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Last month, I looked at 3 areas where project managers can mentor and support their team members: risk management, task management, and managing multiple projects. Today I’m looking at 3 more areas where I know people struggle – and where project managers are uniquely placed to be able to help them do a better job.
1. Managing scope
Project scope changes regularly – we all know that having a change management process in place is good project management practice. But dealing with constant changes is hard work for the team, even if the right process is followed.
Address this by:
- Make sure they know what the process is and that changes are likely to happen.
- Build resilience. For example, talk together about what the impact of changes is going to be before you get a change.
- Be clear on what is a change and what is a normal evolution. For example, some small document or schedule changes don’t need to go through change control if they don’t have any real impact. Just do them.
- Keep boundaries: Don’t say yes to everything, and be prepared to push back on change requests if necessary.
2. Scheduling
Project scheduling is more than simply putting tasks in a list. It’s about managing dependencies and the resources to do the work. It’s understanding how to crash the schedule when you need to save some time and what risks that presents to your projects.
As a project manager, you’ve got a great set of skills to help others on the team understand how to schedule their own work. If they aren’t confident at scheduling you can coach them through it.
Address this by:
Help them use the right tools. You can’t build out a schedule in Excel, not a proper one. Get them access to the right software and show them how to use it.
Understand the flow of the project and what has to happen in what order. Help them understand the dependencies and the different ways tasks link to each other.
Make sure estimates are accurate so they are scheduling with data that’s actually going to stand up.
3. Budget planning
In my experience, project managers tend to worry about handling the financial aspects of projects, and that isn’t necessary. If you manage your household budget, the principles are pretty similar! It has also been my experience that we are expected to pick it up as we go. I don’t think I’ve ever had any specific, company-relevant training on how to work with Finance and do project budgeting.
However, junior colleagues or those who haven’t had to manage big numbers before might need a confidence boost and some support with this skill. Especially if they are in the same situation of never having been shown how to do this before.
Address this by:
- Helping them understand the workings of Finance. Get to grips with what the budget process is so you can share the information.
- Understand the calendar for Finance, for example, when year end falls and when quarterly forecasting happens. Then they can provide the right information at the right time.
- Get them set up with the right templates and support. Link them up with colleagues in Finance who can advise.
There are lots of ways we can help colleagues and mentor them; these are just 3 areas that I find come up time and time again. What about you? What do you get asked about the most? Let me know in the comments!
Posted on: July 05, 2022 08:00 AM |
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