Critical Warzone Project Manager Characteristics
Critical Warzone Project Manager Characteristics
Probably the most often overlooked, but the easiest item to implement as a practice.
i. Can be as simple as working more or the same hours as the 'team'.
ii. Understanding the difficulties of the 'assignment' by doing themselves.
Can often be implemented by using a great deal of empathy and 'putting yourself in their shoes' type of thinking. Instant respect can be earned by 'going there' and 'doing that'.
Putting the teams needs before your own.
Examples are:
1. When travelling 'sit where they sit' and 'sleep where they sleep'.
2. A huge mistake would be to travel with subordinates and upgrade yourself to first class. It's a rookie leadership mistake.
3. Be observant of your words in front of your team / subordinates:
Don't speak of the weekend trip to the caymans with your family.
or the charter jet to visit family! (I've heard this one before believe it or not).
Steady (not always easy, especially when dealing with a lot of personalities in close quarters). Not excitable. Not personal. Technically capable (doesn't mean they know everything, just good problem solving skills). Approach problems in a systematic manner. Able to weed thru the BS and find the right people / resources.
Organized. While not always the case in their personal space they usually take a measured approach to their day, stick to some fundamental patterns in their day (i.e. typically will have their personal time carved out and 'sacred' for working out, talking with family, etc).
Able to understand and define clear lines of responsibility and organization 'within the ranks'. This eliminates vagueness and also fosters a spirit of ownership and responsibility within the ranks. Leaders that fail to do this for political (overly sensitive to putting folks in charge and what others will think of this decision) reasons usually fail themselves in one way or another. I would rather have a mediocre guy in charge and have the team upset about it, then to have non-clear lines of communication and responsibility. Typically the leaders will rise, but not always and in austere environments those that you thought would be your leaders sometimes aren't. If the leader let's those under him 'pick their boss', he will fail. Sometimes in organizations that are 'new' to these concepts they tend to shy away from org charts and clear / defined lanes of responsibility. Sometimes managers think that defining these things is a sign of rigidity, but it really isn't. It just let's everyone know what they want to know, who do they report to and what is their job. It's eliminating vagueness, not rigidity or militancy.
Fundamentals. They always will approach problems from a fundamental basis when there are no other 'knowns', i.e. it isn't laid out for them. Some fundamentals that are typically used:
i. What does the organization look like.
ii. Who are my key resources?
iii. What is the schedule?
iv. What is the deliverable (s).
v. Who is the client?
1. What do they want / need?
2. What excites them?
3. How will they perceive the problem?
Tough. The most successful guys I've worked with are emotionally, mentally and typically physically tough. The physical aspect may seem to be non-essential for a successful PM, but if you are going to attack any type of project that is outside of the norm (i.e. foreign country, hostile environment (both physically and weather), tough close quarters living / working conditions a certain level of physical prowess is necessary) It doesn't mean that you aren't emotional, typically it's quite the opposite, it's more of being "emotionally intelligent".
i. Being able to recognize your emotions and their impact on others.
ii. I've seen the most stoic, measured PM's cry when hearing the star spangled banner or when learning their subordinates daughter had surgery.
Integrity This is a very complicated and individual term obviously, but in my mind there is not a quicker way to lose the respect of those following you if you don't have this. It will show in everything you do and you will not be able to hide a lack of it.
Good communicator - To a tee this is across the board present in all the successful guys I worked with. Able to hold an audience. Brief complex, technical subjects. People understand them.
Understands the big picture.
They understand the goal and are able to plot milestones along the way.
Able to weed thru the non-essential but important details to capture what is important.
Learn more about managing projects and warzone jobs in general at my blog at http://www.expatwarzone.blogspot.com
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