How to become a better Project Manager in 8 steps

 

There are moments in our professional experience, mainly in between projects that we start to think in how we can be a better professional in project management...

I would like to share with you what I have learned from my historical experience and share with you my own lessons learned in 8 steps in the followin priority:

• Step 1 - Commitment - Top prority  and most important one ! Commitment means not be talking as crazy and promissing a lot of things in what should be done in project activities.  The world is full of good intentions and there are project managers who say they do, and those who actually exercise it. Be fullly engaged  and delivery what is promissed in the project and as a professional.
• Step 2 - Make a plan for your professional growth, with attainable goals and fulfill your word. You have to keep the promises you made to yourself, am I right ?
• Step 3 - Let members of your team, project sponsor and customers knows that you are seeking improvement opportunities (be humble), everyone will appreciate your attitude and openness to new learnings, this will reflect positively on the behavior of all of them and as a consequence feedback will be provided by them.
• Step 4 - Improvements - with the Commitment step assured , it's time for you to define exactly which areas you need to seek for improvements: soft skills, hard skills, people management, leadership skills, financials, etc. Understand deeply each one of those improvements in what they really means to you, document each one with goals to be achieved, deadlines and metrics in how to achieve those goals
• Step 5 - Learn from your mistakes - ask yourself what I have learned from my mistakes ? Everybody commit mistakes...

  Step 6 - Feedback - Have courage ! Ask for feedback to your team, your manager and your customers, do not wait for formal feedback process in your company (if any), the sooner the better, so you can act more quickly. Listen actively and carefully what they have to say, address the negatives issues and look further to improve the positive aspects

   

• Step 7 - Find a professional role model - The best way to be a better project manager is watching how the big project managers work, observe their skills and knowledge they have, try to find them at meetings, conferences and events where they will be speakers.Read what they publish and write down the points that impressed you. A very productive way is to seek a mentor (will work faster).
• Step 8 - Education - Since you are elaborating a plan to fill the gaps seek for companies that are enable you to close these needs thru continued education.  Do not expect to be unemployed to study, remember you are a project manager and provisioning should be part of your income (salary) in a ledger account (savings) where after a certain period of time you can use these savings to invest in you. 

Now that your plan is ready, remember to run it to perfection! 

Nelson Rosamilha, PMP, Prince2 Practitioner
[email protected]
www.rosamilha.com