Just Win, Baby

 

The best project managers are like the best coaches.

As a project manager, have you ever felt that you had to overcome a reputation that preceded you? Not your personal reputation, but rather the reputation—more like a stereotype—of that title of yours?

Clutching a schedule and budget, the “textbook” project manager is laser focused on the process, while other people are doing the “real” work. The project manager monitors and measures progress with cold precision at arm's length. Meanwhile, the team is making it all happen, and other folks oversee the strategic vision and the creative stuff.

But that rep is a bad rap. It's akin to saying coaches don't matter in team sports, or, worse, "get in the way.”

Yes, the players do the scoring, the front office makes the high-level moves. But someone needs to watch the game unfold, substituting at key moments, working with available resources, knowing each team member’s skills and weaknesses, adjusting to on-the-field developments — all with the common goal of helping the team win.

Now, it’s true that some project managers feed the perception that they're control freaks who hinder creativity and improvisation. Gripping the project plan like the Holy Grail, they react to the unexpected as if it were a sworn enemy instead of an opportunity to redefine the plan, adapt, and improve the outcome. They resist negative news instead of reshaping it.

But the best project managers shatter the stereotype. Documents and spreadsheets are part of the job, of course; but they succeed because they understand that projects are fundamentally uncertain, and the best way to manage them is to expect the unexpected and embrace it. These project managers look change straight in the eyes. After all, no project is worth doing without a potential benefit, and no benefit or reward comes without some risk.

Projects are many things. They involve many people with different talents. They require collaboration and problem-solving. They have budgets and deadlines. And they all do better with a leader — a “coach” — who can watch the clock, know the score and, most important, draw up a new play when circumstances require it.