When a project manager or team member is unsure of what to do, it's often because there's something lacking. And in my experience, it's usually lacking in all or some of these key areas: knowledge, experience and the project's intended benefit.

In an IT project, for example, let's say you are in charge of the rollout of new computers and rearranging the workstations. You would need to be clear on the requirements first, and you would have to assess if the budget is sufficient for all the required resources and activities you will need to execute. It's your project management knowledge and experience that will aid you in completing the required tasks correctly.  

You may have had experiences where you felt that you were clear on the goals and direction of the project. But depending on where you got the information, and if you don't understand how a particular organization operates, you might be going in the wrong direction.

No matter how much project management knowledge or experience you have, if you don't have knowledge of or experience with the stakeholder or project owner, you will end up failing or negatively impacting the business.

While this might seem like common sense, my experience shows that many people are struggling and looking for creative and advanced solutions to something that is simple. They spend countless amounts of energy and time to figure out a complex solution rather than just looking at the obvious.

In reality, they are missing something in their knowledge, experience or understanding of the project goal or direction.

Use examples from your life to validate this for yourself. Look at an area where you are actually having trouble or an area that is not working as well as you'd like it to. Something is likely missing in your knowledge, experience or project comprehension whether you want to admit it or not.

Have you ever been unsure of what to do in a project? Was it because you were missing something in one of these key areas?

How can you still use the people you currently have on your team rather than replace them?

One suggestion is to look to your junior project managers, provided that they are sufficiently skilled, to complete the work that needs to be done.

But how do you train the junior project manager quickly and sufficiently?

As project managers, we, especially those with credentials, have a strong belief in this profession and the desire to advance our knowledge and practice. Those of us who are already senior project managers have the responsibility to work with our junior project managers or team members and support them in their growth.  

As a project or program manager, you have the power to give them the tools they need to unleash their power as coordinators and junior project managers. As a project manager, you already know how to manage the project. It's up to you to help the less experienced know what they should be doing, what they shouldn't be doing and what tools they should or shouldn't be using.

For example, I worked with one junior project manager who lacked experience in working with those who were directly involved in the business operation. The solution we found was to involve her directly with the business analyst. The business analyst could help the project manager communicate her needs into "business speak." This allowed the project manager to learn, and adjust her management and communication styles.

Knowledge sharing gives junior project managers more confidence. By providing them with an experience working with you on a project, you are creating an environment that fosters growth and development and is fun and rewarding.

Are you a senior or junior project manager? What has your experience been like? How do you foster growth for junior project managers?

Have you ever been at a meeting where someone tries to tell you what you should be doing and how? Even though you are the project manager -- the one who guides the team and makes decisions -- you still have people offering their two cents. The advice can come from a project team member or a credentialed project manager on a different project.  

I have actually done this myself as a project team member. As someone technical, and who also has project management experience and knowledge, I have tried to impart that wisdom to my project manager.

I clearly remember one project manager I would advise on a number of things. It's in my nature that when there's a gap -- whether in communication, documentation, project planning -- I want to point it out.

The dilemma is that if you impart your knowledge too forcefully, you are possibly invalidating the project manager.

In certain situations, that advice becomes unmanageable and puts more pressure on the project manager, not only to manage the project but also to manage you.

If we feel there's a need to bring something to the table that is going to add value to the project, it needs to be brought up as such. You should not expect that the project manager would just implement it because you said so.

Before you even do that, consider asking yourself why you are thinking a particular way about a situation. Why are you asking for the changes? How does it resolve a specific issue that you are dealing with?

Challenge yourself. See if you can adapt and work with your team, deliver what you are required to deliver and, as appropriate, bring up the items that you feel can add value to the project. Understand the value of your place in the project and fulfill on the expectations others have of you.

How do you handle project team members who forcefully suggest their ideas?

As project managers, we have to manage various tasks in multiple lines of work. At times, we operate from our technical background and impart that knowledge and expertise more than our project management knowledge.

There needs to be the distinction of when we use our "project manager hat" versus our "technical specialist hat."

Many project managers work in two common extremes: process focus or technical detail focus. This is common for junior project managers and for project managers who are new to an organization. That often happens, in my opinion, because those project managers haven't developed their management style yet or haven't adjusted to the organizational culture.

When the project manager thinks something is going wrong on a project, either with how someone is performing a task or the results of a deliverable, we often try to fix it. We do that with our strongest toolkit -- usually, that's our technical background. We often take over and hijack the task just to do it "our way," based on our experience.

