Excellent leadership and organizational skills are the two main ingredients to successfully seeing a project to its completion, the main goal and responsibility of a Project Manager in any business. These individuals have a lot on their plate; a lot of the business’ success will come down to their personal decisions. They need to be clear about the assignment and what is needed, so that they will have all the knowledge they need to accomplish all goals correctly. Project managers, like any other type of manager, cannot make decisions based on half-data or incomplete information. They need to be privy to all aspects of the business, so they can make sure any process is going along the way it should by making informed and quick decisions when necessary.
Project managers are responsible for delegating tasks to team members and organizing and designing a business project from the ground up. They are overseeing the situation, constantly analyzing it in an effort to spot obstacles or problems before they arise. Good managers are able to keep the plan going without a hitch and when there is one, clearing it up before too much damage can be done. They are also responsible for keeping on budget. When there are a lot of obstacles that seem to be arising, it may be that the plan was not completely thought through, or that not enough information was supplied for the project to be planned correctly. This is why contingency (or back-up) plans are developed in the planning stages in order to get around possible obstacles. A great project manager is always one step ahead of the game.
PM’s will also need to work closely with other businesses in order to get the proper supplies and materials necessary for completion. Sometimes the project will have to do with computer system overhauls, which do not need many supplies. However, the organization of any project is vital to its successful completion. It may be that quite a few elements are necessary, which, in turn, requires that many supplies and many different supply companies must be dealt with. Many project managers will delegate the responsibility of finding all the right materials to those on the team who have the easiest access to those materials and the best relationships with their respective suppliers. When all team members are valued for the contributions they are making and are recognized for their efforts, they will work hard to complete the job on time. Good project managers can make this happen by leading through example, encouraging their team, and using the art of strong, dedicated leadership from the beginning to the end.
Winning Performance – The Science And Habits Of Successful Managers
September 30th, 2011For organizations to be successful they have to be better than the competition: deliver faster, have higher quality and superior service. Winning on a corporate level is really the cumulative achievement of individuals on a daily basis. In a recent Newsweek article, “The New Science of Triumph in Sports, Business, and Life,” author Nick Summers summarizes recent studies that illustrate the difference between winners and “also ran’s.” He quotes Timothy Gallwey, author of several books about the mental side of tennis, golf, and other pursuits: “There are more players that have the talent to be the best in the world than there are winners. One way of looking at it is that winners get in their own way less. They interfere with the raw expression of talent less. And to do that, first they win the war against fear, against doubt, against insecurity-which are no minor victories.”
Organizations are short sighted when they focus simply on having the best product, or best system, or best idea. These efforts can be easily copied, and to paraphrase Gallwey, ‘there are more companies in the world with good ideas then there are good companies’. Organizations that succeed, and ultimately win, are made up of people who have the winning habits described by Gallwey. In our current post recession and unstable economy, it’s easy for employees to have some doubt, fear, and insecurity and for those feelings to spread throughout the organization.
Good managers play a huge role in helping their people, “get in their own way less.” They work with their team to identify individual insecurities such as: “I hate speaking in public;” “I’m not very good with details”; or “I don’t deal very well with conflict.” Once identified, managers can then help individuals stop buying into these limiting beliefs by improving their competence and confidence in these skills. Similarly, managers can impact more global comments like, “It’s just the way our industry is” and “Customers just aren’t loyal anymore” or “The economy is really killing our business” by showing employees what they can act on rather than focusing on the elements that are out their control.
With time, managers can help each person replace detrimental habits of thought with more positive beliefs, resulting in better performance and a new path to winning more often. The best organizations orchestrate collective attitudes of confidence and competence throughout the organization. The cumulative success of all those individuals is the foundation of a winning team, work group, or company.
Each manager has a responsibility to positively impact the habits of thought of his or her people. Those habits add up to better performance and an organization that is more often winning, rather than one that is always an “also ran.”
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