Early in my career I was filled with ambition, striving to
be at the top of my game, climbing the ladder of success, and driving to be the
best project manager possible. What I wanted was to have the respect of others
and financial independence along with a measure of achievement that proved my
worth. While striving for prosperity, abundance, and success is a noble in many
ways, how we go about achieving it is equally important. Additionally, the
successes can be fleeting without a measure of humility and gratitude. Why this
topic and what does it have to do with being a successful project manager? It
is easy to fall into the trap of being attached to the accomplishments, the
reputation, and what we have achieved. We can sometimes forget that each of
those attachments can cause undue stress and anxiety which can warp our
relationships and create the exact opposite of what we believe we want. James
Allen wrote “We do not attract what we want, we attract what we are”. Anastasia
Netri took it a step further adding “Take responsibility for everything that is
showing up in your life, because it is reflecting back to you who you believe
yourself to be, and what you believe is possible.” Being a project manager is
about being of service to others. We are charged with delivering a product or
service to a client. We are charged with ensuring the project team has
everything needed for success. We are charged with looking into the future for
possible points of failure and developing contingencies if those points of
failure occur. In each of these examples, we are being of service to some other
group. When we make project management all about us, we have created the greatest
opportunity for a failed project.
Projects have an abundance of diverse groups which require a
significant amount of give and take, balance, and harmony to create an outcome
which satisfies those involved. Discovering what matters most to your client
and maintaining balance in the different parameters that can be leveraged to
ensure on-going client satisfaction is an art form. Clients generally want high
quality, low cost, and fast turn-around time on projects. The challenge is to
ensure they understand the trade-offs that are necessary to deliver the highest
quality possible, at the lowest cost possible, in the fastest turn-around possible.
Establishing clear boundaries and project governance at the outset and making
sure the client understands the decisions they are making, because they do get
to choose how the project proceeds, is imperative. Clarity in facts, concise in
explanation, and ensuring that the project team has done the necessary due diligence
to guide the client in the direction that benefits everyone matters most. Without
the appropriate questions being asked, details being uncovered, and providing
the quality, cost, time breakdown, the client is making decisions which could
make it challenging to deliver without loosing some degree of integrity in the
solution.
The same is true for every other group involved in a
project, being it vendors, leadership, team members, or users. Each group has
some criteria that they rank in importance that the project manager must be
aware of to strike a balance that maintains an appropriate degree of buy-in
from all involved. Being of service means that the project manager must
understand what each group wants and needs to keep their satisfaction and
engagement. When a project manager cares more about how they look, how
successful they are being, focused purely on what they want, that the project
can begin to suffer. This is when a win-lose relationship between groups can begin
to develop, where one group becomes more important than another group. When
that happens, the project itself begins to suffer due to a lack of coherence
between groups.
When a project manager focus’ on what they want rather than
what they are, projects can suffer simply because the project manager sets the
tone for the project. Taking full responsibility for the project, being of
service to those that are involved, maintains coherence between groups which
allows for the balance and harmony necessary for project success. What are you
practicing today?
