Few people are as focused, organized, and goal-oriented as project managers. The secret of their mental and emotional discipline is a series of project management habits that anyone can adopt.
Be Prepared
One of the main tasks of a project manager is assessing potential setbacks. Risk management allows project managers to stay on top of anything from the construction of a mall to the development of a mobile application. This habit can do the same for you, helping you reach your goals and staving off potential roadblocks.
These are some risk management guidelines that project managers use and can prove useful for you as well:
- Make sure you understand the scope of your project
- Ask other people what risks they identify in the task at hand
- Pinpoint risks, prioritize them, and determine what actions to take
Learn to Prioritize
Prioritizing skills are another hallmark of great project managers. Every aspect of a project can be, and often is, prioritized. This step helps you determine how and when to focus your resources to ensure that your project always stays on track. You can do this yourself with your personal projects. Whether it’s redecorating your home or coming up with a plan to save money, you can use a simple three-degree system to prioritize your needs:
- Must have: these are needs you have to address to achieve your goal.
- Should have: needs you should address if at all possible.
- Nice to have: it would be useful to address these needs, as long as doing so doesn’t affect other areas of the project
Focus on Solutions
The main focus of a project manager is on getting things done on time and within budget. Finger-pointing, whining, shaming, and blaming take a back seat. This is an attitude that can be immensely helpful for any individual driven to succeed. There are no real winners in the blame game, and project managers know this. But, as we’ll see in the next paragraph, this doesn’t mean that conflict can’t lead to solutions from time to time.
Understand that Conflict Can Be Productive as Well
Project managers understand that conflict can be productive, and in fact, is an inevitable component of any project. However, conflict can easily get out of hand and become personal without the proper project management habits. Follow these guidelines to ensure that you use conflict in a way that is stimulating, respectful, and professional:
- Focus conflict on the merit of alternative solutions
- Be ready to compromise if that means arriving at a better solution
- Understand that you will “lose” some conflicts every now and then
Darnell Technical Services is an engineering design firm in Santa Ana, California, with the project management expertise and the drive to always deliver outstanding results.
Our headquarters are located in Santa Ana, and we have an office in Las Vegas, Nevada. Contact us today by telephone (714-285-0082 (CA), 702-945-2899 (NV)) or through our social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to learn more about all the technical instruments and materials we put at your disposal.
