The pessimism of Eeyore, the gloomy donkey from Winnie-the-Pooh, would be an uninspiring project manager. But unchecked optimism comes off as unrealistic. The key is to be realistically optimistic! Here are ways to find that balance:  

• Use risk management as your basis for optimism. It’s being realistic to acknowledge  that projects involve risk. So, foster a risk management culture within your project. You can build a sense of optimism by identifying project risks and developing effective response strategies for them. Promote optimism within your team by emphasizing that they can respond to risks. Encourage discussions about risk. Good risk management plans also give stakeholders reason for optimism. Best of all, this optimism increases confidence in the project.  
• Back up your optimism with history. Use past successes to validate your optimism. Successes from your current organization are the most powerful. If the history of success comes from outside your organization, explain what your project has in common with your example.
• Treat pessimism as a chance to improve your project plan. Pessimism typically comes from actual experiences. Pessimism can be draining, but you can learn a lot from it to help you deliver a successful project. Don’t dismiss the pessimists as problem stakeholders to manage. Instead, collect pessimistic comments and study them. That way, you can address the underlying issues to enhance or reinforce your project plan. 
• Be authentic. Reflect on yourself. Do you tend to be pessimistic, optimistic, realistic, or, most likely, a combination of all three. Be mindful of how your outlook affects others. The tips in this article not only help identify and advocate realistic reasons for optimism, but also leverage pessimism to increase project success.

Most important: Never fake optimism! People see through this, and it will do more harm than good.

What do you do to achieve the nirvana of realistic optimism? Share with us in the comments section.

Coming Up

Join Tiffany Uman and me on Wednesday, Oct 25, 2023 1:00pm MDT for our live broadcast   “How to Provide Project Updates to Executives “.

Your leadership team is not out to get you. That said, communicating with them effectively is essential, especially when providing pertinent project updates to drive the business forward. In this live Office Hours, Tiffany Uman and I will dive into the key DOs and DON’Ts for presenting updates to your leadership team with confidence and getting the buy-in you need. I’m excited to hear her advice about communicating project information to executives. Post your questions in the event comments or bring them to the live event!

Tiffany is a career coach, workplace expert, and fellow LinkedIn Learning instructor. Check out her course, Nano Tips for Answering Common Interview Questions with Tiffany Uman.

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 50,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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Are you so focused on your projects that you’ve been ignoring your personal growth as a project manager? You have to be proactive about growing or you’ll stagnate. Pursue challenges, feedback, education, and experiences that will expand your capabilities. Here are some ideas for promoting your growth and improving your project delivery.

• Exchange ideas with project peers. Managing projects isn’t just about good project management. Sound business analysis (BA) and organizational change management (CM) are also important. To expand your toolkit, ask your colleagues in those disciplines what led them to that vocation.  Find out what approaches they use to succeed. Or follow BA and CM follow on LinkedIn or other channels. 
• Get a mentor. An experienced mentor can help in so many ways. You can talk with them candidly about your challenges and concerns. They can provide insights from their career and help come up with solutions to issues. They can also help you deal with the emotions of getting through “those” days. For junior project managers, a mentor who works in your industry can help you expand your PM skills and insights in your area of expertise. For experienced project managers, a mentor with a different industry background can help expand your skills by sharing their business experience in another industry.
• Dig into your organization’s strategy. Strategy pushes change from the current state to new capabilities and market position. That change is created through projects! You can gain new and valuable insights as a project manager by connecting your project objectives to your organization’s strategic objectives. For experienced PMs, you’ll be enlightened when you participate in the design of projects to support strategy. Better yet, participate in the development of organizational strategy.
• Attend association events. The Project Management Institute (PMI), International Association for Project Management (IAPM), International Project Management Association (IPMA) and the Association for Project Management (APM) all have meetings that provide valuable insights for project managers. You can gain new perspectives with an hour a month attending an association event.
• Take advantage of educational opportunities. There are so many places to study new skills: the associations listed above, LinkedIn Learning, websites, podcasts, and more. Many of these opportunities are short (1 to 3 hours or even less) so you can grow without interfering with managing your projects.

If you’re guilty of neglecting your personal growth, take a moment now to set goals for including growth in your schedule. For example, set aside an hour this week to draft a plan – which activities you’ll start with, how you’ll initiate them, and when you will do them. 

