63 Things it Means to Be a Project Manager
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the other day, my wife got me
1001 things it means to be a dad
and while flipping through the pages, i thought don't we have so many things common between parenting and project management? both the roles have changed drastically in the last few decades. no longer does the disciplinarian / command and control approach work, the divide between "management" and "labor" has everything but disappeared, and so on. the result was a lighthearted but realistic take on what does it mean to be a project manager? enjoy
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being a project manager means being a braveheart in front of the team, but starting the day with a small private prayer.
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being a project manager means having a self-belief that can survive against all odds, but still having everyday blues.
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being a project manager means fiercely protecting your team in front of the customer and the management, but getting back and having the tough talk with the team right after that.
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being a project manager means knowing that it is not a wise thing to adopt every new methodology unless it is at least five years old, whatever the team members have to say about it.
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being a project manager means realizing that anything of lasting value was not built in a day. rome, for example. and then rushing the team into delivering as per the deadline.
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being a project manager means telling yourself aal izz well seven times a day, everyday, even on weekends.
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being a project manager means saying everyone is equal, but still finding out-of-turn opportunities for underlings in the team.
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being a project manager means telling your team not to believe in miracles, and then looking for a silver bullet.
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being a project manager means beginning to appreciate other thankless jobs.
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being a project manager means still maintaining a cheer while knowing that the last two resignations in the team will definitely kill the project.
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being a project manager means sometimes taking a sunday off.
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being a project manager means making someone's day even when you feel like committing suicide.
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being a project manager means having a personal copy of "the mythical man-month" and reading it at least once every year.
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being a project manager means tolerating team members dozing off in their cubicles or in the middle of a meeting.
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being a project manager means realizing that you are only as good as your last project.
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being a project manager means losing the popularity contest among team members. almost always!
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being a project manager means success is the multiplication of several factors, and when any one of them becomes zero, the result is a failure.
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being a project manager means working with supersized egos.
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being a project manager means knowing the meaning of 'tough love'.
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being a project manager means maintaining two different dates one for customer and one for the team, but never admitting it.
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being a project manager means not falling for the 'it will be ready over the weekend' trick, but still cheering up the guys for their enthusiasm and support!
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being a project manager means keeping the team first, customer second and the company third, but always telling the team that customer comes first.
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being a project manager means having more confidence in the team then they have in themselves.
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being a project manager means showing up first in the team meetings and waiting patiently for team's "prima donnas" to show up late (or simply not show up at all!).
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being a project manager means knowing that there is no such thing as bad times, but then wondering when will good times return for you?
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being a project manager means building a culture that welcomes all forms of diversity without any conditions or prejudice.
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being a project manager means knowing that every promise made to the team and the customer must be kept, but promises made to family need not be!
- being a project manager means playing different strokes for different folks.
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being a project manager means sometimes acknowledging in front of the team that there are things beyond your control.
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being a project manager means knowing that meritocracy might not always win, but merit must always be promoted.
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being a project manager means knowing what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger.
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being a project manager means knowing that if team members don't oppose you, something is wrong.
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being a project manager means knowing what goes around, comes around.
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being a project manager means sometimes ordering pizzas when the team is working late.
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being a project manager means being a human being first and foremost.
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being a project manager means knowing that all mails sent on saturday 2:00am are not always about working hard.
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being a project manager means learning new things all the time. for example, learning new technical things from new college grads.
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being a project manager means holding the proverbial mirror to the team, and telling them that you (and not them) alone are responsible for the mess.
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being a project manager means having rock solid ethics.
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being a project manager means not falling in love with the project plan.
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being a project manager means knowing that bricks must be used to create bridges and not walls.
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being a project manager means knowing when to sit down with the guys, and when to let go.
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being a project manager means telling war stories to the troops, hoping against hope that will inspire them.
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being a project manager means getting your own coffee just like everyone else in the team.
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being a project manager means joining the guys at the water-cooler when in good times, and avoiding the water-cooler when in bad times so they can gripe and bitch against the management together.
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being a project manager means agreeing with team members that frameworks like pmbok are useless, but then going back and referring to it once again
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being a project manager means dressing up in santa claus suit at least once in your career.
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being a project manager means never ever speaking ill of your manager in front of your team.
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being a project manager means not feeling "threatened" letting team members sit at the head of the table.
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being a project manager means cheering up the rookie on the team for a screw-up when you really want to strangle him for that costly and dumb mistake!
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being a project manager means playing the good cop for the team.
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being a project manager means knowing that success is useless it is only the failure that teaches something worthwhile.
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being a project manager means protecting the team, but not overprotecting them.
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being a project manager means at times, slowing down is the fastest way to results.
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being a project manager means emphasizing the value of relationship to team while dealing with a separation at home.
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being a project manager means mentally visualizing an overloaded plate while signing up for additional work beyond what the team can sign-up for.
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being a project manager means posting dilbert comic strip on the project wall to show what a fun guy you are, but in reality, hoping that no one else posts comics nastier than that.
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being a project manager means knowing it's just a project after all, but then going out and giving all you got!
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being a project manager means dying a slow death in a fast lane.
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being a project manager means neither having the cake nor eating it too!
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being a project manager means you have that something special that everyone aspires for but no one really wants.
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being a project manager means having an unflinching faith in life after death
, especially the kind of death that comes typically at the end of every project.
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being a project manager means finally realizing after twenty years of school of hard knocks that the real outcome of a project is not about delivering against the set goals, but rather building a great project manager!
what is your take on what does it mean being a project manager? do you equate that with the captain of the sinking ship who must also go down with the ship, or do you see it as a job as noble as mother teresa? do you feel a project manager must be solely held accountable and hounded for every single project failure, and when it comes to celebrating the project success, underplay his/her contributions lest it upsets the team and other stakeholders? do you feel being a project manager is really more about unsung heroism than a rockstar performance? do you think today's project manager is about being more of a chaperone or a tour guide? i think there is so much to being a project manager we have probably never done enough justice to that. feel free to share your own unique perspective of things it means to be a project manager.
Published at DZone with permission of Tathagat Varma, DZone MVB. See the original article here.
Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.
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