What to do when managing your 1st project

So you’ve made it. After months or maybe years, you have been assigned to manage your first project. You might have some help. You may have a mentor or two. But like any self-respecting project manager managing your 1^st project, you want to be independent.

Here are some tips to keep in mind while managing your 1st project.

1) Set expectations early

A productive team knows what to expect. As soon as most of the team is together, hold a kickoff meeting. Provide them with an overview of the project’s purpose and the approach that will be taken. Tell them how long the project is expected to last in duration. Let them know what you expect from each team member.

During the kickoff meeting, I like to establish a set of team norms. This is a set of guidelines that the entire team agrees to follow. Although I strongly suggest some of them, such as “Promptness is a sign of respect,” I let the team come up with most of them and agree as a team to abide by them. This sets the expectation for behavior for the team and gives them buy-in when they produce the ideas and agree to them.

2) Resist the urge to be a task master

Many new managers – old ones too – think that project management is about following a project plan and ticking off tasks as they are completed. Along with this, they constantly badger the team members to determine whether they have completed their scheduled tasks.

Completion of tasks is only one aspect of managing a project. It is more important to be aware of each team member’s status and understand the issues and obstacles that may cause them to fall behind. When the project manager understands that information, he or she is better able to provide status updates up the chain to higher management.

For more information, check out The Importance of Leadership in Project Management

3) Be a servant to the team

Another assumption that many PMs make is that the team serves the project manager. In reality, any management role is a support role. The first responsibility the project manager has to the team is to remove obstacles. While the project team is busy working on their assigned tasks, they are bound to face obstacles. Rather than allow them to interrupt their progress, the project manager should support the team by facilitating the removal of those obstacles.

A project manager should also promote collaboration among the team. The team members are on the front line of the work and know most of the detail involved. Rather than making decisions in a vacuum, the project manager should facilitate collaborative decision making with the team. This results in better decisions and better professional development of the individual team members

The project manager should also mentor the team members. Hold regular one on one meetings with each team member. Get to know each person’s strengths and weaknesses and help them develop on the project and in their careers.

4) Monitor for risks early and often

A risk is anything that has a chance of going wrong. An issue is a risk that comes true. Performing a risk analysis early in the project and regularly monitoring for risks throughout the project will increase your chances of avoiding issues down the road. Additionally, should the risk become a full-fledged issue, risk analysis enables you to be better prepared and have a strategy for dealing with it.
See my blog on Assessing Risk in Project Management for more detailed information on this topic.

5) Have a purpose with each communication

Being put in charge can sometimes give someone an authority high. They model themselves after their own former managers and develop some bad practices. Some project managers like to call attention to someone’s mistakes. Others may state obvious facts to show the team how much he or she knows.

Stop and think about why you say what you say. This applies to emails also. Everything you communicate should have the desired outcome of improving productivity in some way. Beating the team down or trying to impress the team members with your vast knowledge may accomplish the opposite.

6) Managers don’t like surprises

Bad news on a project is inevitable. Someone will be late on a task or a vendor will deliver the wrong equipment, setting the project schedule behind. When this occurs, it is important to communicate that bad news to your manager as soon as possible.

Transparency is critical to your success. Hiding an issue, hoping that you will resolve it before management finds out will backfire more often than not. When issues occur, let management know and have a plan in place to let them know you have it under control.

It is also important to provide as long of a runway as possible for the manager to make a decision. Provide the manager a heads-up before announcing bad news in front of others in a status meeting. This gives her a chance to prepare a response and possibly make a decision before the meeting.

7) Hone your leadership skills

One of the most important responsibilities for a project manager is communication. A PM needs to be able to communicate with team members, business stakeholders and management. She also needs to facilitate communication between others. A project manager should work on her ability to state things clearly and succinctly. She should also be a good listener to help others communicate well.

A good project manager knows how to motivate the team. Rather than focusing on tasks and their deadlines, motivate the team by praising their accomplishments. People will work harder to get praise than they will to avoid criticism. When a team member does make a mistake, provide non-threatening, constructive feedback in private to help them to improve.

Be available and accessible. If the team is afraid to approach you with issues, you will find out about them much later and have fewer options to take action. An open door policy and an empathetic management style will encourage the team to come to you early with issues and keep you informed.

Make it fun. Have a light hearted attitude that makes the team happier and more motivated to come to work every day. Celebrate successes by the team and by individuals when they experience success on the project or in their personal life.

Leadership is about influencing and inspiring others to accomplish something as a team. Developing your leadership skills on your first project will ensure the project’s success and your personal success for years to come.

How successful were you on your first project?

If you would like to learn more about a career in Project Management, get Lew’s book Project Management 101: 101 Tips for Success in Project Management on Amazon.

Please feel free to provide feedback in the comments section below.