I pride myself on doing what I say I am going to do. A big part of living up to that value is to be great at setting an ambitious vision for impact and then doing the day-to-day work to realize that vision. Below are practices I have seen the best project managers bring to their work on a consistent basis, 7 Practices of Great Project Managers.
Define success.
Before you start building out action items and timelines, clarify and communicate what you are trying to accomplish (and why it matters). True success with many projects often includes multiple parts (for example, an event might be successful because it achieves a certain number of attendees, has smooth logistics, and secures action commitments from a certain percentage of people). Success can often be defined quantitatively, but not always – work to establish a bar for expectations so that reasonable people would agree on whether or not the goal was met. Ask those who have done this type of project well in the past for their suggestions.
Clarify roles.
Who is the “quarterback” (owner) of the project? Who approves major decisions within the project? What role do others play, and at what times? How will you work together, and how often will be check-in on progress? Clarify these roles upfront – one framework I’ve found helpful is the MOCHA framework. For larger projects, it can be useful to define owners of different goals or areas of the project.
Get a written plan in place.
There are many great software tools for organizing a project, from very simple to incredibly complex. Find one that works for you. At a minimum, your project plan needs to include action items, who is responsible, and deadlines. It might also include a place to keep track of sets of project-related information (project-related meeting agendas, lists of content to be created, budgets, open questions that need discussion, etc.).
Be realistic about timing.
Once you’ve clarified the steps that need to happen, build them into a real calendar. Start with the end in mind and work backward from there, with your best understanding of how long various parts of the work will take. Watch out for things that could impact your timeline – a major event that will take your attention away, a key project stakeholder being on vacation, etc. Build-in time to get input on drafts and ideas along the way, keeping in mind that others are not likely to prioritize your project quite as much as you are given competing priorities on their own plates.
Keep stakeholders updated + appreciated.
Provide updates along the way to those that are involved or need to be kept updated. This might look like a weekly email or Slack update during the project, for example, with updates on what we accomplished last week, progress towards project goals, and what is coming up in the week ahead. This is especially important as things change – they always do – and you need to update your plan or approach and bring others along with you.
Appreciate those that are supporting the work – shout them out publicly, drop them a nice email, share with their manager how helpful they have been, get them a small token of your appreciation as the project wraps up. These efforts take minimal time and resources from you and go a long way in building strong working relationships which result in greater impact over time.
Consider templates.
Many projects happen over and over again (board meetings, staff off-sites, employee onboarding, digital product launches, etc.). In those cases, build a template project plan that you can then modify with specific dates and owners each time the project happens. As you learn best practices for that project over time, improve your template so that you are benefiting from your good ideas over and over again.
Debrief and Preserve.
At the beginning of the project, put a debrief conversation on the calendar for key stakeholders after you anticipate the project will finish, and then use that time together to identify what went well, what you want to do better next time, and any next steps in the immediate. Consider putting out a survey to a broader group of constituents (event attendees, staff members, contractors, etc.) to get their input to inform your debrief (and add the survey creation and send to your project plan!). Finally, capture the artifacts (documents, plans, pictures) from the project into a shared place where that institutional knowledge can be preserved.
