The Intimidated PM Never Succeeds

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

  Leadership   New Practitioners  

“Well, this is a bit intimidating.”

That’s the first thing I heard a project manager say in one organization I was asked to consult with. It was the project manager’s first project and they were hosting the kickoff meeting. Looking around the table at the rest of the team, it was obvious that some had quite a lot of experience, and some weren’t that thrilled about being assigned to a rookie PM.

And then the PM made that statement. It was like a red rag to a bull. You could just see some of the team members thinking that they were going to be able to do whatever they wanted with that PM.

And they did. It was an unmitigated disaster, and ultimately the project manager was removed from the project. Now, there were a lot of issues in that organization—there was a reason they had asked me to go in and make some changes. But a project manager who is intimidated by the project ahead of them is always going to struggle, even in the best of situations.

Yes, being a new PM can be intimidating
Taking on any new role can be a bit daunting, and starting out as a project manager for the first time is certainly up there in terms of stress. Accountability for the success of the project, working with people who likely have far more experience than you, and having to bring them together as a cohesive team under your leadership is a significant …

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