Recently, I’ve presented a few excerpts from Gary Heerkens’ brief case book entitled “Project Management.” The book contains some very interesting concepts and the excerpt presented in this article is no exception. This section of the book discusses the “unofficial” duties of a project manager. Mr. Heergens defines these as babysitter, salesperson, teacher, and friend. Please read on and I’ll discuss further following the excerpt.
The Project Manager’s “Unofficial” Job Duties
Functional competencies (previously discussed in the book, not included in this article) represent official duties of the typical project manager. In fact, if your organization has developed a job description for project managers, it probably includes many of these functional competencies. What you won’t find in job descriptions are the unofficial duties that project managers perform in the course of carrying out their mission. Let’s examine some of the key ones (somewhat tongue in cheek).
Babysitter—This refers to the apparent need to provide close guidance or detailed instructions to certain individuals. This situation results from any number of root causes. The target may be under qualified, lack confidence, or simply crave attention.
Salesperson—There will be times when you’ll have to rely heavily on your ability to influence others to sell an idea, sell yourself, or perhaps sell the virtues of project management. Most of your selling situations will be helpful and have positive outcomes. However, if you find yourself spending too much time selling project management, that may signal deeper underlying problems, such as issues of trust or confidence. If most of the selling you do is to your management, you’re in trouble. This is a signal that your life as a project manager may be exceptionally challenging.
Teacher—This is an example of an unofficial role that actually yields positive results. In fact, superior project managers will be able to educate and develop those they work with as they manage the project. Acquire this skill or reputation and you’ll be in very good shape.
Friend—Maintaining friendships and professional relationships with the same people is difficult. However, if you can do it, you’ll benefit greatly. An open, informal, and comfortable communication linkage is much more likely to keep you supplied with more of the information you need than formal, rigorous, and stiff team meetings. Finally, avoid the trap of believing that because you’ve been put “in charge” of a project you’ve risen above your peers and friendships no longer matter. Big mistake!
Conclusion
I agree with Mr. Heergens' “unofficial” tasks and could probably add a few myself, but rather I would like to discuss the four he identifies in this section.
Babysitter – As a project manager, you’re responsible for the overall project and its ultimate success, though much of the factors that go into its success or failure are somewhat beyond your control. Babysitting the project staff is hopefully something you won’t have to do too much of. Ideally, you’ll have an experienced and skilled staff. If you have project team members that require too much babysitting and are not productive members of the team – or are displaying rogue behavior and not staying on task – then it is time to bring it to their immediate manager’s attention and either get the behavior rectified or have them replaced on your team.
Salesperson – I agree with this one. The project manager continually must sell. They have to sell themselves and their ‘billable’ status to their customers on some projects. They have to sell change order situations to their customers. They have to sell the criticality of their projects to internal management in order to gain the experienced resources they need for important tasks on their projects.
Teacher – This can go two ways. In the teacher role, the PM is often mentoring a less experienced project manager or one who is new to the organization and, therefore, the organization’s PM methodology and process. They also act in the teacher role to their project staff and make them aware of the responsibilities each team member has on the project, the processes they need to follow and that tasks they are to perform.
Friend – This is a difficult one. Friendships are great, but having close friends work for you on projects as you try to manage and guide the team can be difficult and can even cause problems. Friendly relationships, though, are important. A friendly, cohesive team usually has a higher chance of success than one that is purely professional or has some internal strained relationships or power struggles.