The value of a project manager

Introduction to Project Management:

• Project management spans various industries and companies, from large corporations to small businesses.
• Definition of a Project Manager: Shepherds projects from start to finish, guiding their team with organizational and interpersonal skills.

Role and Value of a Project Manager:

• Planning and Organizing: Involves managing tasks, budgeting, and controlling costs to complete projects within approved timeframes.
• Prioritization: Helps team members identify and break down tasks, connecting with teams and stakeholders to determine critical tasks.
• Delegation: Matches tasks to individuals best suited to complete them, utilizing team strengths effectively.
• Effective Communication: Maintains transparency, keeps regular contact with the team and stakeholders, ensuring everyone is informed and supported.

Example of House Painting Project:

• Prioritization: Laying out drop cloths and applying blue tape before painting.
• Delegation: Assigning challenging tasks to a friend with professional painting experience.
• Effective Communication: Regularly checking in with friends to ensure supplies are sufficient and informing the landlord about project plans.

Conclusion:

• Project managers add value through prioritization, delegation, and effective communication, ensuring smooth and efficient project completion.
• The next section will cover the career path of a real-life project manager at Google.

JuAnne: Path to becoming a project manager

JuAnne's Journey to Becoming a Project Manager:

• Background:
  • JuAnne is a Senior Program Manager at Google.
  • She is a first-generation Chinese American, having moved to the U.S. with her family at a young age.
• Early Life:
  • Grew up taking care of herself due to her parents' hard work.
  • Developed organizational skills by planning meals, doing homework, and handling chores.
• Career Path:
  • Started as a Business Systems Analyst, writing and gathering requirements for customers and translating them for engineers.
  • Transitioned to project management by managing timelines, tasks, and understanding all project components.
• Enjoyment in Project Management:
  • Loves working with people and understanding different personalities.
  • Believes in building strong relationships, understanding people's styles and concerns, which improves communication and project outcomes.

How project managers impact organizations

How Project Managers Impact Organizations: Project managers add value to projects and organizations in several key ways:

1. Focusing on the Customer:
   • Understand and meet customer standards and expectations.
   • Build relationships with internal (stakeholders, team members) and external customers (clients, contractors).
   • Ask questions to understand the customer's needs, problems, and goals.
2. Building a Great Team:
   • Understand each team member's motivations, strengths, and weaknesses.
   • Ensure the team has the necessary skills and resources.
   • Value, trust, and appreciate team members, encouraging their input and addressing their needs.
3. Fostering Relationships and Communication:
   • Build relationships and maintain effective communication with the team and stakeholders.
   • Check in regularly with team members to offer support and ensure they feel valued.
4. Managing the Project:
   • Assign specific tasks to team members and oversee the entire project.
   • Communicate the impact of each task on the overall project to ensure everyone understands their role in achieving the final goal.
5. Breaking Down Barriers:
   • Encourage innovation and collaboration within the team.
   • Provide support and advocate for additional resources when needed.
   • Address obstacles directly to keep the project on track.

Key Takeaway: Project managers add value by focusing on the customer, building strong teams, fostering relationships and communication, managing projects effectively, and breaking down barriers to innovation and progress.

Key project manager roles and responsibilities

Introduction:

• Reflecting on others' career paths can be inspiring and informative for your own journey in project management.
• So far, the course has covered types of project management roles and how to search for them, as well as the value project managers bring to organizations.

Roles and Responsibilities of a Project Manager:

• Planning and Organizing:
  • Use productivity tools and create processes.
  • Develop plans, timelines, schedules, and documentation to track project completion.
  • Maintain these documents throughout the project.
• Budgeting and Controlling Costs:
  • Monitor and manage the budget.
  • Track issues and risks, and mitigate them.
  • Remove unforeseen barriers to project progress.
• Managing Tasks:
  • Keep track of tasks to manage team workload and demonstrate progress to stakeholders.
  • Example: As a program manager at Google, managing tasks involved creating project trackers for engineering teams and updating stakeholders regularly.

Conclusion:

• Understanding the roles and responsibilities of a project manager is crucial.
• The next section will discuss a project manager's role within the extended team.

Responsibilities that utilize interpersonal skills

Project managers not only handle technical aspects of projects like planning, organizing, budgeting, and task management but also use interpersonal skills to add significant value. Key responsibilities include:

1. Teaching and Mentoring:
   • Serve as a mentor to the team.
   • Explain expectations clearly to avoid confusion.
   • Support team members in meeting and exceeding expectations.
2. Building Relationships:
   • Get to know team members, customers, clients, vendors, and other stakeholders.
   • Show interest in their lives beyond the project.
   • Foster strong relationships for better project investment.
3. Controlling Change:
   • Remain flexible to stakeholder needs while protecting the team from constant changes.
   • Document initial expectations and changes requested.
   • Understand and communicate the impact of changes on budget and schedule.
4. Empowering the Team:
   • Allow team members to work directly with stakeholders.
   • Delegate responsibilities and decision-making.
   • Encourage fresh ideas and solutions.
5. Communicating Status and Concerns:
   • Maintain open and effective communication.
   • Set the tone for the project.
   • Build trust and stay positive to ensure project success.

