Week2. Exploring how a project manager adds value

Project managers?

• Shepherd projects from start to finish
• Serve as guides for their team, using their impeccable organizational and interpersonal skills every step of the way

How to add value

Prioritization

Helping team members identify and break down large tasks into smaller steps

Delegation

Matching tasks to individuals who can best complete the work

Effective Communication

Being transparent
Being up front with plans and ideas and making information readily available
Keep in regular contact with their team about the progress of the work
Help identify areas where a teammate may need support

Main ways that project managers can add value

1. Focusing on the customer

Asking the customer questions_
1. What is the problem you would like us to help solve?
2. How is the problem impacting your organization?
3. What prompted you to ask for help now?
4. What is your hope for the outcome of this project?

2. Building a great team

Identify the right team
Bring on people with the right skills
Ensure the team knows that each individual is valued, trusted, and appreciated

3. Fostering relationships and communication

Take the time to build relationships, communicate, and treat others with consideration and respect

4. Managing the project

See the impacts of each process within the project and communicates those impacts to the team
Help team members understand the big picture

5. Breaking down barriers

Allow their team to innovate new ways to do things, and empower them to share ideas

Key project manager roles and responsibilities

Planning and Organizing
1. Make use of productivity tools and creating processes
2. Create plans, timelines, schedules, and other forms of documentation to track project completion

Budgeting and controlling costs and other factors
1. Monitor and manage the budget
2. Track issues and risks
3. Manage quality
4. Remove unforeseen barriers

Managing Tasks
1. SKeeping track of tasks

Responsibilities that utilize interpersonal skills

A project manager’s role within a team

1. Hold all team members accountable for their assigned tasks
2. Ensure that issues and risks are tracked and visible, and be able to establish escalation paths
3. Understand and help teammates adopt the right workflows and project management styles
4. Collaborate with other teams at the organization to meet the requirements based on project, scope, schedule, and budget

Working with cross-functional teams

Cross-functional Team?

A cross-functional team includes team members who have different backgrounds, types of expertise, and job functions.

The core skills of a project manager

1. Enabling decision-making

Make the decision-making process collaborative
Empower your team to express their opinions and make their own decisions

2. Communicating and escalating

Clearly communicate
1. Project goals and expectation
2. Team member roles and responsibilities
3. Constructive feedback

3. Flexibility

Ability to adapt and overcome changes and challenges

1. Flexible planning
- Assess external constraints.
- Plan for risks and challenges.
- Calculate “float” in your schedule

2. Handling ambiguity
- Keep calm
- Express empathy
- Communicate what you know clearly
- Make decisions and stick to them
- Trust the expertise of your team

4. Strong organizational skills

Utilize the abundance of organizational tools

• Planning and scheduling software (templates, workflows, calendars)
• Collaboration tools (email, collaboration software, dashboards)
• Documentation (files, plans, spreadsheets)
• Quality assurance tools (evaluations, productivity trackers, reports)

Leadership and team dynamics

Influencing without authority

Guide teammates to complete their assigned work without acting as their direct managers

Key interpersonal skills

• Communication
• Negotiation
• Conflict mediation
• Understanding motivations