Project management is a solo journey; you plan, execute, and monitor it according to the plan, a mixture of art and science. Despite your best efforts, sometimes things can go catastrophically wrong.
One of the most common pitfalls in project management is communication breakdowns. Misunderstandings, unclear requirements, and poor communication can lead to confusion and delays. Things definitely to avoid while managing a project
1) If you don’t get it, don’t run it
The team that brought it up to you, the team themselves, do not get it; find the source of information/problem. It is also always like a treasure hunt.
2) Not knowing whom to connect
Everybody’s responsibility is no one’s responsibility. I’d like to point out that reaching out to a team member who may or may not be the right team member is okay, but writing back as Dear Team until it is meant for information is a disaster.
Also, the team member you wrongly tagged will say, someone else is the right person, or I am not the right person. Either revert is a good answer for you and a reference for the future.
3) Too many meetings, too few notes
Oh, I will remember everything, and just like you move to another meeting, whoof, with magic, everything is gone.
In the subsequent follow-up meeting the next week, half of the points still need to be included, you recollect, but nothing progressed because nobody did it, nobody followed up, and nobody remembered, and things hardly moved; not a good idea for any project.
4) Oh, you can reach me via call, WhatsApp, teams, Google Meet, LinkedIn, or text (NO!!!, please mail me, and I will get back to you). Until it is business critical, try to use email as far as possible, meetings to understand or refer to point number 1, finding the source. As a project manager, you will have back-to-back people reaching out. If you open multiple channels, you have to maintain numerous responses for various channels. (Many to Many Problem surely you want to avoid)
5) Assumption: always trust but do not assume. It is okay to ask questions if it is not in black and white; trust me, it is not there. Remember, people will have different perspectives, and neither may be wrong, or both may be wrong. As a project manager, you are expected to take the right direction/tough decisions, which happens when all the moving parts are right before you.
Happy Projecting
Stay tuned for the series of starting Disasters that could avoided only if….
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Photo by Eden Constantino on Unsplash
