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Project managers are at the forefront of projects of various sizes: leading, managing, and striving toward delivery. The following is a compilation of what makes a good project manager good and where they can fall short. A good project manager takes responsibility for an entire project. They understand the critical path, the timeline, and the overall goals. A good project manager creates a team culture and understands the team member's dynamics and personalities.
What traits make you a good project manager?
A good project manager works with the team to provide clear definitions of everyone's role on a project. They ensure timelines are set in place and met, and have a clear understanding of the project’s goals. A good project manager takes ownership over devising and executing a plan that delivers results, not excuses. They are extremely organized and can clearly prioritize any task, any requirement, or any issue. A bad project manager has a library of excuses to use for various situations. They are unable to clearly articulate the overall plan and rely significantly on others to complete their part. They constantly use the excuse of having too many meetings, too many phone calls, and too many issues to resolve.
Are you a good project manager?
A good project manager runs exceptional meetings and they are known for it, and people actually look forward to those meetings because they produce results. Examples of a good meeting:
Clearly defined agenda upfront with specific objectives to be accomplished during that meeting.
Resources that is required in that meeting in order to accomplish team goals.
Time limits and well-executed facilitation. Each participant gets an opportunity to provide their opinion.
Well-structured meeting recap with clear discussion points and action items. Action items specify the owner of that item, description, and the deadline.
A bad project manager has no good sense of structure and time. They run meetings inefficiently, which results in participant frustration. A bad project manager has no skills in managing multiple priorities and gets easily overwhelmed.
Prove you are a good project manager!
A good project manager is extremely consistent, whether with their timely delivery of the weekly status report or scheduling a prep session for the executive steering committee. They do not wait for someone to request it. A bad project manager is all over the place. They fit that stigma of "glorified secretary or an admin" because they only ask simple questions like, "When are you going to be done with that task?" Bad project managers scramble at the last minute to produce any type of documentation, as they do not see it coming in the first place. When it comes to managing projects, especially marketing projects, it is imperative for a project manager to be able to navigate the waters effectively and guide the team with an organized and planned delivery. Check out how an Atomic Management System certification can get you started on your journey to becoming a good project manager.