Common Frustrations with Project Managers
As a project manager or leader, you likely have your share of frustrations and pet peeves when it comes to team members. These feelings go both ways. As uncomfortable as it might be, a good leader keeps abreast of any frustrations their team has with them and their work style. Soliciting feedback from your team can be a daunting task; after all, don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to, right? But pushing past that discomfort can be incredibly helpful in fine-tuning your project management skills and connecting with your team.
To provide some insight into the type of behaviors project managers may want to avoid, here are project teams’ common frustrations with project managers.
Unrealistic deadlines
Aggressive timelines are probably one of your own frustrations as a project manager. Senior leadership often pushes for tasks to be done faster while expecting that quality is maintained, even if certain factors that delay projects are entirely out of your control. Unsurprisingly, this also frustrates your team. Not everyone is a “pressure cooker” that can thrive under hard deadlines. As much as possible, make sure that your team agrees on deadlines in planning meetings. If a deadline has to move up, do what you can to help team members get across the finish line on time.
2. Bad listener
A good project manager is a strong communicator, and a strong communicator is a good listener. On a human level, people just want to be heard. On a professional level, team members don’t want to be left out of conversations and want to be a true part of the project team. Your on-the-ground folks often have great ideas drawn from experience, and it’s important to take their views into consideration. Listening also makes your life easier in the long run; make sure you really hear what’s being said the first time and you won’t need as much follow-up.
3. Takes all the credit
A team should work as a collective, and the collective should get credit for success. It’s a bad look for a project manager to take accolades from senior leadership for themselves or use copious “I” statements when sharing plan details. Find opportunities to praise individual team members, and remember to use “we” language whenever possible.
4. Too many meetings
Corporate life is notoriously overscheduled. Meetings take up a large part of many project managers’ weeks. While check-ins and regular communication are vital, having too many meetings on their calendar frustrates your team members. They need time to be out there doing the work, and meetings slow that process down. Make sure the meetings you have are absolutely necessary and run them efficiently.
5. Decisions made without involvement
As a project manager, you likely have the final say in a number of things, for better or worse. However, don’t rule with an iron fist or simply relay information from senior leadership to your team. The whole project team should be involved in decisions that affect the project, even when you ultimately have to be the bad guy and say no to a direction the team wants to go in. Encourage discussion about decisions and really flex those listening skills during brainstorming. Team members who were involved in the process but ultimately don’t get the approach they advocated for are more likely to understand and move forward than those who weren’t involved in the process at all.
Looking in the mirror and assessing your “flaws” can be difficult, but you only stand to benefit from doing so. Keep an open line of communication with your team and you’ll likely find yourself known as a great project manager.