You are a Project Manager – Not Superman

As Project Managers, we are  commonly assigned responsibilities that can impact other projects and deliverables. So it’s not uncommon for us to feel tremendous pressure to meet the project scope within the deadline and handle everything on our own. I know because I felt that with my last project. I handled majority of the tasks on my own to completion with a tad bit more time. What did I learn?

I’m not Superman. Try as I might, I am no Superman…I’m a Project Manager. And as my Mentor told me repeatedly, Project Manager’s don’t do the work, Project Managers make others do the work.

Second, because I’m not Superman – it’s okay for me to ask for a helping hand to execute your responsibilities, and you shouldn’t see asking for help as a sign of weakness.

I was in a situation that I felt not even David could defeat Goliath. Why? I put myself in that situation not knowing the complexities I could potentially encounter and hence went with the thought that any one person, me, could do the job and I couldn’t ask for any assistance…bad idea!

What should I have done?

1. Define the task explicitly and break it down. Looked at the plan and discussed it with someone (I trust) and clearly define what would be required to get the work done and if one person can execute the task on their own. If I need help, make sure my client/boss is aware of this and clearly define the risk associated with it if I don’t get assistance.

2. Don’t be afraid to ask ‘How would you do this?’, ‘What do you recommend’. I was lead to the assumption that asking questions like this would leave me exposed and make me appear incompetent. If you don’t know something, ask. If you need help to go through your thought process, do that and reaffirm them at the same time.

3. Know your kryptonite. Ask for help with clear definition on what you need help with. Form your request with a clear definition on what you need help with and why. Come up with various solutions and break it down to the pros and cons of each. Share this with a trusted experienced colleague before you present this to leadership. Get their input on what is their favored solutions and solicit feedback and support.

Doing all the above three items mentioned and approaching my client appropriately with my given input  and recommendation could have helped me work through the tasks assigned to me with the required assistance I needed. Recognize that I’m not super human and there is no such thing as super heroes in project management.