Effective Leadership

(Part 3 in a 3-Part Series on PM Overwhelm)

This is the third post in a series about Overwhelm.

As ideas tend to develop, it started when I was feeling quite a bit overwhelmed and didn’t feel like writing my weekly Leadership Blog. But I didn’t want to let my readers down. I had to “show up”.

So that’s what I wrote about.

In that post, I talked about how the first step to overcoming overwhelm is to remember why we’re a Project Manager in the first place.

We really do enjoy what we do for a living – and wouldn’t actually give it all up to paint fences (and if you would, what are you waiting for? Follow your bliss!).

Last week I continued with one of the chief causes of overwhelm in project management: delegation…or lack thereof.

Sometimes it’s so hard to “let go and let someone else on the team.” Whether we feel we can do it better ourselves or we don’t want to put more on someone else’s plate, it leaves too much on our plate!

The focus of that post was about how we can learn where we should be delegating and how to ease into proper delegation.

Now it’s time to turn our attention to our team and how our overwhelm – and lack of delegation – affects them.

Because if we hold onto tasks that our team should be responsible for, then we cause more harm than just to ourselves!

Here are a few ways our teams can suffer when we don’t delegate properly:

• They don’t learn as much about the project or their part of the solution being implemented
• They can feel undervalued, unimportant, or not trusted
• They don’t grow as a team
• They don’t have a Project Manager with enough mental capacity for guidance or help

I’m a mom, so I have an analogy with parenting. As our children grow, we teach them skills appropriate to their age and ability. My kids started doing their own laundry when they could work the washer & drier. Then they learned how to cook a meal on the stove. Then came driving lessons.

These life skills (my kids call it “Adulting 101”) will help them be successful and more confident when they live on their own.

Will I still be available to answer questions? Yes. Is there always more to learn? Of course. But they won’t grow if I don’t teach them, let them try, ruin a few dinners, and figure out how to do better the next time.

Bringing it back to project management, part of our job as a leader is to develop our team.

The goal is not to train them on their vocation (engineering, programming, marketing, etc.). These are the skills that brought them onto the project in the first place. The goal is to help them be successful and more confident as individual players and as a working group.

Many team members are hyper-focused on their job in their discipline. They’re comfortable & successful in their lane. But the project works better when there’s more cross-pollination.

When we help our people pick their head up and look around, they grow.

For example, if there’s a roadblock in the manufacturing piece of the project, maybe we help determine the right people to be in the meeting…and let our manufacturing lead handle the call. Just be there to guide and make sure decisions are made and action items assigned.

If it takes more than one meeting, consider letting go of the reins even more. Take a step back. Do we really need to be there? Will our lead be able to bring the issue to resolution?

Easing the team into running their own small group issue meetings counters the problems we mentioned above. With proper delegation:

• The team is learning about the project and their part in it’s success
• They feel valued and important – trusted by their PM to work through an issue broader than their one area
• Because there’s a cross-functional team involved, the whole team grows as a unit

But what about the struggle the team has with us? What about the issue that says “They don’t have a Project Manager with enough mental capacity for guidance and help”?

That’s where our team’s growth helps us with our overwhelm!

Back to parenting, every time I teach my kids a new skill, it helps ease a bit out of my own schedule. I no longer do their laundry. Knowing how to cook plus a driver’s license means they can successfully go to the store to buy groceries for the family…and help with dinner!

Yes, they’re not ready to run their own household – I still need to guide, handle the bigger responsibilities, keep them “on task”.

Same thing for project management: we’re still in charge and ultimately responsible. But we will spend more time guiding and less time “taking over”. Properly delegating to our team members means we have more time and mental energy for our team’s questions.

In the end, it takes all 3 components to drain our overflowing cup:

• Remembering why we signed up for this job in the first place
• Acknowledging what is truly our role as a PM…and what really belongs to someone else
• Intentionally looking for ways to help the team grow – and then doing it

Honestly, when we start from a place of overwhelm, even steps to help ourselves can feel like too much. So break it down into the tiniest pieces possible. Doing just a little bit every day adds up to big changes before long.

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, remember: you’re a Project Manager. You organize, you problem solve, you move tough projects forward…you got this!

Stay safe, stay healthy – and lead on!

…That’s Not Even a Question!

(Part 2 in a 3-part series on PM Overwhelm)

In Part 1 I wrote about feeling so overwhelmed you don’t have the energy or mindset to do even the things that you enjoy (you know, like I didn’t want to write that blog post!). The focus was on how to keep ourselves moving forward in spite of the overwhelm.

This time let’s talk about why.

Why do we feel overwhelmed? And what can we do about it?

One of the reasons we can feel crushed by tasks and responsibilities may have to do with our ability (or reluctance) to delegate.

Here are a few common culprits:

“I’m a perfectionist.”

“I feel bad pushing more work on my team.”

“it’s just faster for me to do it myself.”

Sound familiar?

