Posted by
timothy
on from the don't-be-a-jerk dept.
TrippTDF writes "I just took a new job at a small software company as an assistant project manager. While I have a little management experience, none of it is related to software. What advice can you guys give me on not becoming a PHB? What are qualities that you wish your manager(s) had?"
Make a real effort to understand the projects you manage. Nothing is more frustrating than telling your manager what the project does, how it works, and what your role is, every single week. Not knowing all the details about feature a and b is ok, but at least know about feature a and b.
Have as few meetings as possible. Managers seem to love meetings, underlings hate them. I do recommend one-on-one meetings with all your direct reports, but don't make them weekly. That's just overkill. Once a month, or twice a month at the most.
Don't ask your employees what they need for a project and then veto it down. It will just kill morale. If you have a limited budget, tell the employees what the budget is and ask what they would like to use it for, they will have a better idea what things to pick. Also, don't ask your employees to spec out a system with features A, B, and C and after getting the recommendations, grill the employee why features A, B, and C are necissary. That's really blows:O
Re:Learn how to say "No"
by
caseydk
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
My boss is doing exactly this right now.
Last week, one of the VP's was chewing my ass because some code that was moved into production 3 hours after its creation wasn't 100% correct. I stuck up for myself and said, "this is the very first initial version, it's not going to be perfect".
After the VP left, my boss assured me that the VP "is on our side". Oh, and he called me to come into work although I had Strepp throat.
Project Managers, support your people. You don't have to risk your jobs, but try to keep reason in the decision making process.
Starting PM
by
astrojetsonjr
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Get Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules by Steve McConnell.
Read it cover to cover twice. (Most PM's will do step one but never read the book)
Find Top 10 Risk List in the Best Practices and do it.
Profit!
Start doing the other best practices in the book
More Profit!
The book is a great summary of information. Your primary job is a communications agent between everyone on the project, not as a coder, designer, etc.
While you may asked to plan, you'll need to get the estimates from people that have done this before. Use an estimation tool like SEAT to make estimates, not your gut feel.
A project tool like MS Project or LBM, etc. is really your friend. Learn it and use it. Next to e-mail and Powerpoint it is your most used tool.
Good luck!
You are both a leader and a salesman
by
gristlebud
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
As a Project Manager, you are responsible for interfacing between your clients and the team that reports to you. You are the face of the company. Dress nicer. Tighten up the e-mail etiquette. Use capital letters, punctuation, and spell check. Every time. Always assume that someone will forward your emails to your team, your client, and your boss.
You are the leader of your project. You need to set an example for the attitude and morale of the teams that report to you. Always show up on time, and leave late. Never, never bitch about the customers or senior management. Never appear frazzled or irritated, as that attitude invariable trickles down to your team.
You are responsible for everything that happens on the project. Not just the technical execution of the work, but also the accounting, invoicing, reporting, vendors, and subcontractors. Follow up on everything, because if it doesn't happen, it's always your fault.
Always take opportunities to sell yourself and your company. Take every opportunity to call, or preferably visit your clients. I'm serious about this. Find out what your marketing budget is, and spend every nickel on visiting your clients. Eventually, they'll give you more work just to get rid of you. When dealing with a client, always keep your game face on. Know that you represent the best damn (whatever) company out there, and don't be afraid to take risks. Ask your clients often for more work. This can be a little uncomfortable, but rest assured that your competition is chasing the same work you are.
Expect excellence from your teams. If you don't know enough about the subjects to judge whether the people are producing what they should be, find a trusted advisor who does know, and get their opinion. After clearing it with senior management, quietly solicit some bids from other companies (even overseas companies) on a task-by-task basis to make sure that you are getting the most out of your teams. However, don't be an ogre. Find out the difference between regular, everyday complaining that technical people do all the time and the honest-to-gosh complaining that signals something's really wrong.
Limit senior management involvement. Always ask for help when you need it, but always propose a solution or a set of alternatives. You should try and schedule project reviews monthly or quarterly between senior management, QA, yourself and the task leads to make sure the project is on schedule and meeting performance objectives. Don't cc: half the damn company on every e-mail, and never when you chew someone's butt.
Try and grow scope whenever possible. This ties into face time with the customer, but also knowing what other services your company can provide, and also knowing the specific scope of your project, so that you know when the client requests are going out of bounds. When you do win more work, make sure everyone knows it. This will be one of the things that your boss will be evaluating your performance on.
Clients will always try and get more than what they are paying for, but limit the amount of freebies you give them, and ham it up a little when you give them one. ("You know, I could get fired for this, but since you're one of my best customers, I can make this happen.") Also, don't ever be afraid follow up on an invoice that is getting late. This might be a little embarrassing to the client, so this is probably best done over an e-mail.
As much as possible, define what your requirements are to the teams that report to you. Not just "I need XYZ done," but "I need XYZ done by 21 December. You have 64 hours to do it in, and use charge code ABC123.QQ." If the teams have problems delivering, find out whether it's a problem with your schedule, the team's resources, or if you have unreasonable production estimates.
