How to Manage Projects Like a Rock Star
This post falls into the “dusting off old notes and found something interesting” category. I scribbled some pointers from a podcast called the One-Minute How-To that I listened to several months ago. The specific episode is called “How to Manage Projects Like a Rock Star,” contributed by Chris Brogan.
This is a good refresher for me as my role in ministry moves from “support staff” to “project manager.” I absolutely love creating systems, improving efficiency, and getting stuff done — so this list from Chris Brogan really gets the blood pumping for me. His pointers are listed below in bold with my thoughts in italics.
- Focus on the people. This is so true, but I’m so bad at this! I’m a Type “D” to the max.
“From what to what by when.” This really describes how I think. But I’ve found that this doesn’t always translate in other cultures, specifically in Latin America. I’m still a big believer in this concept, but with a splash of cultural sensitivity thrown in.
Make the people on the team the leaders. I call this the AOL principle…and I plead the Fifth on what AOL stands for. If you “own it,” you’ll care more about the results. You’ll dive in. You’ll get creative. You’ll fight for results. And this is absolutely Rule #1 as far as I’m concerned on becoming a good leader. Empower other leaders!
You are the road-block breaker, they are the leaders. As I was saying…
Keep a list and tie it to a weekly meeting. Very important. I’m fanatical about lists. I’m not crazy about meetings. Necessary evils. Meetings without items to check off are unnecessary evils.
No surprises EVER at the weekly meeting. Check on statuses continuously; the meeting is just one person speaking and everyone else nodding in agreement. Our ministry is so not there on this point, but my goal is to get us there. Ninety-nine percent of project meetings should not last more than 30 minutes. If everyone is on the same page going into the meeting, it will be short and sweet…and productive.
Review the list often with the team. It’s all about good communication.
When you’re done, celebrate. “Here, here!” to that.
I happen to know some awesome project managers from my days in the software business. To you or any other readers, what am I missing from this list? What should I add, remove, or change so that disorganization and/or team dysfunction don’t eat my lunch?
