Don't let the sun go down on your Friday problems

I have a dream in my Project Managment career: to work hard and achieve a lot during my working hours, but live stress free when I'm not at work.

I'm sure we all share this dream.

Recently I've had a couple of weekends where things at work have been troubling me, and I've had to sit through 2 days of non action before roaring in to the office on Monday morning to do something about my problems. These weekends have been no fun for myself or my family, and I'm sure I have a few grey hairs (what's left of it anyway) due to my worrying.

A guy I worked with in the UK (who was a lot more experienced in the ways of the world than I am) once said to me, "Don't ever let the sun set on an argument with your partner. Always make sure that you both go to sleep with no animosity towards each other".

Wise words.

In thinking about this, the attitude detailed here is one that my wife and I subscribe to without any effort or intention. We're a normal couple: we cherish our time together but occassionally we have the odd argument. Normally over something stupid.

I can't recall a time though that we've ended the day without saying sorry and sorting out our differences. This leads to a stress free sleep, and a clean slate to start the next day on.

Going back to my Friday problems, I have now made a pact with myself to do everything within my power to ensure that no problems are left hanging on a Friday afternoon. I'm doing this to stop having stressful weekends and to get a better focus in my job.

This is going to be hard for a variety of reasons. Not all problems can be solved within a set time frame. Friday afternoons are generally when people start to wind down, so getting things done may be difficult.

I'm sure that with a concerted effort though, I will no longer come in to the office on a Monday morning and expect a raft of emails demanding my head. Formulating an action plan for the next week on a Friday afternoon will mean that I can hit the ground running for the new week. Dumping all these ideas on a Friday afternoon means that I don't need to think about them on the weekend.

It may just be a case of putting in a phone call to Mr. Client saying "Hello sir, I know that you're still waiting on X from me. I'm still working on it and you will have it on Monday. Is that OK?". Sure, the problem is still there. But with the client informed of the current status, and an action plan in place to getting it done, there is no need to ruin my weekend stressing about work.

I'm interested in your thoughts on this topic........

Leadership in the Project Management Function

What is the role of the Project Manager? It’s simple really, to “lead” the project to a successful outcome. In any project, the buck stops with the Project Manager. They get the praise when things go right, and their reputation is on the line when things don’t go well.

Part of leading the project is doing the hard yards; creating plans, monitoring risks, status updates, spreadsheets, documents, specifications. Doing this will get you part of the way towards a successful project.

But what about the soft skills? The team building. The motivation. The education. Surely these are essential inputs to any successful delivery? And if so, why do so many Project Managers abandon these soft skills by building a façade of processes and procedures to hide behind?

I’d like to take this opportunity to discuss why I think it’s important as a Project Manager to develop your leadership skills. By doing so, I believe that you will extend yourself as a Project Manager and more often than not, reach your goal effectively.

Leadership defined

There are millions of definitions out there on the internet about what leadership is. In the Web 2.0 world that we live in, here’s a link to Wikipedia’s definition: Wikipedia Leadership

It’s not the intention of this article to turn to psychology and discuss the different types of leaders that exist. Nor are we going to argue about whether leadership is either a trait that people are born with, or is something that can be taught. These are all topics that require more research than I have time for at present.

The message I wish to convey here is that leadership in Project Management is important. Being an effective leader will ensure that your team acts like a well oiled machine; delivering on time every time and to a standard that will make your peers envious.

Why do Project Managers need to be leaders?

In my opening I mentioned that when a Project Manager delivers anything, it has their name all over it. A Project Manager is conscious of this and therefore their workload tends to balloon out when they try to be the one who monitors quality, delivery to the specification and customer expectations. Something has to give.

Imagine a utopia where all you have to do is allocate a task and ask the delegate to report back when it is complete, knowing that it has been done 100% correctly. Does this situation exist? I’m sure it does, and I’m sure that the Project Managers in these situations are effective leaders.

Think about the airline industry for a moment. What comes to mind? Travel? Engineering? Service? Cost? I’m sure all these are things that we can associate with the airlines. But the term that sticks out for me is “safety”.

The life of an aircraft involves many periods of maintenance and checks to ensure your safety when flying. Airlines are mandated to adhere to set safety standards. Their brand depends on it. To this point, all aircraft after a certain amount of flying hours are required to undergo a D Check. A D Check is where the aircraft is stripped back to its frame and every single piece is inspected to ensure that it is still safe and the aircraft is airworthy. Parts that need to be replaced, are replaced, and the aircraft re-assembled ready for service. D Checks can take up to 4 weeks to complete.

You can think of a D Check as a project. It has a mandate, a goal, a plan, and a team. And of course, a Project Manager.

Going back to my point again about responsibility for delivering an objective, it’s the Project Manager that is judged on the outcome, not the team. If the aircraft carries on to its next D Check (after it has completed an A, B and C check – these do exist, feel free to look them up), the Project Manager has done their job. The plane falls out of the sky and questions will be asked.

Do you think that the Project Manager of a D Check is out on the hanger floor checking every single washer, seal and rivet for compliance? Unlikely. Managers of these projects have stringent procedures and checklists that their team follow. In the end, all the PM does is tick the boxes.

Where am I going with this? Does this not go against my point earlier that Project Managers need to get out of the habit of hiding behind paperwork?

No it doesn’t. In most projects, the conditions are not rigid enough to allow us to come up with some checklist to ensure that things are being properly. There is too much of a human element involved that must be controlled.

Leadership – developing the “Human” checklist

Becoming an effective leader will mean that your team will almost become you. They will approach every task with the attitude that it’s THEIR reputation on the line if things don’t go well, not yours.

Team members will become autonomous and will know what is expected of them. This will mean that you won’t need to spend as much time briefing them on their tasks, and you’ll be comfortable knowing that they have a full understanding of the job ahead of them.

New standards for excellence will be defined, and then exceeded by your team. You won’t feel that every piece of work that has been completed will need to be thoroughly checked before being presented to a client.

There will also be long term benefits. Your reputation as a manager and leader will precede you. You will begin to attract the best staff from within your given industry, and therefore develop the best team.

Your ability to network will also be enhanced, allowing amongst other things, the opportunity for you to keep abreast of developments in your industry through your contacts.

You will be in a position to reap all these benefits because you spent the time to develop your leadership skills.

Blog Update

After my initial resolve to blog on a regular basis failing, I’ve decided that I need to wait for inspiration instead. By putting myself under pressure to come up with something meaningful and earth shattering on a regular basis, I instead ignored my blog and in turn the self-inflicted pressure.

So, new approach.

I’m not going to keep a diary style commentary on my working life as a Project Manager, gently exaggerating each day to avoid monotony, but rather I’ll save posts to comment on things that have caught my attention and made me stop and think how it applies to me and my job. This may mean weeks or months in between posts, or only days in between. Quality not quantity!

No pressure!