Ten Rules for Project Managers (Project e-Tip 034)

August 25th, 2004 by Hal

A reader suggested I post my list of top 10 rules for a project manager. Upon further consideration, I've decided to make it an expanded Project e-Tip. This one will not be displayed in the customary format. Today is the 730th day of my weblog. That's right, it's the last day of two years of blogging. Woo hoo! I'll go back to the Project e-Tip format next week.

I thought this would be easy. It wasn't. Readers regularly write me for advice on one thing or another. I've noticed a pattern in my responses. But it took me some time to settle on exactly ten "rules". I don't even like the word rules, unless rules are made for breaking. (Don't tell my teenage son that.) So I propose these "rules" in a spirit of collaboration. I'm looking forward to your comments, your proposed alternatives, and a few healthy arguments along the way.

© 2004 Hal Macomber. *Reforming Project Management* www.reformingprojectmanagement.com Share freely with attribution.
Ten Rules for Project Managers By Hal Macomber, Project Reformer
Adopt practices for exploring a variety of perspectives. We think we see what we see, but we don't. We really see what we think. Remember the blind men and the elephant. Make it your habit to inquire what others see. You'll see more together. Stay close to your customer. Clients' concerns evolve over the life of a project. Take advantage of that to over-deliver. Stay in a conversation with your client to adjust what you are doing. Take care of your project team. We've come to accept that the customer comes first…the customer is always right. We can't take care of the customer if we first aren't taking care of our project team. It's a challenge. While there are some things we can do for the whole team, it comes down to taking care of each team member as the individual that he or she is. And to make it more difficult, then we must bring their various interests into coherence. Keep your eye on the overall project promises. Project work can be difficult. It is easy to loose sight of what we are doing and why we are doing it. Remind your team and yourself of the overall promises and how you are doing fulfilling those promises. Build relationships intentionally. Project teams come together as strangers. To do great work…innovation, learning, and collaboration…all take people who like and care for each other. Don't leave that to chance. Start your projects by building relationships among team members. Tightly couple learning with action. Projects are wonderful opportunities to learn. Don't put that off for the after project lessons learned. Make it your habit to incorporate learning loops in all your project activities. Your team will appreciate it. Your customer will benefit from it. And best of all, it will make your job easier. Coordinate meticulously. A project is an ever-evolving network of commitment. Keep that network activated by tending to the critical conversations. See that people are making clear requests, promises that have completion dates, and share opinions that advance the purposes of the project. Without attention to those critical conversations the project will drift. Collaborate. Really collaborate. Make it your rule to plan with those people who will be the performers of the plan. Don't wait 'til the project has gone south to get their help. Start out that way. Continue collaborating as the usual way you work through the project. Listen generously. People are able to say what they can in the moment. For the most part, people are well-intended. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Take the time to listen. Ask questions. Seek others' opinions. And while you're at it, don't be so harsh on yourself. Embrace uncertainty. Expect the unexpected. There is far more that we don't know and can't know than what we can anticipate. Be resilient to what life throws at you. Anticipate that your team will learn something along the way that can and should change what you have promised and how you can deliver on your promises. And when you take a set-back — we all do sometime or another –review the other nine rules for how you can work your way out of it.

So there you have it. As I wrap-up my second year writing this weblog, I can confidently suggest that the above ten ideas will dramatically improve your projects. Are these ten rules the top ten? You decide. But don't take too long. Share these rules with your team. Your team members are sure to help you carry them out!

Some of my readers will notice that I left out one of the five big ideas: "optimize the project not the pieces". I didn't know what to do with that idea. It seems to me to be the advice to project participants rather than the project manager. What do you think?

Want a copy for printing? (8½ x 14) Ten Rules for Project Managers or this PDF version Ten Rules for Project Managers.

Rookie Rules

How to Make Projects Successful

Tips for (Project) Managers

Late to the Party

Project Leadership

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 25th, 2004 at 11:18 pm and is tagged: PM practice, tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. Convert this post to a PDF document.

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4 Responses to “Ten Rules for Project Managers (Project e-Tip 034)”

David Says:
August 30th, 2004 at 6:11 am
Thanks for the post. Does a ‘blog’ platform serve as a good platform for Project Management in your experience?

Also, have you had any experience with some of the Social Software (wiki’s) to serve as the platform for Project Management?
Hal Says:
August 30th, 2004 at 1:15 pm
Yes on both counts. Group authored weblogs can serve as a communication tool that collects the conversation in one place rather than scattered across email boxes. You’d want to have a weblog that included categories and you’ll need a means for uploading and linking to files.

I am in the process of using a wiki with one of my clients. We created a private wiki environment that allows all members of the extended project community to learn from and support one another. The overhead is small. Community building is the big payoff. My projects are usually in the AEC industry where people come together on projects as strangers. The wiki offers a mechanism for accelerating the development of relationships.

Then there is the aspects of project admin. What issues are outstanding? for whom? when are they promised complete? What’s coming up in the next few weeks? All these questions and more can easily be addressed with either or a combination of the tools.
Nate Slauson Says:
September 18th, 2004 at 4:14 am
Hal,

Will from Sutter Health suggested I might benefit from being involved with the wiki. What do I need to do to become part of this exciting process?

Nate Slauson
Shivraj Says:
November 22nd, 2005 at 10:08 am
I have a print out of the 10 rULES OF Project Managers.

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