Bob McGannon

Projects bring deadlines. Therefore, projects introduce stress. I think a key aspect of a supportive culture is to have authentic deadlines. Some deadlines put undue pressure on project teams because they are arbitrary, set by the ambitions of a project sponsor or other senior leader who picks the deadline out of the air, not understanding the stress that is placed on the project team. Ensure deadlines are real, driven by specific legal or business goals, and make sure the team members understand those goals. People will rally if they see the distinct need, but will focus on the undue stress caused by a deadline without ties to something meaningful.

No technology - and I mean NO technology, should be implemented without understanding and capturing the business process a) as it stands today, and b) how the technology will be used to enhance it. I once was asked to manage a project to implement a document distribution application to address the problem of slow information distribution in an organization. We performed business process modeling before we started implementing the technology. I'm so glad we did as we found that some areas of the business were holding back information, and distributing it in bulk, rather than as each communication came in. If we implemented new technology, and they behaved the same way, the problem would not have been addressed!

Let's start with an important fact...if you allow scope creep, you WON'T stay on schedule. And, this means that, as a project manager, you need to enforce a sound project change discipline. Even more importantly, you need to talk with your project team members about not inadvertently allowing scope creep, or letting it occur while "trying to help." Scope creep often comes from well-meaning team members trying to help other well-meaning project stakeholders - the project's customers. A customer asks for " a little thing" and the team member decides it is a good idea and adds it to their workload. The little things, a) add up, and b) may not be so little! So, talk to your project teams about not promoting scope creep!

Prioritizing tasks is critical. Just as important, however, is delegating tasks. As a project manager the key to managing broad projects or multiple projects is to skillfully delegate. Part of your delegation plan should be to allocate time to assist and support those to whom you delegateManage that well, and you can manage a much greater overall workload without getting too stressed!

I always recommend lessons-learned sessions. But, I start with a "lessons recalled" session at THE START of every project. If a formal lessons learned repository is available, great, look at that. Otherwise, bring together your team and share experiences and how those might affect the project in front of you. Doing so reduces the unexpected so you don't have to figure out how to address it!

If you are new to project management, general education on various PM topics, such as scheduling or risk management is very useful. However, for those with a bit more experience, I recommend attending online or in-person courses where specific situations can be discussed. This way, your particular problems and situations can be surfaced and addressed. It is much more powerful when discussions about YOUR particular environment can be examined. 1-1 project coaching beyond that is also a powerful way to expand skills and degrees of success.