Congratulations! You have a project team. Now what do you do?
As a Project Manager (PM), you are tasked with being the leader of the project.
Once you are assigned as the PM, you are now the mini-COO of that specific
project. All eyes, especially those of senior management, will be on you. So the first order of business once the
project and project team has been assigned, is to organize the team. Now in my
last blog post “How does a PM define Responsibilities” posted on March 23, 2014
(http://blog.bennythepm.com/2014/03/how-does-pm-define-responsibility.html)
I stated that the PM has to assign
responsibility and keep the team members focused on their specific
responsibilities. The PM must also organize the team and keep them organized so
that the project goals are attained. That is not as easy as it sounds for many
reasons. However, the goals of the project must be the goals of the project team
and it is up to the PM to make sure that the goals are being met.
Once the team is assigned, the PM begins the
organization
The first thing the PM must do is meet with the project sponsor to
ensure the project goals are understood. Then the PM schedules the first
project team meeting, and along with the project sponsor, the PM should begin
organizing the team and their respective tasks. For example, just because the
PM should be the “guardian” of the project repository, does not mean that the
PM is the only person who makes updates to that repository. Assigning
responsibility does not end with assigning tasks. Individuals should take turns
being the “scribe” and someone should be assigned the keeper of the repository,
with another team member as the close second (possibly the PM taking either
role).
As the PM bears the greatest responsibility for the delivery of the
project, the PM should also bear the greatest authority. That does not mean
autocratic authority, but it does mean that the final decision should be the PM's
and the project sponsor's.
Besides organizing the team, the PM should
organize the project
As I indicated above, the PM should begin by organizing the project
with the communication plan, the roles and responsibilities, and the status
meetings. The PM should schedule one-on-one meetings with the individual
project team members if necessary. The
PM should also schedule the delivery of the status report to the project
sponsor and management and be the representative to the change control board
(for any changes, if necessary). Now, the PM is not the sole voice of the
project, so the PM must be able to organize the necessary team members if they
are needed at the change control meetings, or if necessary, with management.
Probably the hardest organizing task for the PM will be keeping the project
sponsor up to date and informed of project issues. This task may be difficult
because of the project sponsor’s schedule, as the project sponsor may be a
senior manager and not have as much flexibility as the rest of the team.
It’s all about delivery
In the end, it is about delivery. Even if there are changes that go
before the change board, the PM must be able to deliver and defend any changes.
If the project team can deliver on the project, then the PM will be viewed as a
successful PM that can deliver projects. But don’t forget the value of the
project. In my blog http://blog.bennythepm.com/2012/09/the-value-of-delivered-project.html
I comment that the value must be communicated as soon as the project starts and
continuously until the project ends. The delivery of the project depends on the
strategic value of the project and the alignment of the project to the
organization's strategic goals.
Even when the project is delivered, the value must be communicated to
senior management and why the project was so very important to the organization
in the first place.
