Tips for Project Management

Amy Ching, 31 October 2016

A month into my role and I have started a book relevant to the role and industry I am in. I have already learnt incredible tips from Scott Berkun who wrote “Making things happen: Mastering Project Management.” He has written from his programme management experience at Microsoft Corporation which is incredibly valuable for someone like me who is on my road to becoming a Project Manager.

I will share a few useful tips that I believe will benefit myself and those who are interested to head down the project management path.

• Learn from failures and mistakes
• Keep a simple view of your work
• Avoid putting your own interest ahead of the project
• Have the courage to take on challenges
• Focus on the more important and challenging things e.g. programming effort or schedule, rather than the less important things e.g. spreadsheets and reports

It is never easy to face and accept your own failures or mistakes, but it is very important to learn from past failures and mistakes during projects. Honest project reviews need to be a priority.

In my previous workplaces, I met people who made complicated plans or policies, perhaps to show off their intellect, but they confused people who worked alongside them. More often than not, the solution was always to make them more reader or user-friendly. So why not make things simple at the start?

Scott Berkun discussed about the satisfaction most project managers derive from their work. In order to be effective, they need to be willing to delegate important tasks and share rewards with the entire team. It is easy to be caught up in your own self achievements and forget to look at the big picture - and the health of the team when they find out that you are claiming all the credit. Hence, it is important to learn to avoid putting your own interest ahead of the project.

When challenges come, it is only natural to look for an easy way out. However, it is through the challenges that one emerges stronger and more courageous.

Lastly, I have not encountered this, but I reckon I might get carried away with spreadsheets and reports and forget about the more important things. This is a reminder and challenge for myself to prioritise what is important.

Project management requires years of failing and trying in order to be successful. The tips above are difficult to achieve as they challenge us to think from a different perspective and not follow the norm. Nonetheless, they are tips that would bring great benefits in the long run.