So okay, maybe we can all take a deep breath and just push the work out…? In reality, making a change by sheer force of will is tough – especially when you’re already feeling stressed out.

I’d love to tell you there’s an “Easy” button, but just like any other habit, it does take time and effort to change.

Here is one way to start the ball rolling:

Take an assessment of your time during the day – pay close attention to what you plan vs. what you’re actually working on. And track it.

This will help you understand how much time you focus on things that aren’t really your responsibility. That 15 minute task may really take an hour and you’ll have no idea…unless you pay attention to it.

I like to use my Outlook calendar for this exercise…and some color coding. Here’s how I do it:

1. I plan out my day, hour by hour…or half hour by half hour, if necessary. (This is a great thing to do anyway – helps prioritize the most important items into my schedule!)
2. As each next task block arrives, I go back into my calendar and take a minute to assess: was I really working on the testing metrics…or did I slip into solving a testing issue for a team member?

The result?

Sometimes I’ll discover I took the first ½ hour of a 60 minute block gathering metrics, the next ½ hour troubleshooting the issue, and then I need an additional ½ hour to finish up the metrics. (Which, of course, requires shifting around the rest of the day’s work!)

Whatever time you spent on work that belongs to someone else, color code it orange in your calendar. At the end of the day, it will be very easy to see how much time you’ve spent on work that should have been delegated.

Now that you can see what you’re not delegating appropriately, it’s time to fix it.

Unfortunately, that’s the hard part!

My advice here is to start small: take something you know you should delegate and work on that first.

For example, if you tend to start solving an issue rather than delegating the fix, have a plan the next time you gather those testing metrics. Perhaps schedule your metrics time when you know your business analyst is available so you can connect with him real-time.

Eat that elephant 1 bite at a time. But keep chomping away. It’ will be worth the effort!

In the final part of this series on Overwhelm, we’ll talk about how lack of delegation impacts your team and your project…so stay tuned!

Stay safe, stay healthy – and lead on!

(This is Part 1 of a 3-Part Series on PM Overwhelm)

I seriously didn’t feel like writing a blog post today. Honestly! I’ve got a thousand things going on and all of them scream “I need to be done NOW!”

But isn’t that the life of a Project Manager?

We need to focus on one item but are pulled in a hundred different directions. We’re constantly evaluating: what do I work on first? Which fire do I put out next? What can be pushed off a bit?

Sometimes it feels like the real question is: “Who am I going to disappoint today?”

I bet most of you are nodding your head and saying, “Yup, I hear you!” in complete empathy.

But I guess the times we’re overwhelmed are exactly the times we do need to “show up.”

Several reasons come to mind:

• People are counting on us – our teams need decisions and direction…and support
• It’s always worse if you put something off – a small flame today is a big fire tomorrow
• There will be other fires tomorrow – easier to face them without today’s still raging in the background

But amidst this crazy and sometimes exhausting life we’ve chosen, we have to ask ourselves: would we really want someone else’s job?

Let’s face it, we were drawn to this profession for a reason. Can you see yourself as an accountant or a fireman or a teacher (even if you came from those professions – you wound up here, right?)

There is something that pulled us to Project Management.

• We love the challenge of a new project – learning, figuring it all out, getting everything working together
• We enjoy (or can’t help) organizing and scheduling
• We are drawn towards process, metrics, leading teams, seeing something through to the end

And when we’re done with the old…there’s always a new project just around the bend!

So even if you’re tired and feeling overwhelmed by your responsibilities, count your blessings – remember why you showed up in the first place.

Stay safe, stay healthy – and lead on!

So, why do doctors wear white coats?

The real answer isn’t a punchline.

A white coat is a visual indication of position and credibility. Patients know exactly who they are speaking with and what to expect from them.

Wearing a stethoscope around their neck gives a similar impression, even if the doctor doesn’t use it!

Whether seeing a doctor in a white coat causes you to feel relieved or anxious, our response is automatic.

For a business example, when an executive walks into a conference room, they give off signals as to their position. It’s usually subtle – walking with confidence or simply where they choose to sit.

I’ve always thought it interesting that, even if they have a laptop with them, an executive usually doesn’t open it. They sit back, ask questions, and listen. Everyone else has their computer open and paper & pen at the ready. Talk about an indicator of authority!

So my question for you this is: how do you convey your position and authority as a Project Manager?

Why do I ask?

Because some of your stakeholders, and even some folks on your team, aren’t familiar with what your role entails. You can’t spend every day explaining what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, just to get them to respond to your questions and requests.

Think about the best Project Manager you’ve ever worked with. How did they act, talk, dress, and walk into a room? Where did they sit? (Personally, I always sit in the middle. It puts me in the center of the team…and it’s near the cord for the projector!)

On a conference call, how would a great PM open it up? How would they facilitate the meeting?

Emulate these techniques. And use them intentionally to convey your position and authority without needing to explain and defend your role over and over.