PMcrunch

As Project Managers, it is our charge to maintain high ethical standards. Strong ethical standards are a key ingredient of great leadership. The responsibility of ethics leads me to think about 2 immediate dilemmas or challenges:

Do we ask ourselves whether or not we are doing the right thing?
Do our team members and stakeholders ask themselves that same eithical question?
These 2 questions cover the basics of ethics, but there is a broader organization challenge we must consider to ensure these ethical questions are being handled.

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Many executives, project portfolio managers, and program managers make good choices about investing in new projects and ideas. Yet it’s also critical to set up a measurement, preferably from the start, for when to potentially stop investing resources in each project. This would be a sort of “stop standard” for any given project.

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Successful delegation requires granting both responsibility and authority. These two, combined properly, constitute “empowerment”. However, these two are often not properly executed by the project manager or program leader, and the blame is often placed on the delegate, not on the leader! We, as project and program leaders, need to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask if we are delegating properly.

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Professional Project Management is becoming more pervasive. Like “Electrification” occurred during the era of proliferation of electricity, “projectization” is occuring throughout the workforce and organizations. Most of the emphasis I have seen is on professional project management. However, most people will not be professional project managers, but rather will be team members, support personnel, subject matter experts, department managers, C-level executives, and the like. This post explores what is being said about this broader workforce in a projectized world.

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Time off is not just a luxury. It’s a responsibility of leadership for project managers and program managers. Especially in summer, where schedules tend to be a little lighter, it is easier to take some time off and connect with others who also are taking time off. Taking time off helps us personally, as well as our families and social relationships, but it is also a big gain for members of our project team, as everyone appreciates an organization that acknowledges and values time outside of work.

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The word ‘agile’ has become popular in software development and project management circles, as the agile method produces quality product speedily in a very flexible and organic way. Agility, however, describes much more than a method for software development and speaks right to the core of project team formation and development. The individuals, project team, and team building process itself all need to be agile in today’s demanding environment.

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Many project managers wonder if there is a better job for them out there. We are always trying to better ourselves and our situations, but never quite seem to get exactly where we want to be. Much is written about which industries are best, which skills transfer, the benefits of certification, and much more. I would argue that introspection, or a look on the inside, is at least as important as a look to the outside, as this is a personal decision driven more by personal factors than by external considerations.

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A CEO said, “I’d hate to lose you—you’re one of the few people around here who actually cares.” While highly dedicated people can be rare. Deliberate effort to find and retain such people is a worthwhile performance enhancement initiative. Here are 5 key ideas to implement to have more project team members who care!

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As Project Managers, our propensity to assess and manage risks needs to align with our understanding of the level of leadership required on the project. We need to understand clearly the range and depth of our responsibilities on the project in order to effectively manage risk. Otherwise, our risk management program may be over or under what is really required. Here’s my thinking on why.

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There are many great places for project managers to network, keep up with developments in the profession, tune in to new opportunities, and find opportunities for career growth. On a more immediate basis, networking today is also full of helpful opportunities to solve current problems with the assistance of colleagues in the profession. So, in this era of social networking, I thought I would put together a post of where some of the best project management networks can be found.

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