Remind yourself that as a project manager, you have a different role as a leader. You also can't be a technical skills expert for your team.

Realign yourself to the deliverables. Gain a clarity of the project goal, the project management approach you are using and your role in managing the given project resources.

Project managers can be quite connected and attached to the project outcome. But when you see an opportunity to improve something based on your technical expertise or what you would do differently, stay focused on your role, which is to deliver the project according to the business requirements, aligning with the business sponsor and the organization. Let your team handle their tasks according to their experience and expertise.

Do you ever rely too heavily on your technical expertise?

Read more from Dmitri.

What makes projects move and people excel? In my opinion, there are three characteristics that are consistently found in great project practitioners:

1.    Urgency
2.    Persistence
3.    Desire

Executing projects with a sense of urgency means you and your team must really apply yourselves. Every day has to be productive. Tools must be properly utilized. The work needs to be completed with quality and according to the requirements.

Don't look at the future as a way to fix the mistakes you might make today. Address items immediately and effectively so that you don't make them again.



Persistence means not giving in or giving up. Nor should we quit when things get tough.  

Don't let it slide when you feel less productive: You and your team should encourage each other to be in motion at all times. After all, we are hired to perform a specific job. The more we stick to being professional and complete in the work we do, the higher level we will reach in our daily execution of project tasks.
 

Finally, have the desire to be great. That means don't settle for second best or for a "good enough" result. You should want to outdo yourself, to be more effective than in the past. Strive to complete more work through effectiveness and with higher quality than you think you can. It's the only way to improve yourself.  



When the entire team is aligned to such a work ethic and mindset, it no longer is a job for a project manager. It becomes a game and a challenge that everyone on the team takes on and is excited to be part of.

Together aligned we achieve more, have fun, constantly grow and become better at what we do.
  

What do you do on a project team to add value to the team effort with your own individual effort?


I've been in the project management profession for more than a decade. Admittedly, I've had my share of times when I was less productive than I would like to be.

While I haven't figured out an exact formula for having superior productivity at all times, I have noticed what contributes to both success and failure in high productivity, for me. These four elements help me stay on track.

Coachability
When you are coachable, you can easily adapt. You are willing to learn something new and possibly change something about yourself in terms of how you work, react or approach tasks.

Clarity of the overall goal
When I'm working on a project, I want to be clear on what we are working on, what the ultimate goal is, or final result that is expected. With the clarity of the goal, it's easier to commit.

With clarity, commitment and coachability, you're halfway there. What gets you to the end game is two other elements: discipline and self-control. I'm not perfect at either, but I've noted that when I am most successful, these two elements are present. When I fail or get close to failing, they are lacking.

Discipline
Discipline allows me to focus on the right activity and to motivate myself to do what needs to be done on a regular basis. While I might be good at "catching up" on what I'm behind on, if I have the self-discipline, most of the time, I'm on task.

Self-control
Self-control is an act of controlling one's impulses to do something other than the task at hand. I catch myself now getting distracted by some activities, but ultimately, self-control allows me to avoid the wrong ones.

We have to remember that what we do is guided by how we think. Every day, I set a goal to have all of these elements in check for any specific project or task. It opens up actions and the things I need to do right away to either stay on track, get back on track or even outperform what was planned.

How do you stay productive?

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The structured approach of project management can add value to operational IT departments. What makes this work is the approach that the project management office (PMO) or the project management team defines in its project management methodology for release of the systems into production environments.

Operational departments should execute with a process often referred to as "steady state transfer." This process gives the project team the opportunity to validate all the key production processes such as the support, maintenance cycle, systems restore and sanity testing, which is the basic testing of the system functionality.

Project teams launch the steady state transfer after successful tests show the systems are ready to be released into the production environment.

This validation step -- to ensure that the system processes are well mapped between various support departments -- adds value to the operations teams. The validation step is done during project execution using the steady state transfer process -- and without generating special projects.

This validation step in the project management practice guarantees process interface manuals are updated with any changes to the processes and the test results.

The operational departments work with the project team to complete this task and thus make a smooth transition into the "steady state" of operation.

What processes does your organization use to achieve the same results?

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Do you ever notice how after learning a concept many years ago, when you come across it again, you understand it either differently or better?

As we experience "life" in project management -- managing various projects, working with new teams and wearing different hats on those teams -- we get to see various aspects of project management in action. We add to that knowledge from our own successes and failures.