Celebrate your teams' performance. Even if you're managing the project from hell, find something they're doing right, and send out a quick e-mail to your boss an
-- OK...
I can do this. I am, after all,
a superhero!
Slashdot Mirror
Make a real effort to understand the projects you manage. Nothing is more frustrating than telling your manager what the project does, how it works, and what your role is, every single week. Not knowing all the details about feature a and b is ok, but at least know about feature a and b.
:O
Have as few meetings as possible. Managers seem to love meetings, underlings hate them. I do recommend one-on-one meetings with all your direct reports, but don't make them weekly. That's just overkill. Once a month, or twice a month at the most.
Don't ask your employees what they need for a project and then veto it down. It will just kill morale. If you have a limited budget, tell the employees what the budget is and ask what they would like to use it for, they will have a better idea what things to pick. Also, don't ask your employees to spec out a system with features A, B, and C and after getting the recommendations, grill the employee why features A, B, and C are necissary. That's really blows
My boss is doing exactly this right now.
Last week, one of the VP's was chewing my ass because some code that was moved into production 3 hours after its creation wasn't 100% correct. I stuck up for myself and said, "this is the very first initial version, it's not going to be perfect".
After the VP left, my boss assured me that the VP "is on our side". Oh, and he called me to come into work although I had Strepp throat.
Project Managers, support your people. You don't have to risk your jobs, but try to keep reason in the decision making process.
The book is a great summary of information. Your primary job is a communications agent between everyone on the project, not as a coder, designer, etc.
While you may asked to plan, you'll need to get the estimates from people that have done this before. Use an estimation tool like SEAT to make estimates, not your gut feel.
A project tool like MS Project or LBM, etc. is really your friend. Learn it and use it. Next to e-mail and Powerpoint it is your most used tool.
Good luck!
As a Project Manager, you are responsible for interfacing between your clients and the team that reports to you. You are the face of the company. Dress nicer. Tighten up the e-mail etiquette. Use capital letters, punctuation, and spell check. Every time. Always assume that someone will forward your emails to your team, your client, and your boss.
You are the leader of your project. You need to set an example for the attitude and morale of the teams that report to you. Always show up on time, and leave late. Never, never bitch about the customers or senior management. Never appear frazzled or irritated, as that attitude invariable trickles down to your team.
You are responsible for everything that happens on the project. Not just the technical execution of the work, but also the accounting, invoicing, reporting, vendors, and subcontractors. Follow up on everything, because if it doesn't happen, it's always your fault.
Always take opportunities to sell yourself and your company. Take every opportunity to call, or preferably visit your clients. I'm serious about this. Find out what your marketing budget is, and spend every nickel on visiting your clients. Eventually, they'll give you more work just to get rid of you. When dealing with a client, always keep your game face on. Know that you represent the best damn (whatever) company out there, and don't be afraid to take risks. Ask your clients often for more work. This can be a little uncomfortable, but rest assured that your competition is chasing the same work you are.
Expect excellence from your teams. If you don't know enough about the subjects to judge whether the people are producing what they should be, find a trusted advisor who does know, and get their opinion. After clearing it with senior management, quietly solicit some bids from other companies (even overseas companies) on a task-by-task basis to make sure that you are getting the most out of your teams. However, don't be an ogre. Find out the difference between regular, everyday complaining that technical people do all the time and the honest-to-gosh complaining that signals something's really wrong.
Limit senior management involvement. Always ask for help when you need it, but always propose a solution or a set of alternatives. You should try and schedule project reviews monthly or quarterly between senior management, QA, yourself and the task leads to make sure the project is on schedule and meeting performance objectives. Don't cc: half the damn company on every e-mail, and never when you chew someone's butt.
Try and grow scope whenever possible. This ties into face time with the customer, but also knowing what other services your company can provide, and also knowing the specific scope of your project, so that you know when the client requests are going out of bounds. When you do win more work, make sure everyone knows it. This will be one of the things that your boss will be evaluating your performance on.
Clients will always try and get more than what they are paying for, but limit the amount of freebies you give them, and ham it up a little when you give them one. ("You know, I could get fired for this, but since you're one of my best customers, I can make this happen.") Also, don't ever be afraid follow up on an invoice that is getting late. This might be a little embarrassing to the client, so this is probably best done over an e-mail.
As much as possible, define what your requirements are to the teams that report to you. Not just "I need XYZ done," but "I need XYZ done by 21 December. You have 64 hours to do it in, and use charge code ABC123.QQ." If the teams have problems delivering, find out whether it's a problem with your schedule, the team's resources, or if you have unreasonable production estimates.
Celebrate your teams' performance. Even if you're managing the project from hell, find something they're doing right, and send out a quick e-mail to your boss an
OK...
I can do this. I am, after all,
a superhero!