3 Stereotypes of Project Managers
From the Voices on Project Management Blog
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Date
by Christian Bisson, PMP
The project manager role is often underestimated or inaccurately interpreted. Because organizations can have different definitions of what project management means, there is sometimes a lack of clarity around the role, especially for non-project management professionals. In this type of environment, people fall back on basic stereotypes.
If you find yourself typecast in one of these roles, take heart. You are not alone.
1. The Note Taker
One of the most stereotypical expectations of project managers is that they’ll be the meeting note taker. I’ve experienced this time and time again. During a large client presentation, for example, one of my colleagues was asked if he would be taking notes. He replied, “Well, I have a project manager for that.”
Yes, project managers take notes. But they shouldn’t be the only ones doing so. Meeting attendees tend to focus on the notes that directly impact their work. A designer, for example, will focus on conceptual and visual comments, while a developer will focus on features and functionalities.
Furthermore, if the project manager is leading the meeting it will break the meeting flow if he or she is also responsible for note taking.
2. The Meeting Organizer
Project managers will often be expected to set up meetings—and to a certain extent, that makes sense. For large meetings, such as internal presentations or milestone check ins, it makes sense to have the project manager take care of the planning. It allows him or her to rally everyone and set expectations for the meeting so the team can come in prepared.
But there is a line.
Teams shouldn’t expect project managers to organize meetings when they just need to gather for a brainstorm or a quick chat. Sadly, it happens. For example, I was once asked by a colleague from another office to book a meeting so that he could talk to another colleague that was sitting just 10 feet (3 meters) from him.
Project managers should encourage teams to be responsible for setting up those smaller meetings or one-on-ones themselves.
3. The Accountant
There is a misconception that the project manager is the only team member who should care about budgets, or worse, the only one that should be responsible for a budget’s health. This mindset is tough to change because it’s true that a project manager’s role, amongst other things, is to manage the budget.
However, the project manager cannot take everyone’s actions on his or her shoulders — and it wouldn’t be fair to expect that. If a feature was estimated at 50 hours and the team took 100 hours, it takes collaboration to fix the negative impact to the budget or schedule. The team must warn the project manager, everyone must discuss solutions, and then the project manager should take the appropriate next steps with stakeholders, etc. Obviously, this should be done as proactively as possible, not after the fact.
To think that no one should care about the budget, and only project managers should fetch this information and “figure it out” on their own is absurd. Yet, it’s a common expectation.
Have you found yourself in any of these scenarios? What other project manager stereotypes have you faced? How do you deal with these misconceptions?
Posted
by
Christian Bisson
on: December 06, 2016 08:11 PM |
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Comments (26)
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Depending on your personality, delegating these tasks to other team members may be taboo. My PMO actually has a RACI that, if used efficiently, works to the PMs advantage. Such tasks like note-taking, facilitating meetings, budgeting EVERYTHING can actually be some other person's role.
Thanks for your comment Dawn,
is the RACI something everyone is aware of and refer to? Sometimes (unfortunately), they tend to be viewed by only a few if asked, but most don't quite give it attention, otherwise it is indeed a good tool to show a PM's role assuming obviously that the RACI doesn't fall into the same stereotypes.
Cheers.
Mark Geres
Director| PM by Design Canada, Inc.
Cantley, Quebec, Canada
Noteworthy
So you're a project manager eh? What exactly is your function around here? What do you do? | Mark E. Geres | LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/so-youre-project-manager-eh-what-exactly-your-function-mark-e-geres
Ezara Penning
Systems Administrator I| Lincoln Land Community College
Springfield, Il, United States
An interesting article! The role of project manager is often a mystery to people.
Luis Branco
CEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, Ldª
Carcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Dear Christian
Interesting is your perspective on the topic: "3 Stereotypes of Project Managers"
Thanks for sharing
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