What's the best way to manage a green PM when you report to them?

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David Cohen Business Systems Analyst| Between Employers Skokie, Il, United States

When reporting to a green PM, what is the best way to, as "they" say, manage upwards? What happens when I am told to do a task that make no sense and will take a lot of time and resources to complete and not provide a benefit commensurate with the effort.

Posted: Mar 20, 2017 10:42 AM

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Mudassar Khan Program (Project )Manager| Woodward Canada Inc Peterborough, ON, Canada

Mar 20, 2017 11:25 AM

Replying to Michael Ziyadeh

...

Also, can you suggest an alternate means of providing what the PM wants without the time and resources required for the initial request? What I have found is that by asking questions of the higher level manager, it helps him/her put the concern in perspective. Some examples of questions you can ask:
What is the benefit you are looking for?
How much time would you like me to devote to this task?
Can I recruit others to help me accomplish this task?
When do you anticipate this completed?

In my opinion the approach described by Michael Ziyadeh should be adopted as it may save resources (time and money )

Posted: Mar 22, 2017 8:02 AM

Karen Chovan CEO| Enviro Integration Strategies Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

It is unfortunate to hear a tone of disdain in working for a "green PM", and as a sustainability minded PM who has struggled with organizational change and introducing more sustainable designs, I have to agree with the comments that there are often justifications for scope that perhaps need more distinct communication. While I am of the opinion that all sustainable initiatives should have a return on investment, sometimes that is only visible from reviewing a life-cycle perspective (i.e. including the component's entire operation and decommissioning) - this is not always clear to others. AND sometimes, there are things that an organization has decided upon that doesn't have a great rate of return, but is chosen anyways.

I like Michael's and Sergio's approaches to asking questions and finding out more about the why...and if you have alternate suggestions, make them. There are often ways the same benefits that are being sought can be delivered in another way, and this is much less confrontational, much more collaborative. Sometimes through this line of questioning, it might surface if the efforts will really not deliver the results anticipated, or that the effort is not feasible.

Green or not, we should be able to understand how every bit of work we do should ultimately deliver on an objective - hopefully these are all well and justified things, but collaborating to get there is the best way to do so.

Posted: Mar 22, 2017 3:40 PM

Casey Condon Product Manager - Academy Cube| Americas' SAP Users' Group Chicago, Il, United States

Are they a member of PMI/PM.com? As an extremely green PM at the beginning stages of my career I am finding a lot of value from these resources. In addition to asking questions and making suggestions, as previous posters suggested, perhaps share webinars, white papers or discussions that have contributed to your success as a PM.

Additionally, if you are hesitant to give feedback it might help to ask for some. That might open up the conversation and make the PM more receptive when it's your turn to give feedback and suggestions. Ideally they would be receptive regardless and should be asking for feedback, but that's not always the case.

Posted: Mar 23, 2017 5:03 PM

Deepesh Rammoorthy ICT Project Manager ( PMP®AgilePM®Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®))| Australian Red Cross Blood Service Tarneit, Vic, Australia

A suggestion would be to put this all in a PowerPoint slide.... You are a business analyst.... There are a number of tools and techniques at your disposal. Try to explain the pros and cons of going with this decision, the time it will take you, the benefits expected or not expected and your understanding of how you doing this task is going to impact the other tasks that you are doing... Once anything affects scope, time, cost, quality, the project manager is sure to wake up to the reality.... Make sure you minute this meeting to present it to management in future if required

Posted: Mar 23, 2017 5:22 PM

Naomi Caietti Senior Project Manager | ePMO | Higher Education | Healthcare & IT| Linkedin.com/In/NaomiCaietti

David:
Many times you will report to a lead or manager that doesn't know the practice domain as well as you.
Lot of good discussion; I'll add my insights.

You have many options of which can either be career limiting or expanding so consider the following:

~Always consider their influence; many times going along with their direction and approach may be in your best interest.
~Build a good rapport with your manager and make recommendation regarding your approach to their assignment. You may provide insight they may have not considered and will be open to changing the approach and process.
~Going around your manager or "above the head" as many say may be career limiting. Are you in a position to know better at this point; if you are a squeaky wheel make sure you own your approach and position and be prepared to back it up.
~Pick your battles; it's good advice that I've used often. It's a different day and all is going well; is today your day to pick this battle so you can be right?
~Reflect on your role at this organization; you may want to look for other options available to you.
~Reverse mentoring can occur in many relationships; there is so much to learn from each other. Building relationships will be important through out your career.
~You can think about this is many different ways but your job is to make your boss look good; so do it.

Posted: Mar 23, 2017 7:57 PM

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What's the best way to manage a green PM when you report to them?

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