#PMOnotes l Alex Lepeshkin

A few years ago I started sharing my experiences about PMO and Project management within social platforms and now I have a passion to come back into this field.

Sometimes you may be assigned to a project that is not in the best shape. Let me share my experience of what I'm doing to change the situation and put things on track. This story happened with me a few years ago.

Define what goes wrong

My project was in red status, and this wasn't just an accident. There were some decisions and reasons for that. Sometimes they are obvious and the team is aware of it. But in some cases, the root cause can also be hidden under the layers of communication, behavior, approaches, and the long history of the project.

I decided to focus on interviewing senior and most valuable stakeholders. I provided more than 20 interviews and collected reasons and arguments for the status of the project. They were diverse, and sometimes even contradicted each other. It felt like requirements gathering during the scoping of the project. After collecting all arguments I started to share them between team members and stakeholders trying to assess the critical ones. Then, of course, the key opinion came from senior stakeholders, but feedback from all others, including the project team, also gave many ideas and thoughts about the next steps. Finally, I defined key areas for improvement and aligned them with the project team, my manager, and my sponsor.

Be open-minded

I look at my son and see how open he is to the world. He is smiling and meets everything with a positive mindset and natural happiness. He doesn't have any "bad experiences" yet and enjoys his life with open eyes. Sometimes we forget that everything could be possible, sometimes we close opportunities too soon, and sometimes we don't see the evidence. So I decided that everything was possible, all people could be right, and everything could happen. Therefore I started to learn about the project and started collecting all ideas and thoughts without judging and comparing them with my personal experience. I became as open-minded and positive as my son, and it helped me open new doors and created a trustful environment with the project members and teams.

I don't know

When you are joining a new project a lot of things could be new for you: new processes, glossary, and content. It was the situation when you are looking at your experience and can't define what you could use in that project from your past. People asked my advice, discussed specific things, and waited for feedback and actions. So I decided not to play the cleverest guy's role in the room and started to say everything very openly. If I know and understand something - I can tell if I don’t know - I say it very openly and take time to learn.

I noticed that people working for almost half-year could say that they are newcomers and that others will understand and respect it. It's not a shame to say that I don't know, it's rather a shame to say that you know and lie about that. Just take your time and learn and the environment will understand and respect your approach.

Set your personal goals 

When you work for a big company as a Project manager, you should not expect that everything will be easy like 1,2,3. It's difficult to manage projects, it's truly a difficult job. There is a high risk of burnout. You will have a million urgent tasks that you had to do yesterday. People will push you, sometimes even complain about you. It helps if you do a few simple things to handle that stress and manage the situation. First of all - set your personal goals. Why did you come to this company? What are you doing here? Is it something that makes you happy? If yes, enjoy your work and think about how this work is helping you to meet your personal goals. For example, you would like to become a Team Lead to manage a team with 5-7 members and be responsible for a specific portfolio. Or you aim to achieve more visibility and recognition for yourself, or you simply love this specific domain (e.g. fashion, infrastructure) you are working in. So, in all these cases, just set these goals for yourself and think about how your current project or project helps you achieve your personal goal. And please, don't forget to share it with your manager, it could help you both to become the best partners at work.

Find the right people to help.

In all companies, you can a lot of super-talented people. Sometimes we don't even expect that these people are ready to help us. They are passionate about their work and ready to teach others. Just formulate your case, and your request, and ask for their help. You will be surprised by how amazing it works.

Define key stakeholders and focus on them

The truth is that we can't satisfy all stakeholders. Some of them will be impressed with your job, and some of them will complain about you to your manager. It's ok, don't stress. Just define key ones and focus on working with them. You can speak with your team and your manager and ask for their advice about key stakeholders. If you satisfy their need, you succeed in 80% following the Pareto rules.

Involve the right people

Do you know that sometimes, during the project's execution phase, the project team could work without the project manager? It's true, and It can happen if you put the right people in place. The role of the project manager is to establish the project in the right way, support it and ensure that we have the right people for the project and project execution. If you see that somebody doesn't have enough experience to play a specific role, discuss it with your manager and sponsor and think about alternative options. When you fill all the required roles, you will be surprised by the result.

Have fun

We are working not just to earn money. We are here to enjoy our life. I chose that profession because I love this job. When people see that you love what you are doing, when you are a go-getting person, and when you are passionate about your profession, they will start to trust you and enjoy that job together.

I wish you all the best and hope this advice will help you with your projects.