Best PM Lesson Learned/Bit of Wisdom

hi Johathan and welcome to the team,

I'd say there are lots of best practices and lessons that we get learn along the way; and also lots of quotes of wisdom that help as well. Let me highlight some that I think have been very useful to me:

* Build an environment of trust, not only with your team, but also with your stakeholders. And this implies many things:

- for your team, they shouldn't feel afraid of highlighting issues, concerns or risks that they foresee. It's much better to know when you are about to hit a wall, than hit it with your eyes closed. On team meetings I always asks them: is there anything you feel we are missing or doing wrong? do you foresee any risk on this? should we be concerned about anything?
if it is not possible for them to meet a dead line, let them tell you and explain, and then see all of you together what can be done. If there is a mistake (from anyone, you included), acknowledge it, don't focus on culprits, learn from it, and try NOT to make the same error again, as i say to my teams / students, let's make sure all our mistakes are original, never a repeated one! :)

- recognize good work when done, take care of your team.

- don't be afraid of raising risks or flags, and make sure your team is aligned too. The same that applies to you and your team, applies to the business and stakeholders. Personally, when raising a risk I also try to share a mitigation or contingency plan as well, so that they are aware "we anticipate that this may happen" and "we are doing this to try to avoid it" or "we'll do that in case it happens". Personally I feel more comfortable with that approach that keeping risks in mistery (no to "scare people" and them give them a nice shockdown with the issue).

- relatd to the previous one, don't be afraid with highlighting an issue when it has happened. I try to also present the solution or paths we are analysing to fix it as well, when presenting the issue (at least, that way you are conveying the message "this happened, but we are already working to have it fixed and we are taking this steps") so that diminishes "nervousy" regarding the situation. Obviously, you'll have to keep in mind what is the best way to convey the situation to each stakeholder (shall I call this person on the phone, speak to him/her beforehand, shall i call out for a meeting with all and announce there, send a mail, etc). In this kind of situations is particularly where your stakeholder analysis pays off.

On quotes, I really like this one from Walt Disney: "“Of all the things I’ve done, the most vital is coordinating the talents of those who work for us and pointing them towards a certain goal.” 

I know this was a long response. Hope it helps and that you enjoy your career on Project Management.

Regards,
Griselda

Jonathan, Welcome and Congratulations.

Transparency. Don't hide things. Be up front, honest, there to help shepherd the team and stakeholders through the process.

One thing? This might not be the most important thing to know, but it's easy to forget so worth listing here:

Don't wait until the end of the project to hold lessons learned. Get feedback at the end of each phase and apply relevant lessons learned to the next phase.