Early in my career, I focused so hard on hitting deadlines that I forgot to keep stakeholders in the loop, and the project nearly derailed when they pushed back at the last minute. Now I over-communicate instead of over-deliver. What's one PM lesson you learned the hard way?
Ignore silent stakeholders at your own peril. It is easy to get caught up with the loud, high maintenance ones but sometimes those are not the biggest source of risk to your projects.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Syed, one lesson I learned is never to confuse silence with alignment.
A stakeholder who is not raising objections is not necessarily aligned. They may not yet understand the implications, may be operating with different assumptions, or may simply not have been engaged when their perspective or authority could still influence the project.
That is why I would distinguish effective communication from over-communication. More information does not necessarily create greater understanding. What matters is whether the right people receive the right information, assumptions and trade-offs become visible, and disagreements or decision needs surface while meaningful options still exist.
For me, the objective is not to prevent stakeholders from pushing back. Sometimes their challenge is exactly what the project needs. The objective is to make consequential disagreement visible early enough to learn from it before it becomes late resistance, rework or an irreversible commitment. Saving Changes...
Bob PatrinoConsultant/Project Leader| TamazariUnion, KY, United States
Making assumptions. Don't assume that resource commitments for one phase of a project will carry over to the next phase. Confirm resources for each phase. Saving Changes...
Program Manager| HARPER SRLSanto Domingo / Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic
One I learned is that silence doesn’t mean agreement. You can leave a meeting thinking everyone is aligned because nobody raised concerns, and find out later that people had very different expectations.
Now I confirm decisions, ownership, and expectations instead of assuming we all understood the same thing. Saving Changes...
Hi Syed, I have plenty of battle scars from lessons learned over the years—from my time with boots on the ground to playing the corporate game. However, there are three key lessons that have always stuck with me, and I try to share them with my project teams as much as possible:
1. Keep people updated on both the wins and the setbacks.
For you as the PM: It is never easy being the bearer of bad news, but that is what you signed up for. You might not be liked in that moment, but you will absolutely be respected afterward.
For your project team: It is much easier to bring an issue to light and address it while it is small, rather than hoping it resolves itself or trying to figure it out alone. I always ask my team to keep me informed. If a client calls to ask about an incident on-site, it is much better for me to say, "Yes, my engineer informed me, and we are already implementing a solution," rather than admitting I was unaware. Being out of the loop makes us look disconnected.
As a side note: Never escalate an issue and simply expect higher-ups to make a decision for you. Always bring a few potential solutions to the table for them to choose from. This leads directly to my second lesson.
2. Remember that you are not the subject matter expert on everything. A good manager doesn't need to be the foremost expert in every area; they just need to know where to find reliable information. Put your pride aside and ask subject matter experts for their input when you are looking for solutions. People enjoy sharing their expertise and feeling like a valued part of the project. Your job as the PM is to take those options and prioritize them based on the project's requirements.
3. We need to do a better job of selling our skills and our field. I often see people skip the "lessons learned" phase of a project, treating it as just the same old routine before moving on to the next assignment. In reality, this is the perfect opportunity for a PM to market themselves. We do so much behind-the-scenes work that stakeholders rarely see—they usually only see the final outcome. Use the lessons learned phase as a platform to advocate for yourself. Showcase how you improved the PM process, and highlight the tacit knowledge that was gained and needs to be transferred. Market yourself! Saving Changes...
One unwritten rule I learned the hard way is never assume that silence means agreement or commitment. Silence from the team may mean they are busy with other priorities, lack bandwidth, or need more time or changes to the deliverables. It is important to speak with them individually and as a team to understand their capacity and concerns.
Similarly, silence from stakeholders, management or leaders does not necessarily mean they have seen, understood or agreed with a status or decision. I have learned to explicitly follow up, ask for written input or confirm their position or opinion during a meeting. Clarity and explicit confirmation are much safer than assumptions. Clear and timely communication plays a key role in avoiding these assumptions. Saving Changes...
Communicating an update to stakeholders doesn’t mean they received or understood it, and a lack of emotional intelligence can negatively impact the project. Saving Changes...
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