Even if some workplaces do not have strict management rules, the work of a manager is to ensure that all the work processes are smooth without any additional setbacks.
How does one become an efficient manager? It’s simple, by following the tried and tested pathways of successful managers. There are plenty of things which are common to each successful manager.
One can say that these collective common things are like the benchmarks of ideal managerial psyche. To become a manager, one must think and act like one at all times. A professional will always try to follow the best written rules out there.
Although the methods and principles of project management are not universal everywhere, they are still common in certain ways.
There are several rules or psychologies of project managers which can be found in almost every organization. So no matter which area of work you have expertise in, learning the following rules will help you by a long shot.
12 RULES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
- Getting things done is more important that arguing
People often steer offshore and can blabber a lot about the philosophical nuances of a project. Such discussions take away a lot of precious time and aren’t healthy for any organization.
As a manager, it is your role to understand the demands of the work at hand. Understanding the objectives of the project will go a long way in determining the course of action.
In short, a project manager must be calm, practical, and determined.
- Keep control of things.
The most important job of a project manager is to keep things under control. Once things start going out of control, it becomes extremely difficult to take control of them again
Learning managing techniques and principles like PRINCE2 Training can help you become a better manager and handle things effectively.
- Take responsibility for the most difficult part.
Work distribution is one of the key roles of a project manager. Identifying key strengths of your team members and assigning work is no mean feat.
However, a project manager must always take charge of the most difficult part of a project.
- Creating a dynamic project definition.
Sprintzeal provides getting a clear idea of the objective and definition of the project is very much essential. It will lead to a smooth execution without any hurdles in between.
- You can’t afford to please every stakeholder.
Stakeholders can get very demanding during a project. You cannot blame them either because they’re investing time and money in this.
However, you need to remember that you cannot please every stakeholder. There can be conflicts of interests even among the stakeholders. You need to decide the interests of your organization
- Projects are a result of the people working in it.
Projects wouldn’t have been so difficult had there not been a diverse range of people associated with it. But, people are a part of every project. So, the work of a manager is to take everyone along and make sure that all of them are on the same page.
- Your Project’s success depends on its stakeholders.
Although you cannot please every stakeholder, you need to know that stakeholders will decide the fate of your project.
If you please the major portion of your stakeholders, you will be able to steer your project towards success.
- Whether you fail to plan or plan to fail, it’s the same.
Even though some plans end up becoming useless, you cannot deny that planning is crucial. If you fail to come up with a solid plan, you might as well plan to fail in your goals.
- Even a useless plan is better than no plans.
A dummy plan is far better than a non existent one. You need to show something in the form of a plan to make your colleagues and stakeholders believe in you.
The job of a project manager is to ensure the visualization, creation, and implementation of a project plan within the permissible limits.
- Milestones matter.
People get happy with appreciation. Incentivising is the best way to make people work harder. No matter how small the milestone is, make sure that you celebrate it.
- Changes are necessary and inevitable.
Fearing change is natural. However, projects are subject to frequent changes. The corporate sector shifts at the drop of a hat and changes will always be there. Your job as a manager is to tide through all the changes and keep your team afloat.
- Fix a crack before it breaks your project.
Procrastination is the greatest enemy of a project manager. You need to fix the issues as they arise. Pushing them for later will only make your situation worse in the long run.
You can become a project manager easily. But to become a good one takes time, effort, hard work, and skills. These 12 rules are the fundamental qualities of every project manager.Implementing them can change the way you manage your projects.