One of the most important jobs of the project manager is to delegate project tasks. This is specially important when the project manager has a heavy technical background. It these cases, the temptation to do something because you can do it (and you are comfortable doing it) is very strong. Most of us (if not all) have been there before, and we find lots of reasons to justify what we are doing:

• I can do it much faster than anyone else
• The quality will be better if I do it
• There is no one else who can do it, or they are very busy
• I don’t have time to ask someone else to do it

The truth is that all this reasons are excuses, and while in the short term it might work, the result in the long term is negative.

Think about it.  Are your reasons the real problem?  Or are there other underlying reasons?  Let’s analyze some of them:

• I can do it much faster than anyone else:   it might be true today.  But aren’t you doing it because it is easier than teaching someone else?  Or even worse, are you afraid that the person you teach will do it better than you in the near future?
• The quality will be better if I do it:  when you say better, do you mean your way?  or maybe you had bad experiences in the past because you didn’t specify well enough what you wanted.  And in that case it is normal that you don’t get what you expected
• There is no one else who can do it, or they are very busy:  was this task planned?  Was it assigned to someone?  In many cases this reasoning shows a lack of planning.
• I don’t have time to ask someone else to do it:  this sounds similar to I don’t have time to plan.  Teaching someone else to do something is not a waste of time, it’s an investment!  Think of the time you will be able to save in the future having this person well trained.

And you also have to think that the more indispensable you are, the more difficult it will be take advantage of new opportunities, such as a promotion or a new interesting project in your department.  Do you think your boss will let you go if there is no one ready to take over?

I hope I convinced you to delegate more.  It is not easy, but in the end it is very rewarding for you, and for the person you trust to delegate to.

The mission of the Project Manager is to get the project done in a timely manner, within budget and with the required quality.  In order to accomplish this mission, the project manager performs several tasks:

• Plan
• Monitor the progress
• Take appropriate actions

These tasks can be performed in very different ways.  A manager could plan the activities, communicate them to the team, control the progress periodically and push the team and “use the whip” when the progress is not as planned.
Another manager could agree the planning of the activities with the team, share the goal of the project with the team, control de progress periodically and help the team overcome the difficult moments.

As you can see, the basic work-flow is followed in both situations.  However, the approaches are absolutely different.  The first behaviour is close to a foreman  and workers are treated as “robot” workers.  In doing this, workers usually respond as requested, so they do their job but they don’t try to be creative and find new solutions for existing problems.  In today’s world of knowledge workers, most professionals are highly trained, and a project manager cannot afford to not get the maximum from every single team member.
The second approach requires that the project manager is a facilitator.  This means that the project manager helps the team to reach the goal.  Instead of telling everyone how to do things, the project manager shares the goal of the project and helps the team to find the way to success.  This help can have different forms: getting the requested resources, defend the team when there are problems, be a positive leader when problems arise…
The result of this approach is that the team is involved in the project and motivated, which boosts the performance of the team.

But does this mean that I can’t be demanding?.  ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!  Don’t forget that you are responsible for finishing the project in a timely manner, within budget and with quality.  But there is a difference between just demanding something and demanding something providing the necessary help.

One of the key points to have a productive meeting is to write down a list of actions with the person responsible to do it and the due date.

But this is just a requirement to get things done.  How many times have you committed to do something in a meeting and then you didn’t do it because your daily  activity made you forget it?  As a project manager, you have to make sure that actions are completed on time.  You have to do a follow-up.

Depending on the complexity of the actions, you may want to do a follow-up meeting, write an email or just make a phone call.  A follow-up meeting is necessary when the actions are complex or when there are interrelationships between different tasks.  In this case it is better to get the responsible of the related actions together and discuss the progress and the problems that may have arisen.

In most cases, an email or a phone call will be enough.  But bear in mind that what you are doing is trying to help someone else to do his job, not just controlling his job.  What is the difference?  Have a look at these two approaches:

• Regarding action X, do you have all the information you need?  If you need  something or find a problem please let me know and I’ll try to help.
• How are you doing with action X?  Have you finished?  Will you finish on time?

I guess you can see the difference.  If your team feels that you are there to help and not just to control, they will work much more comfortably.  Communication will also improve, because when they find a problem, they won’t hesitate to tell you, and you will be able to take action earlier.  And that is key to avoid project delays.

It is also important to know when to do the follow-up.  It is clear that you don’t want to wait until the day before the due date, because you wouldn’t be helping but controlling.  On the other hand, you don’t want to do it too early, because people have to start their task to know if they need help or if there is a problem they didn’t see initially.  It also depends on the person assigned to the action.  If you know that that person usually waits until the last minute to start something, you may want to do an earlier follow-up.  Just follow your common sense and learn from the results that you get and you will be fine.

Have you ever been to a meeting that meets any (or many) of these criteria?

• You don’t know why you were called to that meeting
• The meeting lasts way longer than the scheduled duration
• People digress and no decisions are made
• You contribute to the meeting for 10 minutes but have to be there for an hour
• The meeting started 15 minutes late because not everyone was on time

I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been to many of those!  In my opinion, inefficient meetings are one of the biggest time robbers nowadays.  Every time we find a problem we tend to call a meeting with lots of people to decide what to do. Or the project manager calls the whole team to update the status of the project.  Or the boss has a new bright idea and wants everyone to listen to it.

Don’t get me wrong.  Meetings are a powerful tool if used correctly.  Try the following guidelines and you will notice an increase in productivity:

• Send an agenda with enough time in advance so that everyone can prepare the meeting.  This includes the material that has to be prepared beforehand
• Start the meeting on time.  Many people do not consider highly important to be on time for a meeting (in the end it is not a train that would leave.  The meeting will still be there if I am late).  I personally consider it a lack of respect for the ones that were on time.  If you can start the meeting, go ahead without the missing people.  If you can’t, let him/her know that you have been waiting for them, and they will probably be on time next time.
• Set a time limit for each item on the agenda.
• Call only the people that are necessary for the meeting.  And as you have set a time limit for each topic, you could have someone attending only part of the meeting.
• Do not discuss about topics that are not on the agenda.  Avoid going off-topic or you will lose control.  If the topic is relevant, write it down and discuss it either at the end of the meeting (if there is time) or in a future meeting.
• Make a short summary after each item on the agenda.  You have to make sure that everyone has the same understanding after the discussion.
• For each of the actions that arise, identify the scope of the action, the person responsible to do it and the deadline.  It’s very typical to hear something like “we have to do this”, and it usually results in nothing being done.
• Write the minutes and distribute them, identifying all the agreements and actions.

There is nothing is these guidelines that is difficult to do.  It is just a matter of getting used to it and educate your co-workers to do the same.  After a few meetings you it will become natural and you will have much more effective meetings.

Although the steps above assume you are the meeting leader, it also works when you are not.  In that case you are obviously more limited, but you can try to help the leader.  For instance, you can ask for the agenda when you receive something like “Project X meeting from 10:00 to 12:00″ or you can suggest to talk about that new topic at the end of the meeting if there is a deviation from the agenda.  People are usually smart and if they see that their meetings are better when they follow your recommendations, they will end up adopting them.