We usually refer to those experiences as growth and development. The experience alters how we see things and how we communicate with people: our teammates, suppliers, third party partners, customers and clients. It also alters how we perform work because we gain a new point of view or change in our current point of view.

As such, it's valuable to review what you already know by reading through chapters of A Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) to focus on the key areas that you work in, be it in risk management, scope management or resource scheduling.

When you review the material after having had some experience, you not only remind yourself of what you learned initially, but you see it differently. You catch some elements that you didn't see how to implement before, or you recognize how to relate to something in a way that you didn't before. Having that "life" experience in project management alters how you see the material and how you apply it in everyday work.

This happened to me when I reviewed the PMBOK^® Guide recently.  After reviewing the chapter on risk management, I realized that my company needed to include additional steps for how we handle a backup or restore operation. While many companies have testing strategies, ours only documented this step conceptually. I may not have noticed this if I hadn't reread the PMBOK^® Guide.

I challenge you to review the knowledge in the PMBOK^® Guide and see how you can apply it to your active projects. Areas that you can improve on will turn up and will add value to your project management practice.

How do you rediscover your project management knowledge? Have you rediscovered practices from the PMBOK^® Guide recently?

Editor's note: From 17 February - 20 March 2012, the exposure draft of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) -- Fifth Edition will be open for public review. Find out more and provide your recommendations and comments on the draft.  

Project managers are tasked with many simultaneous responsibilities. They manage and drive the delivery of a project while managing their team to deliver results according to the business expectations, on time and on budget. It's no small feat when this is accomplished seamlessly.

As a project manager, many times I find myself to be the driver, serving as the catalyst for movement and action.

A driver is someone who takes on the responsibility and accountability for the project deliverables. So, in addition to day-to-day team management, I drive the alignment of the team to the project plan, maintain quality standards with the delivered work and determine the project execution and communication methods.

Enablers act as complements to the driver. They go beyond the task of effectively driving the project activities and focus on the elements that empower the team by fostering a strong work ethic, high morale, satisfaction, and attaining personal and professional accomplishments. Enablers are very good at working with all the team members -- internal and external to the project and organization -- in such a way that allows everyone on the team to:


•    Align to the overall goal

•    Emotionally connect to why the project's overarching goal is important

•    See their own purpose on the team through their contribution and knowledge

•    Feel validated for their inputs and recognized for their efforts and outputs

Enablers add life and color to the project. They are known as the glue that keeps the team together. An enabler can exist within the project team, and he or she doesn't have to be the project manager.

The great value of project managers serving as enablers is that -- when combined with their authority, they are able to drive the project and enable their teams to deliver higher quality projects and longer lasting results. This value is reflected in the quality of the product or service, processes and process adoption rate, plus greater organizational awareness and integration.

Are you an enabler or a driver? Do you think it's most beneficial to have the project manager as the driver or the enabler? Why?

We can all boast of great methods of managing people and project deliverables. But what gets the job done is discipline.

And it's interesting to note how the team follows the leader: The more disciplined the leader, the more disciplined the team. A disciplined leader gives others an anchor -- a sense of stability and accountability.

You may wonder why some people are disciplined and others are not. I believe it's a choice. Disciplined project managers strongly believe that delivering on the project result is a function of project management science and disciplined execution.

Here are some ways to become a disciplined project manager:

-    Plan the next work week's activities a day or two ahead of time
-    Confirm activities the day before
-    Conduct daily reviews of what you did or didn't accomplish
-    Follow through on your commitments
-    Avoid time-wasters, such as unrelated conversations
-    Practice staying within the time allotted to the meetings, tasks and activities
-    Hold yourself accountable for your own deliverables by using a daily tracker document
-    Communicate with stakeholders and sponsors regularly, regardless of the results

What are the ways you've become a disciplined project manager? And how has it helped you deliver better results?

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To be great in project management, we can't only be familiar with our role as the project manager. We must be educated about other roles in the profession, as well as most, if not all, knowledge areas.

But project managers often do the work they like and are familiar with, rather than work that needs to be done. Even if it's work that contributes to a project's overall success, I find that many of us focus on tasks that we're familiar with or that we already know we're good at.

Regardless of how great I am with some tasks, I know that I must fill in my own knowledge gaps with team members' expertise. Because in addition to being a good project manager, the real trick to getting things done is surrounding myself with a capable, well-trained project team.

