What I hate about project management

No one likes crowds!

No matter our profession, there are always some aspects of the work that we don’t like. Here’s my list today.

Unrealistic management expectations

In my career, I’ve had some great managers who are pretty savvy about what can get done and what can’t. Unfortunately, they are outweighed by the folks that seem to have no clue what’s possible and by when.

I don’t like working with managers that put an unrealistic time frame on a project so it gets done faster.

Maybe. Maybe not.

When I’m asked to implement an entire ERP system in 24 hours or they’ll be hell to pay, I remain calm. I look straight at the person and say, “Of course we’ll do our best to have this done. Talk to me for a minute about why this is so important to have done by tomorrow. What feature is the most critical? Where is the pressure coming from?”

Of course, there is no way an entire ERP system is going to be up and running in 24 hours. But there’s something going on in that manager’s head, and as project managers, we need to find out what it is. If we can know why there’s an unreasonable expectation, we can try to address it in the project plan.

The potential paperwork

Strictly following PMI’s processes could create lots of paperwork. Between the project plan and all the potential subsidiary plans – resource, communication, risk management, requirements management, scope management, schedules, action item lists, subcontractor management plans, it seems we could spend most of our time writing and updating plans.

I’m not a big fan of creating documents that are never used.

 I suggest most project managers don’t create every one of the PMI suggested subsidiary plans. It’s important to have those records that are pertinent to your project. If your project is shorter than a month, completing the main project plan with a schedule, a scope change process and maybe a risk management plan might be enough. Longer projects need more documentation.

As a project manager, our companies are relying on our judgment as to what’s necessary. Have what you need, without spending hours creating documents that won’t be referred to after you finish them.

Project status with reluctant team members

Since I like talking with people, gathering project status is usually an enjoyable time. I get to converse with my team members and see how things are going and what’s happening. I try to make it as productive as possible and avoid wasting time.

For some team members, determining the status of their tasks seems to be like sentencing them to the guillotine. I suspect for some this is about perfection. It’s not done perfectly, therefore it’s not done at all. Who wants to admit that?

For others, it’s about not doing the work, or not knowing how to do the work. Sheer laziness will be found out. If the team member has more tasks than hours in a day, there are workarounds for that.

What’s tougher is someone who agrees to a task, but got stuck somewhere and is ashamed or reluctant to admit their lack of knowledge.  You chase these folks until finally you go to their manager because you need an answer.

Any answer.

I don’t like chasing people.

I try to talk with the reluctant team member and find out what the problem is before I go to the manager. If that person and I can talk about where they’re stuck without an audience, usually an answer can be found. I like to give folks the benefit of the doubt until they demonstrate otherwise.

There are many moving parts in good project management. Some of the parts are good, and some are a bit more challenging.  What are some aspects of project management that you dislike? Let us know in the comments.

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