The Pain of Project Managers

The Pain of Project Management
That was smooth sailing on a ship,
but we still need a captain.
That was a smooth flight on the plane,
but we still need a pilot.
That was a smooth project,
so we don't need a project manager.

As a project manager, you scan the future for problems.
You foresee the pitfalls,
You warn your stakeholders about them,
And you give them options to avoid the risks.

But they don’t decide early.
They take a wait and see approach.
They want to keep their options open.
The longer they wait, the fewer the options
And the more expensive the remaining options become.

If only you can find a way to get through to them,
To shift some of the responsibility of the pitfall to them,
And get them to understand that
They need to make a decision
Sooner rather than later.

To shift from reacting after problems occur,
From needing to rescue the project in the pit:
You need to prevent the project from falling into the pit in the first place.
You need a way to shift some of the responsibility
Of avoiding the pitfall to these key decision makers.

Otherwise, if and when the project encounters a problem
They just put the blame on you.
Because you had to take the risk to carry out the project.
But if the project runs smoothly, they question the need for a PM,

“That was smooth sailing on a ship, but we still need a captain.
That was a smooth flight on the plane, but we still need a pilot.
That was a smooth project without any problems,
So we don’t need a project manager.”

You need to transform their thinking to:
“The project is running smoothly
*because* we have a project manager.”

I will teach you techniques
To protect yourself from taking on all the risks of running the project,
To share the risks with the stakeholders, the decision makers,
So that they feel the burden of risk avoidance and mitigation.

Now I ask you, are you ready to not just be a reactive problem solver,
But to be a recognized proactive problem preventer?