Instead of trying to learn everything and being everything to everyone, I accept that I won't always know it all. I ask for input from the team on a regular basis. This makes the team feel needed and appreciated for their contributions and makes the project execution more efficient.

Do you tackle the tasks you're good at rather than those that need to get done? How do you balance your own expertise with that of your team members?

Project managers take various breaks throughout the work day: lunch breaks, coffee breaks, meeting breaks, and so on.

Maybe you need a break after reading an intense project plan, or conversely, you need to take a break from working on a project to read the plan.

No matter the break's impetus, it ultimately comes down to having a distraction from what you were doing.  

Consider taking a purposeful break -- one that isn't simply a distraction or escape from a previous activity, but, as the name implies, that has a purpose and therefore achieves a desired result. I find that doing so allows you to be more productive and to re-energize faster.

It's the same approach that we use for effective project meetings. Making sure that we focus on the agenda, follow all the topics and cover the intended elements. What works best in this case is staying focused on the task at hand, remembering the purpose and the planned or expected outcome.

To take a purposeful break, I suggest you do exactly what you want to do. For example, if you need five minutes to unwind after an intense meeting, do nothing else but listen to music. Don't try to figure out something about the project activity you were just involved in or what you are about to do next. Just sit quietly.

By allowing your mind to truly rest and disconnect, I find you are more effective at whatever activity you take on next.  

When we focus on an activity completely, it reduces multitasking, and we are able to complete the activity in less time, at a higher quality and with a sense of accomplishment. It's contagious: the more you get done in less time, the more you feel you can do.

This information may seem like common sense, but taking purposeful breaks regularly is what is going to contribute to one's effectiveness in project execution and time management.

To keep project activities moving, I've been testing a strategy of having action generate action through status reporting. Here's what I've noticed that works:

As it stands, the current status of a project or task either gives a call to action, which creates further productive activity, or it leaves things as they are.

For example, a task status might say, "Completed the requirements document." While it's a valid update on the task, it only tells us something that is already in the past. Rewording your updates to generate a vision of current action is more helpful.

Consider if the status update said, "Reviewing the completed requirements document with the business owner." By including the present tense, the status presents the same information, but it adds an action-oriented, current, activity-based standing.

As a result of using present tense, I've noticed that the action of simply reporting on status has generated further action. It actually put me directly into the doing part of action, rather than talking about the action.

Let's say I receive a status update that says, "Kim is getting the screenshots of the system alert message," or, "John is reviewing the requirements document with the business owner." From this, I would know to follow up with Kim on whether she got the screenshot and set a reminder to connect with John and find out how the review went.

Review one of the status updates you've recently done yourself, or one that you received. Did it use the present or past tense? If the latter, what better results do you see possible by using the present tense?

In project management, loaded questions can cause massive problems on project teams.  As the project manager, it's your job to keep things under control.

Loaded questions usually carry some form of presumed fault. Here's an example: "Why didn't so-and-so provide us a project update on time?"

When someone -- project team member, stakeholder or client -- asks you such a question, how do you react? Do you answer it directly or do you try to defend yourself or your team, escalating the situation further?

In my opinion, the fastest and most effective way to respond to a loaded question is to address its underlying concern. When you address the issue rather than what is being asked on the surface, you create a safe environment where a person is understood.

Recently, I was in a situation where my first reaction was to defend myself and completely bash the opposing view. I stepped back and looked for their concern about the incident that occurred rather than jumping into defense mode.

As a result, I was able to see more clearly why in this situation, the project process was defined the way it was, without pushing my own agenda. Instead of seeing holes in the process, I started seeing what actions I needed to take. When I acknowledged this to the person that raised the question, the original concern disappeared for both of us.

The next time someone asks you a loaded question, answer the concern and not the question. The original issue may simply disappear.

Think about a recent encounter with a project team member or stakeholder where you may have gotten a bit defensive. What would be different in that situation if you listened for the concern behind what they were saying?

Read more posts from Dmitri.

It can be an obstacle when project teams encounter friction among members, as it impacts their ability to work together and finish a project successfully. Often, that friction can come from a team member's experience in project management -- or lack thereof.

In my opinion, a great deal of control over the project and its outcome depends on how well a project manager or team member is trained in a well-structured project management environment, whether through formal or on-the-job training.

Truly understanding project management practices and how all the components of it can work and integrate together can save a lot of grief and reduce or avoid friction among the team members. It provides the tools for "winning the game."

