coffee with Brett.
I'm gonna jump right in here because I've got a goal
to keep these videos short,
and I've been a little bit of a long talker.
So guess what?
I'm gonna talk about goals today.
Not project goals,
I'm gonna talk about project management career goals.
You know, I feel like we talk a lot
about how to manage projects,
but we tend to not focus on ourselves as PMs.
And I get it, you always wanna be better,
so you're always kind of chasing
that new, better tactic or tool, but here's the thing,
I think that you need to stop
and think about the big picture,
because those tools and tactics
are not gonna make you a better PM alone.
Sure, they'll support it,
and they'll help you in the moment to deliver projects,
but you'll never get better as a PM
if you don't set some goals for yourself, for your behavior
that are really going to expand your longterm career.
So whether you're embarking on a new year
or you're just setting goals
as a part of your annual planning cycle,
or even if you just want a fresh start,
I've got five suggested goals for you to focus on,
to help level up your PM career.
Ready to go?
I'm gonna take one more sip.
(Brett swallows hard)
All right, good stuff, I'm caffeinated, let's do this.
Number one is to be a better communicator.
You know, it's been said time and time again,
that effective communication is critical as a PM.
So if you're sensing that your communications aren't great
or your messages just don't seem to be landing well,
you should set a goal to get better at communications.
Sit down and devise a plan
for how you'll optimize those current communications.
Think about what's not working
then what are the things that you can do
to make your communications better or clearer,
or even just to land.
You know, maybe your team meetings feel
like they're dragging people down so th...
You know, things are just off in meetings.
So sit down and work on a new agenda format.
Or maybe folks aren't engaging in your status reports.
So find better ways to make those easier to digest.
You get the idea, pinpoint the issue and tweak it.
I think if you diagnose a problem
and dedicate yourself to fixing it, you can test tactics
and eventually meet the goal of a better communication,
because you're gonna see how people are responding
to those communications.
Even better, I think a good tactic might be to sit down
and have a discussion with your team
and talk about communications, right?
And what they'd like to see change
or what's working and isn't working,
get their consideration.
So I get that that might seem a little bit scary,
sitting down and talking about what's working
and not working based on what you do specifically,
but if you do that, it can be really productive
and it can build trust with your team.
But honestly, at the end of the day, this is your goal
so do what's comfortable for you.
All right, number two, it's a little bit outside
of what a lot of project managers would consider as a goal,
but I wanna actually challenge that
because it's important
and it's to ensure quality.
So I think you can and should be a quality check
on all of your projects.
The way I see it, if you're truly invested in your projects,
you won't let something faulty go out the door.
So I'm not gonna lie here, it's definitely happened to me.
I'll never forget the time my really big project launched
with a giant typo on the homepage, right at the top.
It was totally embarrassing.
It was a quick fix, but it was still embarrassing.
And it happened because I didn't take the time
to check the site one more time
before we clicked that button to launch.
I'll never do that again.
You know why?
Because now I plan that quality check time
in all of my projects in TeamGantt.
So yeah, you know, it can happen
and it will happen sometimes, but if you commit yourself
to making sure quality is top of mind,
you'll ensure that your clients, stakeholders and teams
are really proud of the work that you did together.
And you can confidently share that work with the world
because it's a nice way to showcase your talents,
which is pretty awesome.
All right, so moving on, the next one has been a theme
in recent episodes of our podcast Time Limit,
and hey, if you have not checked out Time Limit yet,
I would love for you to give it a listen.
All right, so this goal is to be more strategic
as a project manager.
So I'm just gonna say it,
if you're a PM, I want you to get out of that
to do list mentality.
Your job isn't to be a task master,
or a box checker, or a micromanager,
unless that's in your job description.
And if it is, let's talk
'cause I've got tissues and a shoulder to cry on.
(Brett chuckles)
All right, but seriously,
project management isn't about checking tasks off the list.
It's about doing what's right for a project,
given the path that it's taking,
and you have a voice in that.
So if you take on this goal,
I'd encourage you to approach your project
with an intense focus on its goals
and how you and your team can better serve that goal
through the project itself.
Maybe that'll lead you to rethink process and deliverables.
Maybe it will make you rethink what you design or build,
or even deliver.
But maybe it won't, right?
Either way, it'll get you don't look at project success
through a different lens,
one that's gonna show you long-term impacts and decisions
rather than short-term tasks.
All right, number four is to focus on leadership.
Part of the problem we have as PMs
is that we're seen as managers
who have very limited management power or responsibility.
Maybe we're not just seeing that, maybe we are that way.
So here's what I think,
don't take your job title so literally.
I'd encourage you to think of yourself as a leader.
Think about it, you lead teams to successful deliveries.
You manage the day to day, but you are a leader first.
And here's the thing, you've got to be a good leader
to advance your career in any direction.
So as a project manager, you're well-suited to do just that.
Take some time to discuss
what leadership means to your teams, your managers,
and even your organization,
and then do some research on your own.
Think yourself, what does it mean to you
to be a great leader,
then set a goal to be that great leader, embrace that thing,
work on it and make yourself that leader, that person.
You know, there are so many ways
that you could accomplish this on your own
through reading books or taking courses,
but maybe you can even find a mentor to help you,
or at least to help you find the right opportunities.
Remember, this is something
that doesn't necessarily have to happen in your office.
You can actually find volunteer opportunities
that allow you to widen your horizons
and really strengthen your leadership skills.
Honestly, at the end of the day,
this is about you manifesting what you want
from your career.
You can do it, I know it.
All right, so here's my last one,
and if you take this one on, please get in touch,
it's to share your experiences.
Listen, I know just as well as anybody else
that the PM tends to be an introverted breed.
You know, not many of us talk to one another,
let alone talk about our work at all,
and I think that definitely needs to change.
You know, you may not think that anyone cares
about your perspective as a PM,
and I'm here to tell you that you are absolutely wrong.
If you're learning lessons on your projects
and you're making things better for yourself
and for your team,
I think that you should share those things.
You know, speaking and writing will elevate your career
for sure, and you'll be able to find your own community
while doing that too, which is a total bonus.
So while writing an article here or there
may not turn into a book deal,
and maybe you don't want that anyway,
it's definitely gonna help you
to gain respect among your colleagues.
You know, it does take guts to put yourself out there,
and that says a lot about an individual.
So maybe make it a goal to start with one blog post
and see where that takes you.
It's not gonna be a lot of effort,
it's an easy thing to do, and it's a little fun.
But seriously, if you're into this, get in touch,
I'm here to be a sounding board, an editor,
even a cheerleader if you need it.
Trust me, I do know the courage it takes
to publish a blog post for the very first time.
At the end of the day, I'd encourage you to pick a goal
that feels like it will help you to be better,
to feel better and to really excel in your career
as a project manager.
And honestly, having something to aim for,
never really hurt anybody.
All right folks, that's all I have for this episode.
Tell me though, what are your long-term or short-term goals
as a project manager?
Did any of this, what I just said resonate with you,
or do you have other ideas
that I should have considered here?
Use the comments on YouTube to discuss it
and I'll see you there until the next episode.
Thanks.
♪ Hey ♪
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