Coming Up

Do you have questions about careers in project management? Will I like being a project manager? What skills do I need? What about education? How do I get experience? Are certifications worth it and what do I need to do to earn them? What are the possible career paths? Chris Croft and I co-authored the course How to Launch a Career in Project Management to answer all these questions – and many more. For this Office Hours event, we want you to watch the course FIRST. Then, if you still have questions, join us in this event to ask questions we didn’t answer.

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 49,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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Business pressures often lead sponsors to set aggressive deadlines. And meeting those deadlines may be exactly what your organization needs. It’s not an easy situation. As a project manager, your best survival strategy is to set stakeholders’ expectations for what it will take to deliver the project in that timeframe. Let’s look at how to analyze the feasibility of an aggressive project deadline and then communicate the results to your sponsor.

• Determine whether mandatory overtime will help meet the project deadline. Analyze how long it took to complete past project tasks. This data can tell you a lot about whether an aggressive deadline is feasible. When regular work schedules won’t meet the deadline, mandatory overtime might be the answer. Determine what a reasonable amount of overtime is, given the type of work performed in your organization. Then, calculate how much closer that overtime gets you to the deadline. Share the benefits and what you consider a reasonable level of overtime with your sponsor. If your sponsor pushes for more overtime, talk about the risks that presents: errors, reduced productivity and/or increased absenteeism due to fatigue.
• Determine the average percentage of work time operational personnel dedicate to projects. Many critical project team members also have daily responsibilities that are crucial to the organization’s day-to-day business. Projects are “extra work” they must handle without affecting their day-to-day responsibilities. Calculate how much closer you can get to the aggressive deadline with more time from operational personnel. One way to get more time is to find others to cover their operational duties. Or you can re-prioritize their day-to-day work. Meet with your sponsor and propose reasonable re-prioritizations or backfills for operational personnel and how much that helps reach the deadline. Important note: Talk to the people’s managers in advance to see if this approach is feasible. You don’t want them blindsided by a request from your project sponsor.
• Investigate tools or specialist contractors that can help complete tasks earlier. It’s unlikely that you can deliver a project faster than before using the same people and tools. Look for different project- or product-related tools that might shorten your project schedule. Search for specialist contractors who can produce products faster. If you find feasible options, determine the effect they could have on your schedule. Talk to your sponsor about these options and potential outcomes. Involve your sponsor in the analysis process. They might have ideas on changes that could deliver in a shorter timeframe.
• Determine if there are new, innovative approaches to completing tasks. If there are possibilities, talk to your sponsor about additional funding. You can use this funding to do research and/or proof-of-concept testing on different techniques. This might not only help achieve your current project deadline, but could be helpful for future projects as well.

Every project manager has a story to tell about aggressive deadlines. Share your experiences, successes, failures, and questions in the comments section.

For more about deadlines, check out my Project Management Foundations: Schedules course.

Coming Up

Do you have questions about careers in project management? Will I like being a project manager? What skills do I need? What about education? How do I get experience? Are certifications worth it and what do I need to do to earn them? What are the possible career paths? Chris Croft and Bonnie Biafore co-authored the course How to Launch a Career in Project Management to answer all these questions – and many more. For this Office Hours event, we want you to watch the course FIRST. Then, if you still have questions, join Chris Croft and me on Wednesday, Oct 11, 2023 at 9am MT for this live Office Hours event to ask questions we didn’t answer.

No excuses! Here’s a link to watch the course for free: https://tinyurl.com/how-to-launch-career-in-PM

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 48,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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Do you want to expand your capability to manage more projects? You can by delegating! But delegation can be scary, because you’re releasing control to others. With the right attitude and activities, delegation can become your go-to tool that isn’t so scary. Here are the best ways to make delegation work for you as a project manager.

