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Advice needed: Time estimation, workload and teams

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Ulrikke Johannessen Senior Project Manager| Foxway Group Sweden
Good morning! I'm working as a Project Manager for an online firm, and I'm currently running a program and one (soon two) other big projects.

Situation 1. Workload:
- Am I taking on to much?
I'm the only PM in the company, and ever since I found PMI I've been obsessed with the way projects works. That said, running a program and one project has been working fine so far, but adding a third is a little scary. I'm now questioning if I'm doing the right thing. I know what needs to be done in this new project as its the next step of one of my previous ones.

Situation 2. Time estimation
-Am I asking too much?
As in all companies, mine wants to get stuff done as soon as possible. All my projects need help from our two development teams, so dividing my resources and getting a clear time estimation from each team is hard. Any good advice on approach?

Situation 3. Teams
- How do I keep my divided resources from losing focus?
Since my teams often have team members from another project, how do I keep them sane throughout the process?
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Ulrikke Johannessen Senior Project Manager| Foxway Group Sweden
Jun 01, 2020 2:46 PM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
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Hi Ulrikke,

I echo what Sergio is saying. In my own words:
1. Basically it is that you only can change your own perspectives and behaviors, others will react to these.
2. Do not bother about the future, nobody can foresee it, but be clear about your priorities in tackling the uncertainties. Decide deliberately what not to do.
3. Make it safe for your people before you delegate

I personally tried to make myself dispensable, let others do the heavy lifting, empowering them and also caring for them. In the end leading means not to do everything yourself, but to build your people. For example, can you stick with running just the program and assigning project managers to the 2 projects?
Good morning Thomas! Thank you for taking the time to respond to me, and I'm sorry it took me this long to get back to you all. I really appreciate your advice and I'm glad to see that my thoughts and actions are aligned with everyone else :)
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Sajeev Kumar Menon Singapore, Singapore
Hi Ulrikke,
A Project manager has to juggle many projects as long as he/she is able to manage them effectively. So you have to sit down and chart out the time based on WBS structure. You can also involve the team in estimation. The team is very important to the achievement of your goal so giving them clarity of purpose, focus and motivation is key
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Sergio Luis Conte Helping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based Organizations Buenos Aires, Argentina
Jun 15, 2020 2:45 AM
Replying to Ulrikke Johannessen
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Good morning Sergio! Thank you for your time and advice :) I'm sorry it took me so long to respond. I read about the Cone of Uncertainty, and it made me smile. Sometimes I need to be reminded about how uncertain everything is in the beginning and that it's OK! Since I wrote this post, I've realized that you are absolutely right about everything :D
No problem. Just to add something, the Cone of Uncertainty was (and still it is) my lifejacket. The point is you have to do your work to sustain it in front of people you are publishing the estimations because it usually show what that people do not want to see and hear.
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Dianna Belluscio Greater Ny Area, Nj, United States
Ulrikke- I can relate to your concerns about taking on too much. It's always overwhelming when you start a new project. The culture plays a crucial role in how projects get done.

As for team work estimates, it's good to have an idea of the tasks/work to be performed. As mentioned the WBS is critical- and you can work with your team of developers to more clearly understand how to move the project forward. While defining the building blocks you can get some high-level time estimates from the developers for similar work they have done. All of these points are influenced by the complexity of the project and the other work the developers are responsible to deliver. In my experience project prioritization is a major factor in getting the work done in a certain time-frame. Also is the team responsible for production work, that will be a priority, are there planned vacations, etc. Good luck
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