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.

I just had an example of bad communication with our customer.  There was luckily a happy ending and I hope I learned from it and not make the same mistake in the future.

We are working with our Customer in a project within a big programme.  This programme has been delayed due to external reasons and both our customer and ourselves are suffering the consequences.
A few months ago, when a big delay was declared, we tried to find a way forward that would be beneficial for our customer and for us.  We reached the final agreement during a telephone conversation.  We hadn’t had any communication problems before, so no one bothered to write down the minutes of the conversation, and that was the MISTAKE!

Today we found out that that day we had understood similar but different things.  Luckily we have been able to find a solution, but I know this could have caused a delay of several months for our project.

Communication has two processes:

• Sending the message
• Making sure the recipient of the message has the same understanding as you

So the lesson today was to never forget the second point, even when it seems unnecessary.