• Pick the right team member. Sure, it’s easy when a team member is experienced in what you want to delegate. Usually, you have to decide whether a team member has the skill and judgment to perform the delegated responsibility. Consider their desire to grow, their ambition, and the stakeholder relationships needed to complete the task. When your team member has good relationships and the right attitude, delegation goes better. 
• Clearly define the assignment and completion criteria. Determine exactly what you want from your team member. This includes the deliverables and your definition of successful results. Successful delegation might mean saving you time or it could be applying more specific technical expertise than you have. Keep in mind, you might be able to tackle the task more easily or faster, but that isn’t the point. Determine what you need, which is not necessarily the same level of quality you yourself would produce. Also, decide what you would like your team member to learn or experience from the delegation. Communicate all this with your team member, and you’ll increase your probability of success.
• Discuss the approach to completing the task, while allowing flexibility. In some cases, delegated responsibility requires a specific process. In other instances, you may have a preferred approach. Share that approach in your delegation conversation. If there is flexibility in how to accomplish the assignment, then encourage your team member to take the approach they’re comfortable with and/or learn as much as they can from the delegation.
• Provide necessary resources and authority. Think about what your team member might need or benefit from for the assignment. This goes beyond access to tools and data. For example, introduce your team member to key stakeholders. Notify the team and stakeholders about the authority you are delegating to your team member. And finally, arrange for access to key experts.
• Allocate time to support your team member. Delegation isn’t a “set it and forget it” exercise. The best delegators prepare to guide their team member to help them succeed. Schedule frequent check-in meetings with them and reserve the time in your calendar. Review their progress and examine any interim deliverables. You can reduce the meeting frequency if they make suitable progress. Be responsive to impromptu questions and provide tips along the way. This not only increases the success of the delegation, but also increases your team member’s confidence in their ability to complete their responsibilities to your satisfaction.

Follow these tips and delegation will become your PM power tool to expand your accomplishments and those of your team!

Delegation is both powerful and scary. What techniques have you used to make delegation work for you – and to make it less scary to apply?

For more about working with team members, check out Daniel Stanton’s Project Management Foundations: Teams course.

Coming Up

Do you have questions about careers in project management? Will I like being a project manager? What skills do I need? What about education? How do I get experience? Are certifications worth it and what do I need to do to earn them? What are the possible career paths? Chris Croft and Bonnie Biafore co-authored the course How to Launch a Career in Project Management to answer all these questions – and many more. For this Office Hours event, we want you to watch the course FIRST. Then, if you still have questions, join us in this event to ask questions we didn’t answer.

No excuses! Here’s a link to watch the course for free: https://tinyurl.com/how-to-launch-career-in-PM

____________________________________________________________________________

This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 46,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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You’ve probably heard “the leader sets the tone.” This tone is all about the environment you create for your project team. Here are things you can do – TODAY – to make your project a positive (and attractive) place to work. And that helps you make your project a success.

• Receive news, both good and bad, with a constructive attitude. Managing a project means understanding the news: task completions, delays, stakeholder conversations, new ideas, and conflicts. To understand the news, you need to hear about it. And that happens only if you support your teams. Make it difficult or unpleasant for team members to share news with you (think of the phrase “shooting the messenger”) and you won’t know what’s happening on your project. Thank people who share information, whether it’s good or bad. That way, you can respond proactively to project issues, instead of reacting to the truth bomb a key stakeholder drops in your office because your team didn’t share the issue with you.
• Build a team. Yes, even for a short project. Come up with a team name — not the project business name. (Nobody wants to work on the Amalgamated Velcro Production and Efficiency Management Project…but they might enjoy being on the “Better Rip and Stick” team!) Act as if YOU are part of the team (because you are) and promote teamwork to get tasks done. Share accountability. Celebrate little victories. You’ll get dedicated team members who will want to work with you…now and in the future.
• Make sure team members understand the business relevance of their tasks. Team members will be more engaged when they know how their work packages fit into the big picture. The work is more meaningful and more satisfying to them! Talking about the purpose of tasks can also decrease errors. Team members will raise potential issues more readily when they understand the context of their work. You’ll get better deliverables and more dedication from your team.
• Help team members feel like they belong. A diverse team is good, but that’s only step one. Include all your team members in decision-making and planning your project. Beyond that, take time to understand who they are, what goals they have, and what project experiences will be most meaningful to them. Help them achieve those goals when possible.

What tips do you have for building a positive project environment? What benefits have you gained from offering team members a positive environment to work in?

For more about working with teams, check out Daniel Stanton’s Project Management Foundations: Teams course.

Coming Up

Join Chris Croft and me on August 22, 2023, at 9am MT for our live broadcast “Do You Need Project Management Certifications, and If So, Which Ones?”

One of the most frequent questions Chris Croft and I get is “Do I need project management certification?” quickly followed by “Which certification or certifications should I get?” Everyone’s journey is different, just like Chris and I took very different paths. So, we’re going to explore whether project management certifications are valuable, what else you can do to make yourself stand out, and finally, which certifications to look at if you decide you need them. Bring your questions to this informative and fun session. By the way, this topic is just one that we explore in our new course, How to Launch a Career in Project Management. 

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 45,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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