Key Takeaway: Interpersonal responsibilities like teaching, mentoring, building relationships, controlling change, empowering team members, and effective communication are crucial for the success of projects, alongside technical responsibilities like scheduling and budgeting. These responsibilities are integrated into different phases of a project.

A project manager’s role within a team

Project Manager's Role in Relation to the Project Team:

• Not a Direct Manager: A project manager manages tasks and responsibilities rather than directly managing the team members.
• Role of a Project Manager: Guides the team, ensures tasks are completed, and supports team members without needing to be an expert in every field.
• Example: Planning a camping trip by assigning specific tasks to others with expertise in those areas.

Responsibilities of a Project Manager:

1. Accountability: Hold team members accountable for their assigned tasks by giving them ownership.
2. Tracking Issues and Risks: Ensure issues and risks are tracked and visible, and establish escalation paths for communication.
3. Adopting Workflows: Help the team adopt the right workflows and project management styles.
4. Collaboration: Work with other teams in the organization to meet project requirements based on scope, schedule, and budget.

Recap:

• A project manager is responsible for guiding the team and ensuring they have the support needed to complete the project.
• The next section will discuss the types of skills a project manager needs to succeed.

Working with cross-functional teams

Definition:

• Cross-functional teams consist of members from different backgrounds, expertise, and job functions working towards a common goal.

T-shaped Professionals:

• Team members skilled in collaboration and innovation across different job functions while contributing their own expertise.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Clarify Goals:
   • Ensure each team member understands their role and the common goals of the project.
   • Set clear goals, define key items like budget, deadlines, and quality requirements.
   • Encourage team members to ask questions and clarify information.
2. Get Team Members with the Right Skills:
   • Ensure the team has the necessary skill sets for the project.
   • Identify the skills needed to accomplish project tasks.
3. Measure Progress:
   • Regularly measure and communicate the project's progress.
   • Track milestones, tasks, and goals.
   • Communicate successes, delays, and issues to keep everyone informed.
4. Recognize Efforts:
   • Recognize and value the contributions of all team members.
   • Build relationships with team members to understand what makes them feel supported.

Key Takeaway:

• Effective communication, goal clarification, skill alignment, progress measurement, and recognizing efforts are crucial for managing cross-functional teams and ensuring project success.

Elita: A day in the life of a project manager

Great Project Manager Metaphors:

• EMT: Manages chaos, triages tasks, develops and participates in action plans.
• Ninja: Influences others subtly and avoids overt actions that could be poorly received.
• Jazz Musician: Keeps a steady beat and ensures the team works in harmony.

Daily Responsibilities:

• Communicates with a variety of stakeholders, including engineers, product managers, and sales teams.
• Updates key stakeholders on strategy and status.
• Organizes tasks using lists (post-it notes, electronic lists, email lists) to manage time effectively.
• Holds stand-up meetings to track daily progress and address issues.

Key Skills:

• Organization: Keeps team actions and thinking organized.
• Bias to Action: Makes decisions to move projects forward.
• Resilience: Adapts and learns from mistakes, remaining flexible to new information.

Daily Workflow:

• Uses lists to prioritize daily tasks and budget time.
• Holds morning stand-ups to review previous day’s progress and set the day’s agenda.
• Checks in at lunch to ensure tasks are on track and address any technical issues.

Elita’s Attributes:

• Action-Oriented: Makes decisions to prevent stagnation.
• Resilient: Learns from mistakes and adapts to new information.

The core skills of a project manager

Core Skill Sets for Project Managers:

1. Enabling Decision-Making:
   • Facilitate decision-making within the team.
   • Gather and provide relevant information to help the team make informed decisions.
   • Communicate decisions to necessary coworkers, including immediate team members and company leaders.
2. Communicating and Escalating:
   • Use communication skills in all aspects of project management.
   • Document plans, send emails, and hold meetings to update on project status or escalate issues to stakeholders.
3. Flexibility:
   • Adapt to changes in plans, goals, or team composition.
   • Stay calm under pressure and help the team adjust to new circumstances.
   • Embrace the idea that "The only constant is change."
4. Strong Organizational Skills:
   • Organize processes and core elements of a project to prevent losing or overlooking details.
   • Use tools like spreadsheets and send frequent status updates to stay on track.
   • Hone organizational skills through various methods and tools discussed in the program.

Recap:

• Decision-making, communicating and escalating, flexibility, and strong organizational skills are essential for successful project management.
• Familiarity with industry knowledge, tools, templates, and popular project management styles (e.g., Waterfall, Agile) enhances these skills.

Key competencies: Flexibility and handling ambiguity

Key Competencies for Project Managers:

• Enabling Decision-Making:
  • Foster a collaborative decision-making environment.
  • Empower team members to express their opinions and make decisions.
  • Promote responsibility, accountability, and team closeness.
• Communicating and Escalating:
  • Clearly communicate project goals, roles, and responsibilities.
  • Effectively escalate issues to management with potential solutions.
• Strong Organizational Skills:
  • Stay organized to set an example for the team.
  • Use tools like planning software, collaboration tools, documentation, and quality assurance tools.

