Wanna be…a DREAM Project Manager?

Earlier this year Maven Training nominated Soma Bhattacharya, of the popular Stepping into Project Management blog as the unsung heroine of the world of women working in technology for the special celebrations of the Ada Lovelace Day

The tips below, on how to be the Dream Project Manager, were based on one of Soma’s posts – follow the tips and you won’t need good luck to succeed!

Always be on time. You want be noticed for your punctuality. Caught on traffic/public transport? If possible, ring the office and inform you will be “10 minutes late, Holloway Road is jam-packed”. Consideration, please.

Check emails and plan your day. Do this first thing, while everyone is still making tea and chit-chatting about today’s tabloid headlines – if you do this everyday, you don’t have to stress out at 5pm. Time management is an indispensable asset for Project Managers, and if you want to prove that you master this skill, wasting a lot of time at the water cooler one hundred times a day won’t take you very far…

Get your to-do list according to the priority of delivery. Because you can’t afford to miss a deadline, can you? Follow up with your team and co-workers; if your delivery is dependant on a third party, just to make sure they are aware of the deadline too. On time delivery is taking the lift for the Project Management office instead of the staircase. Everyone wants it on time.

Work efficiently and learn something new as often as possible. Everyone likes a perfectionist, and new skills gives you the edge and the fact that want to grow and spend your personal time and energy to acquire skills that you can use in your job environment.

Keep your desk organised. May sound parent-ish, but keeping a tidy work space helps you unclutter yourself psychologically – besides, it aids in keeping the pressure off (after all, you are not fumbling for that piece of paper you left at your desk three weeks ago). And, really, an organised behaviour is utterly paramount for being a project manager.

Protect your team. Well, no questions about this one. Responsibility is required, and blaming others for work not done when you haven’t followed up or bothered reviewing is not good behaviour. Trust can’t breed if you allow your team to take the hit every time – but do keep the rotten apple close to you (you can’t discard it, at least make sure it doesn’t spread to others).

Encourage others to grow. If your team grows, you grow automatically. Train them to handle more responsibility, be in control, acquire better work habits and discourage slackers from taking everything for granted.

Never call it a day while your team is still working. Don’t leave early if your teams on the deadline and working late hours. Being with your team is important, and if you can’t buy them pizza, at least being there is showing support and being together no matter what.

Based on Stepping into Project Management blog, by Soma Bhattacharya.