Dear Bob …
I need some project management advice.
I’ve read Bare Bones Project Management … and thank you for writing it! … but my issues aren’t about a project I’m managing. I’m just part of the project team, and the project manager doesn’t seem to be following your guidelines.
Which would be okay if my fellow project team members were strong players. But they aren’t – most of them are, to use a phrase I’ve borrowed from you, hiding behind the herd.
And I’m the herd.
Okay, that isn’t fair. My team does have some competent members. That’s the plot twist: The productive team members are the ones supplied by our client. They get their work done on time and in accordance with the project plan. They’re a pleasure to work with.
A pleasure, that is, except for the conversations in which I have to make excuses for my colleagues. I’m running out. That’s one place I need your advice.
Another challenge is our embarrassing weekly status meetings – embarrassing in that the project manager – not the project’s team members but the project manager – presents the project’s status. His version always shades the facts just enough to make it look like the project has made progress, while concealing that whatever progress has been made was either made by one of the client’s staff, or by me.
One more? While it’s too soon to say the project will fail completely – there’s still a chance we’ll find a way to muddle through – it certainly won’t be something to brag about. I need some ways to be recognized for how I helped keep the project from failing completely,
Or, if you don’t have any magic formulas for that, can you at least suggest ways I can keep my name from being connected to the mess?
Sincerely,
Vulnerable
Dear Vulnerable …
Based on your description it’s clear the project manager doesn’t know how to manage a project. If for no other reason, conducting status meetings where the project manager informs the team about the project’s status instead of asking team members to tell the PM, and each other, what their status is betrays a complete misunderstanding of what status meetings are for, namely, to apply peer pressure to underperforming team members to get them to pick up the tempo.
But you didn’t need me to tell you this.
Here’s what you do need me to tell you: You can’t fix this project. Don’t try.
Fixing the project means improving the PM’s skills. But no matter your intentions, and no matter how you go about it, if you were to try to fix the PM all you’d do is add hostility and defensiveness to the PM’s current list of failings.
If the PM was interested in your ideas about how to manage projects more effectively they’d ask.
In the meantime, you should get out of the habit of making excuses for anyone. Instead, direct the question back to the PM, as in, “I’m not in a position to speak to that – it’s something you’ll need to ask the PM.
This also applies to your under-performing colleagues. Sure, if they ask you for help and the help they’re asking for is coaching on how to do something, not to get you to do it for them, that’s well within the scope of healthy team interactions.
If they haven’t asked you for help, offering it anyway is a sure path to alienation.
Beyond that, it’s up to the PM to recognize under-performing team members and do something about it.
You can’t fix the project. Your job now is self-protection.
I’m guessing that in your company billable employees have two managers – a project manager, whose limitations we’ve been discussing, and an administrative manager (AM), responsible for helping you plan your career, conduct your performance reviews, and otherwise navigate organizational challenges.
Your AM is your first stop in vulnerability management. Schedule enough time to provide an accurate rendition of the situation and ask them for help.
Help might include documenting things and getting more in-depth advice than what I’m providing here. More important is letting the sales lead for the project know there’s a problem. You can’t do this … see “You can’t fix this project,” above. If you were to approach the sales lead directly it would look like backstabbing. But if your AM approaches the sales lead it’s an appropriate way to keep the company out of trouble and, more important, keeping the company’s revenue generator out of trouble.
And one more thing: Keep your AM apprised as the project situation evolves.
Bob’s last word: And one more thing – if you don’t think your AM has the political chops to help you with the situation, you should still familiarize them about it.
But don’t ask them for help. They wouldn’t be able to give you much anyway.
Might be time to update the resume…
Might be. I figured that in a services firm there’s enough lateral mobility that this step might not be necessary just yet.
But on the other hand, it never hurts to keep the ole resume up-to-date regardless.
Nice. I’ve been there working at a grocery store. Somehow I knew “I don’t know, ask my boss” was the answer.
I would add one thing from my 30+ years of experience.
“This also applies to your under-performing colleagues. Sure, if they ask you for help and the help they’re asking for is coaching on how to do something, not to get you to do it for them, that’s well within the scope of healthy team interactions.”
This might happen. They might not even realize that it is happening. But it might happen. And the thing is that if you do this and your PM figures it out you can get one of two results. He/(she) feels threatened. Then you are in trouble and that would be a good reason to have the career protection and movement plans going and in place. PM can be a majorly successful enemy if they decide to be. But you might get the result of him realizing that he does have a problem and starts looking to you for help. OK lightning does strike from time to time 😉 ) If this happens do try to be that help, but it has to be very quiet. Unless he decides that you need to be recognized for it don’t even think of trying to get credit. But always be ready because lightning does strike. The more in trouble the project is, the more his job is in trouble because of it, and the more successful you are as a coach the more the charge might be built up.
OK 30+ years and I have really had this happen once and only once. Or at least on any significant level. But it did produce a good result. He became my biggest booster, and I ended up getting several advancements from his help. OH and the project headed to disaster is one of the ones that ended up listed on my internal resume as being one I worked on because of its level of success. 😉
But the part of the difference between coach and slave is a real key. Most of the time they will be trying for the second. So avoid it. One hint here that helps from time to time is to do what you do when helping a kid with homework. They really don’t understand the problem, you don’t do it for them. Even if they watch you do it they will get nothing from it. You come up with examples that are similar and show how to do these. OK with projects this is massively harder. But it is the key to it.
So no anonymous letter that one of clients finds in their notepad, a la ‘Here’s some questions you might want to ask the PM at the next status meeting.’ ?
I don’t know about the Project Manager versus the Administrative Manager (I’ve never been in that job situation), but regards anything else — SPOT ON! No way can this person fix this. I agree 100% with trying to cope with the Administrative Manager and/or getting the resume together.