This may seem impossible to you right now.
We get it, they must be superheroes! Probably not…
The good news is throughout this article, we list several tips to help you ensure you pivot yourself as one of the best project managers out there. These tips will help you manage the team more efficiently, and streamline the pipeline.
So, without further ado let’s get into it.
Learn How To Be Proactive
There are essentially two different types of project managers. Proactive, and reactive managers.
If you really one to stay one-step ahead of the game, you need to try be proactive. Changes are unpredictable, and will happen – which is why it is important to be able to navigate change, and deal with it as it happens.
But at the same time…
You should have contingency plans in place just in case a certain plan falls through. The last thing you want is to have a project due tomorrow, and an important component of your project jumping down the rabbit hole as it were.
Your Team Should Always Be Your Main Priority
Your team should be your number one. After all, they are the main reason why you can streamline your pipeline, ensure deliverables are given in on time, and your clients are happy. That is why it is important to take the time to understand how your team is doing.
Schedule meetings now and then to ensure that team members are feeling confident about their workload. During these meetings, you may even save-time, if a particular team member is struggling with a problem, it could be delegated to another member more capable of doing it.
Spending a bit of time now on your team members will have a direct correlation to their performance.
Listen To Ideas And Take Positive Criticism
As a project manager, positive criticism is your best friend. Regardless of whether it is coming from a higher-up staff member, an employee, or even a client.
When you encounter a problem with a customer, or with a fellow employee take the time to listen to the situation. Understand the situation, and why they did what they did. Take the time to understand their perspective of the problem they are facing.
This particular habit can be applied throughout life. But from a managing perspective, this is one of the best ways to deal with groups who have conflicting interests/ideas on how to best achieve the end-goal.
Educate Yourself To Pivot Your Expertise
“The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind, with an open one” – Malcolm S. Forbes
Even if you are a distinguished project manager – it is still considered good practise to continuously strive to educate yourself. Reading books, attend project management networking events, or perhaps even sign up for your certification.
There are courses out there that help project managers broaden their skill set for the job. From better team management, to better negotiations, and improved productivity – amongst a host of other things.
Check out the difference between the PMP and CAPM certification courses.
Keep The End Goal In Mind
As a project manager, you have a crazy list of deliverables that need to be sorted out by a certain date. Or you have a milestone objective you need to achieve each month. This can be stressful, not to mention intimidating.
That is why as you go through the day, making important decisions, and changes to better manage your team – the end goal always needs to be a priority. Whenever making an important decision…
Pause…
Think, “How will this impact the (project) and will it influence its due date at all?”
Risk Management Is Incredibly Important
This seems basic, right? After all, any project manager will have a risk assessment at the beginning of the project before diving into the deep end.
But what if we told you that the best of the best found that this was not enough?
Risk management needs to be interwoven with your pipeline. The last thing you want is for a new risk to develop, causing problems, and wreaking havoc on the workflow. You can clue the team up during those bi-monthly meetings we mentioned a bit earlier.
Know Where Your Hours Get Spent
Your focusing so much on your team, sorting out Jane, helping John with a problem he is facing. Before you know it – you look up at the clock, and realize that time is almost up for the day. You start worrying, you barely managed to touch your own work today.
This happens to every project manager now and then.
But if you want to maximize the time that you have for your own work, without reducing how much you help your team, it is Important to start keeping track of how you spend your time. There are plenty of tools, and productivity hacks out there that will help you revolutionize your productivity on any given day.