I believe there may be hundreds of great tips for new project managers which could be rotated into a short list of 'top tips' for a given project size, complexity, industry, timeline, etc. To begin with, it really helps if you already enjoy structure and process and organization; and are able to retain the importance of small building blocks while maintaining focus on the big picture. If you struggle communicating with people in different functional roles at varying levels, if you get frustrated with change or in influencing those responsible for implementing it, the road will not be an easy one. Most procedural elements of project management can be taught or learned, but not all; the right approach and attitude are two less tangible qualities which will make a big difference to success.
Knowledge of the industry and/or subject matter help greatly for both context and credibility, as does a basic appreciation for corporate politics and human psychology. Accreditation is a foot in the door, but does not directly determine quality or success. But for a new PM about to be illuminated by the spotlight of team and stakeholder scrutiny, I'd offer these five tips (un-ordered and un-weighted):
- understand exactly who all the primary players are and their respective influence on the project, from stakeholders to sponsors to regulatory bodies to functional leads.
- seek out and apply lessons learned, best practices, templates, tools, etc (reinventing the wheel is one of the biggest time-wasters and cause of preventable errors and delays).
- collaborate in planning, then mind the critical path; identify for yourself and your project what I refer to as a touchstone you can look to in times of uncertainty - a big-picture goal, or guiding principal or philosophy that immediately lights the way to your answer.
- trust functional leads to know their deliverables, and be the supporter and enabler they need to meet schedule, quality and budget expectations; empower rather than becoming the project police.
- don't sweat it. change will happen and satisfaction will wain and trust will be tested but these are more common than you might have expected and are rarely personal reflections (oh, but don't screw up....)
But keep in mind the following corollaries:
- logic alone rarely wins an argument;
- when given an estimate, multiply by 2 and add 5;
- change will happen while you're changing the changes from the latest change;
- satisfaction is typically a U-curve (don't make it an L-curve);
- patience is a virtue;
- time does, it seems, speed up as a deadline approaches (a corollary to Pareto Principal that 80% of the results come from 20% of the effort);
- the path of least resistance is the one always chosen whether it leads to the planned result or not;
- agreement does not necessarily result in compliance;
- the key resource you were promised will be promised to the next important project;
- your 'dedicated' resources are likely allocated outside your project as well;
- praise often goes to the team when a project is successful;
- blame often goes to the PM when off track or unsuccessful.