Project management provides a pathway to successfully managing a project and its components toward its completion. Any given practice of it is regularly fine-tuned and updated based on the experiences of various project managers and their teams.

Equipped with that understanding, project managers must pay attention when there's friction among team members. Project managers can get team members back on track with the project management practice they use, while allowing the team members to focus on the goal: to deliver results in the area for which they are responsible.

Do you think project management training can impact friction among team members? Why or why not?

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See more about professional development.

Let's face it -- although we may not see ourselves as the great organizers we'd like to be, we are often more organized in our projects in the workplace than we are at home in our own lives.

Of course we're trained to do what we do at work, which isn't always the case for everyday life. We seek out specialized training for our field, and then we get to obtain certifications and credentials, continue our education and earn professional development units (PDUs) to maintain our designation. Meanwhile, there's no training for how to live an organized life.

Having project management knowledge allows us to be better project managers in our lives -- not just in our workplace. Indeed, project management processes can be applied to life's personal projects and activities.  

When I was studying for my Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)^® certification, for example, I realized that my knowledge of the PMBOK^® Guide applied to everything I was up to -- not just the management of projects at work. I became more organized. I worked on more projects of my own and had structure that allowed me to progress faster, and with better concrete results and more confidence.

All that came from this preparation. When I obtained my CAPM^®, I was convinced that every single person that worked in the office could benefit from this education and certification, including project managers, project team members or department members that don't even work on large projects.

How do you apply project management principles to your life?

See more on PMI certifications.

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With so many project management collaboration tools out there, what is a useful, intuitive and inexpensive tool to use? It all depends on what you look for in a tool.

I look for the ability to assign tasks to team members or teams. I also like to be able to add notes and collaborate with team members through the tool, specific to the tasks they're assigned or the work they are doing. These capabilities cut through many unnecessary meetings and allow you to see real-time progress of the assigned work.

I use a web-based software called Intervals^TM. I create my projects and tasks, and then add my team to the projects and assign each of them their respective tasks. While I may create an MS Project-based project plan, I would use Intervals to manage the actual tasks, time and budget.

It's also a great tool for assessing how much time various tasks take and getting a more accurate measure of the time spent on the tasks. This tool has built-in timers for each task and general timers that make it easy to track your time.

Timesheet management is quite easy as well. I get my team to submit the hours they spent on a regular basis. At the end of the week, they submit their timesheet, which I either approve or reject -- it all happens online.

Another great feature is the executive role, which allows an executive or sponsor to see the latest progress on a project without having to be involved in any other details. The progress can be seen at any time online, by anyone provided such access.

What are your favorite collaboration tools? Are there any tools you use that achieve all these abilities?

The views expressed within the PMI Voices on Project Management blog are contributed from external sources and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of PMI.

Project managers often travel a lot for work, but you don't have to disappear into some kind of black hole. It's a matter of claiming specific pockets of time based on what's most appropriate for that period.

When flying, for example, I might book myself for two hours of focused work on project documentation, like the project plan or strategy documents. If I'm stuck waiting for a connecting flight or in my hotel room, I use that time to catch up on emails.

Traveling is also a good way to network. Try to connect with people who might help you resolve project challenges or look at issues in a new way. You might even want to find out how they stay productive while on the go.

As a project manager or a team member, I can still be in action and engaged in the project -- no matter where I am. Is traveling a hindrance or a non-issue for you? How do you stay productive yet balanced during your business travels?

A project that's broken down into milestones and tasks doesn't seem that difficult -- in fact, it seems more manageable to execute. But the tasks can be numerous, and they all compete for your time -- something there is almost never enough of.

I use a technique where I take one task and separate it from any others that should be worked on that day. The task comes from the project plan and my calendar, so I've already assigned a duration and specific date and time to work on it.

To actually execute the specific task, I separate it in my mind from anything else I need to do and focus on it completely. In other words, I zoom in.

If disruptions are present, try focusing on your task with these tips:

1.    Clear your mind of everything except what you're working on.
2.    Establish what your optimal environment is. Are you most productive when it's quiet? When there are people around? At your desk?
3.    Visualize the end result or completion of the task.
4.    Convert or break down the task into actionable items that you or someone else on the team can handle. Converting written tasks into actionable items pushes those items to completion much faster.
5.    Identify people who can help you get the task done or resources you need to get it done.
6.    Jump straight into the task until completion.

What tactics do you use to "zoom in" on your tasks?