5 Ways to Add Value as a Project Manager
From the The Money Files Blog
by Elizabeth Harrin
A blog that looks at all aspects of project and program finances from budgets, estimating and accounting to getting a pay rise and managing contracts.
Written by Elizabeth Harrin from RebelsGuideToPM.com.
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You hear it all the time: “We want our project managers to add value.” “How are you adding value to the organisation?” “I want to spend more time on valued-added activities.”
But what does adding value actually mean?
I’m not a great fan of buzzwords that I can’t explain and turn into practical actions, so I’ve given this topic quite a lot of thought over the years. Here are 5 things I think you can do to add value (in a meaningful way) as a project manager.
1. Team building
Projects are done by people. People make up teams. Groups of people don’t have the same impact as a well-functioning team. Therefore, spending time on team building is worthwhile and will create value for the organisation because you’ll be better at delivering whatever it is you are delivering.
Focus on creating a positive work environment. Think about what people need to get their tasks done. Look for roadblocks you can remove, processes you can streamline. Talk about the blockers and why they are a problem.
And get some fun in there too.
2. Tenacity
Being committed to the team and the job, and the project, is a sure way to add value because it increases the chance the project will actually get done. How many projects do you know of that started but didn’t have the momentum to get across the line? That’s what tenacity will help you avoid.
Assuming you are working on the right projects, the ability to follow through and get the work done is important for making sure your time pays off for the company.
3. Relationship-building
This is such a large topic, which includes resolving conflict, smoothing over awkwardness, being diplomatic while speaking truth to power, respectful challenge and knowing who to connect and when. There’s a whole bunch of soft skills (or power skills, as it is trendy to call them now) that fall into this bucket.
They are important because this is what helps you get work done even when the environment is tricky. The more you listen, the more you understand and the easier it is to get your projects done. You’ll understand more of the business context that lets you make the right decisions that – you guessed it – lead to delivering a higher-value result.
4. Control the process
Governance might not seem like a particularly value-added thing to do, but when you understand and use the processes of project management, you can structure, standardise, save time, automate, compare and improve so much more easily.
If you have a standard approach, however informal, everyone knows what to do and what to expect and that takes some of the uncertainty out of what is normally a pretty uncertain time for people – projects deliver change and that comes with an overhead of having to live with not knowing exactly what the future will look like. That can be an added source of anxiety and stress for the team and wider stakeholder community.
5. Change management
Projects start to feel out of control when change is not managed appropriately, and that’s when stakeholders start to get nervous. You can help your projects be more successful and ‘land’ better with the receiving organisation, if you manage change properly.
That goes for both the process-led effort of receiving and handling change requests as part of your project management work, and also integrating what you are delivering into the business in a way that makes it possible for the benefits to be received as soon as possible, with the least disruption. Benefits = value.
How do you interpret ‘adding value’ as a project manager? I think it could go much further than what I’ve written here. I’m sure there are many other ways of looking at our role and how we can serve our stakeholder communities in the most value-adding way. Let me know by leaving a comment below!
Posted on: March 22, 2022 04:00 AM |
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Comments (9)
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Good insight for adding value as Project Manager
Stephen Robin
Project Analyst Trainee| Ministry of Works and Transport
Arima, Ari, Trinidad and Tobago
Very valid points especially when it comes to relationship building.
Paul Rivet
Manager of Fleet National Programs| Canada Post Corporation
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
This is also a great "elevator pitch" for those point-blank questions we get sometimes out of nowhere.
Justin Fu
Senior Systems Engineer| Parsons
Bristow, Va, United States
zhenhao Hong
Guangxi Hualan Engineering Management Co., Ltd
Nanning, Guangxi, China, Mainland
Deal: people, people and events, which is both the core.
Warren Simon
Program Manager| DoD
Baltimore, Md, United States
This is fantastic!! So fundamentally common sense (sensical?) that many of us don't bother to think these very simple concepts through, let alone implement them. Great read!!
Thanks, everyone, for your comments. @Paul, what a great idea about the elevator pitch, I hadn't thought of it like that but I absolutely agree!
Jo Ann Noel
Project Manager| Ministry of Planning
El Dorado, Trinidad and Tobago
Great article. Thanks for sharing.
JUAN SALAZAR
Director of PM/PMO| CONSTRUCTORA NACIONAL S.A. PROYECTO ZONA INDUSTRIAL TAMBILLO
Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador
La cinco cosas que se enumera en este articulo se puede resumir ahora en la actualidad los Gerentes de Proyectos , son Gerentes de Servicios, no son Gerentes como antes solo dar directrices y ver resultados , hoy por hoy generan resutados con sus equipos y son parte de los resultados, con capacitación y ejecución de ser necesario.
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