Avatars of successful Project Management Professional

Recently, I came across an article depicting six different types of thinkers that one should have in a team. The author has described the composition of a team which can lead to successful completion of assignment with high probability.

Pondering over the thought, I realized that these are essential imperatives that a project manager should have to execute projects successfully. I would call them as six avatars of project manager which he has to perform in each of his assignment as situation arises.

Avatar #1: The dreamer

The ability to imagine, to think or fancy is an important attribute of every leader. Availability of various tools to manage projects makes our jobs easy. However, only imaginative mind is able to get best out of it. It is essential not only for project planning but project execution also. On multiple occasions we end the day with a situation to manage and do not get any solution. Our subconscious self keeps churning this situation. Meditating over the situation without any disruptions helps to manage such complex situations.  

Avatar #2: The debater

A project manager doesn’t sit in a corner of the project office and manage the project. He needs to be on the battlefield. Planning, execution, and monitoring of project needs personal involvement. When would you call a plan as an optimal plan? We do meticulous planning for project execution. We drill down every project to task level, define dependencies on all types of resources and balance the resource load during planning. We keep on improvising it till we reach to best of the plans. During the entire exercise of planning, we work with certain assumptions and as a “debater”, we debate each assumption. We assess risks associated with the project and work towards risk mitigation plan. Each risk is challenged and multiple mitigation plans are discussed before a final decision is arrived.

In spite of meticulous planning and risk management activity, we default. We debate/discuss on how we can bring the project on track. Should we deploy more resources and incur extra cost? Or should we compromise on quality and jump few steps? And so on… Certainly, there would be multiple such occasions that we encounter on every project.

Avatar #3: The disruptor

Have you come across a project where everything is smooth? You might find that every resource is busy working at their own pace and priorities, and yet one of the triple constraint is fired. What would you do in such a situation? We come at loggerheads over issues related to sharing of resources, or in situations where the product specifications and technical capability do not complement each other. General tendency is to work around the technological constraints to meet product features expected. The disruptor in us helps here. Our ability to challenge status quo and work around helps us to move further.

Avatar #4: The driver

Project manager is not only responsible for the work he/she is supposed to do but also for work to be performed by team members. Have you not found yourself leading or navigating your team’s efforts towards end objective? Have you not micro managed some of the team members or crusading entire team occasionally?

Avatar #5: The detailer

A project manager gets involved in an engagement at an early stage of project life cycle. Such as when, the scope is being finalized, or project schedule is being prepared, or staffing plan is being prepared. In the narration of Debater (Avatar #2), I have mentioned A project manager doesn’t sit in a corner of project office and manage the project. However, when it comes to detailing a plan, updating stakeholders, we isolate ourselves and articulate the stature eloquently.

Plagiarizing the words from article, we dig into every facet of a project. We focus on practicalities and save everyone else from silly mistakes and fatal design flaws because we think through all the angles and implications. We identify what’s missing in even the best-laid plans, and can diagnose the precise point when something could break or be improved.

Avatar #6: The Doer

How can we forget the task master within us? From conceptualization to realization, we are involved in all activities of project. In all the Avatars mentioned above task management is involved. The tasks that needs to be done by others and by us.

Do you think we are all in agreement? The blog is not an apotheosis of project management professionals but an attempt to epitomize attributes of project managers. I welcome your comments

Works Cited

Anderson, Katya. “The 6 Types of Thinkers to Seek For Your Team.”  Web Source.   http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131020181102-6200057-6-types-of-thinkers-to-seek-for-your-team