Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
Say you are starting to work with a new project team, in a new company or your existing company. What are the first things you'll do as the project manager to start off on the right foot? I advocate one to ones with all the people I don't know, but what does everyone else do?
That is an interesting topic. There are two scenarios that could apply - firstly where the project has not been started on yet - yes I would have 1:1s, have a formal meeting with the sponsor to work out the governance and establish the mandate. Then just follow on through the standard methodology... ! (presumably we all live in a perfect world)
There is also the situation where you are picking up a project that is already in progress to some degree:
- again the1:1 meetings & the sponsor meetings are key,
- also obtain & read the existing documents, especially the financials and the issue log, try to establish how up to date they are (if they exist...).
- Try to establish just which issue may have been big enough to result in your predecessor departing.
-Find out if the original user/business requirements are still valid.
-Draw up a list of the next key events.
-Review the risks & see if they are still valid.
-Get to know your project team & their strengths
Any more ideas anyone?
Saving Changes...
Huw EvansSenior Manager, Projects and Partnerships| Vicinity CentresMount Waverley, Vic, Australia
Agree with Tim, that it depends on where the project is at.
New project: Work on a project definition document with the Project Sponsor. This can then be used as a document to review with project team members in one-on-one meetings, or an initial project team meeting.
An existing project, there is probably already a project team meeting schedule organised. Meeting separately with the various groups interested in the project is then the best way to go. This might be one-on-one, if there is only one representative on the project team, or meetings of a small group.
Review all the documents around the project, and then write your own notes - putting things into your own words is the best way to ensure understanding. Same with notes from each meeting. Saving Changes...
Identify the key players in the team - understanding what is their job role and responsibilies, the rest is project process part of Project Initiation if the project is new - if not the PM should go through all the existing project documents and health check these with the team already in place, start with the Project Sponsor to ensure we are talking same language and ensure the business requirements have not changed - Saving Changes...
Getting to know the team members and stakeholders. Verifying their understanding of goal and their role. Saving Changes...
Selva Saravana PuvananthiranDelivery Lead Senior Manager| Accenture Solutions Private LimitedChennai, Tamil Nadu, India
I agree with all the points put forth by everyone. I see the following two points as key before leading any teams:
1. Understand why are you being hired to lead this project. (both from the senor mgmt perspective and team-perspective) The reasons could be that the previous PM did not perform up to the mark. Or that PM might have just quit for other reasons that the senior management was not aware of. Or the project is very complex or require some special skills that you possess.
2. In addition to you understanding the skills of the team members, you also need to ask the team members of their expectation from their PM ( now, it's you!!). There could be several reasons why they liked their previous PM or not liked. Knowing them would help set the correct expectations with your new team.
Combining these two items may help you come up with a proper leadership strategy, which I think is very key in addition to other items related to the project.
Hope this makes sense.
Magesh. Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
Thanks everyone for your responses - some useful stuff here. Saving Changes...
It's important to understand the output of why you are hired. EG. Hired to build a building, develop software etc. This will then be driven by the methodology you follow or are requested to follow. It should be easy enough to find out where the project is up to whether you're taking over or beginning fresh (subject of course to documentation / people not knowing or refusing to know where a possibly bad project is up to...).
When a team is allocated, it's important to identify what skills you have at your disposal and how they will be utilised in your project to achieve the outcome you've been hired to produce. From there you follow regular methodology and generate entheusiasm within the team to complete the remaining tasks for the project.
Don't forget, being friendly to your team and getting to know how to approach them (management styles) will always help kick off a good start for yourself and the project. Saving Changes...
Jeff ArmstrongAgile Programme & Portfolio Consultant| business-docs.co.ukLondon, United Kingdom
I agree with Bas - meet with team and stakeholders, and check the shared understanding of project goals.
Documentation etc is essential, but seeing what's in everyone's heads, and talking with them one-on-one is critical. Saving Changes...
Everyone here is bang on. I meet with each person individually and get to know them. I don't like to make any assumptions going in, and you can't possibly have a clear picture of the work to do until you've gotten everyone's input. Skipping steps is a sure way to miss something major that'll come back to bite you later.
Also, day one is a great time to start building those relationships! Saving Changes...