Flexibility:

• Importance of Flexibility:
  • Adapt to changes and challenges.
  • Prepare for external constraints and risks.
  • Calculate "float" time in the schedule to manage resources and keep projects on track.

Handling Ambiguity:

• Dealing with Ambiguity:
  • Remain calm and composed during uncertain times.
  • Show empathy and support for team members.
  • Communicate confirmed aspects clearly and stick to decisions.
  • Trust the expertise of team members to increase clarity and gather more information.

Key Takeaway:

• Mastering flexibility and handling ambiguity, along with decision-making, communication, and organizational skills, allows a project manager to innovate and grow as a leader.

Rachel: My journey to becoming a project manager

• Background:
  • Rachel was hired by Google out of a bar in the East Village, New York, about 12 years ago.
  • She worked as a bartender and gave advice to regulars, some of whom were Google employees in NY Ops and SRE.
• Transition to Google:
  • In 2008, Rachel applied for an admin role at Google and was hired as an Administrator for Site Reliability and Engineering Ops.
  • After two years, she transitioned into Program Management.
• Skills Transfer:
  • Skills polished while bartending, such as giving advice, understanding customer needs, and building relationships, translated into her work at Google.
  • Her role as a program manager involves helping people navigate meetings and decision-making processes, similar to how she helped bar patrons have a better night.
• Relationship Building:
  • Building a community with engineers was key to her role, which was facilitated by her background in bartending.
  • Talking to and understanding the needs of various team members, including engineers and product managers, is essential.
• Key Takeaways:
  • Program management is not just about processes but also about relating to people.
  • Skills from different life experiences, such as working in a bar or art school, can be valuable in program management.
  • Understanding and addressing the unique needs of team members is crucial for success.

Common myths about project managers

Common Myths about Project Managers:

1. Myth: You have to be an expert in the field and have a lot of technical knowledge about the project.
   • Reality: Project managers benefit from not having too much technical knowledge as it allows them to focus on the bigger picture and manage cross-functional teams effectively. They bring the right experts on board and handle communication, documentation, and organization to ensure project success.
   • Scenario: Jamar, a new project manager at a construction company, manages the construction of a school by hiring experts and facilitating communication among them without needing to know all technical details.
2. Myth: Only people with a lot of experience within an organization can manage projects successfully.
   • Reality: Success in project management depends on acquiring and applying the necessary skills, knowledge, tools, and techniques, not on having prior experience within the same organization.
   • Scenario: Sofia, a top performer in a call center, is offered a project management role but lacks the necessary training. She enrolls in a project management course to build her skills.
3. Myth: You have to know every single detail about the project at all times.
   • Reality: While details matter, project managers must focus on the big picture and strategy. They should ensure the team understands their objectives and has the resources needed to succeed while keeping open lines of communication for updates on potential risks.
   • Scenario: Yui, a project manager at a clothing company, focuses on the overall goals and timelines for a new product line, trusting her team to handle the details and informing her of any issues.

Key Takeaway:

• Recognizing and debunking these myths can help you become a more confident and successful project manager by focusing on essential skills and the big picture.

Leadership and team dynamics

Key Interpersonal Skills for Project Managers:

1. Communication:
   • Checking in with teammates to understand their progress.
   • Providing clear feedback on the quality of work.
2. Negotiation:
   • Working with teammates to compromise on deadlines and other project needs.
3. Conflict Mediation:
   • Resolving tensions and conflicts within the team to ensure project success.
4. Understanding Motivations:
   • Learning what drives teammates to perform their best.
   • Understanding how they prefer to receive feedback and recognition.

Influencing Without Authority:

• Refers to guiding teammates to complete their work without being their direct manager.
• Using interpersonal skills to lead and motivate the team.

Example:

• A coworker who is consistently late can be influenced by changing how you communicate with them and motivating them to be on time through different strategies.

Key Takeaway:

• Interpersonal skills are crucial for project managers to build relationships and influence their team without direct authority.

Ellen: Traits of a successful project manager

Ellen’s Insights on Technical Program Management:

1. Team Collaboration:
   • Ellen emphasizes the power of teamwork, believing that a group can achieve more together than individuals working alone.
   • Bringing people together and aligning them around a common goal can lead to amazing results.
2. Dual Focus:
   • Successful project management involves a balance of focusing on goals and managing people.
   • A project manager must have a laser-like focus on execution while also effectively managing the team.
3. Mentoring Approach:
   • Initially, Ellen guided project managers on their individual projects.
   • Over time, she shifted to mentoring project managers on how to think about their projects strategically.
   • This involves helping them develop their problem-solving and project management skills.
4. Diverse Teams:
   • Ellen values diversity in her team, including different backgrounds and experiences.
   • She aims to build a global team that reflects the global nature of Google.
5. Growth Advice:
   • Ellen advises new project managers to work on a variety of projects in different domains and with different people.
   • Each project provides learning opportunities and helps in personal and professional growth.