Week 2: Key competencies: Flexibility and handling ambiguity Flashcards
What are the four key competencies of a project manager?
(FOCE)
Enabling decision-making
communicating and escalating
strong Organizational skills
flexibility
Why is enabling decision making important to a project manager?
Empowering your team to express their opinions and make their own decisions allows you to focus on the overarching management tasks and prioritize them in order of importance.
Why is communicating and escalating an important skill for a PM?
Knowing how to effectively communicate and when to escalate issues to management is key to keeping you, your team, and your organization on the path to success.
When escalation is required, try to approach management with…
…with both the problem and the potential solution or suggestions. This will show that you’re taking initiative as a project manager.
How can you demonstrate that it is important for you, as a leader, to stay organized through efficient tracking and communications?
PDQC
By utilizing the abundance of organizational tools available, such as:
Planning and scheduling software (templates, workflows, calendars)
Collaboration tools (email, collaboration software, dashboards)
Documentation (files, plans, spreadsheets)
Quality assurance tools (evaluations, productivity trackers, reports)
What 3, flexible planning strategies can help you manage your project during times of unpredictability?
(PAC)
Assess external constraints.
Plan for risks and challenges
Calculate “float” (slack) in your schedule
Examples of: Assess external constraints.
Taking external events into account, such as national holidays and team member vacations and sick leave.
What is “Float” or “Slack?”
Float, or slack, refers to the amount of time you can wait to begin a task before it impacts the project schedule and threatens the project outcome.
Why Plan for risks and challenges?
If you consider the risks that may occur, you may be able to find solutions for them in advance. (ex: What if someone on your team gets sick or decides to quit? )
Two general ways to assess risk?
If you consider the risks that may occur, you may be able to find solutions for them in advance.
Come up with a list of people who may be able to join your team if one of your team members becomes unavailable.
You can also assess risks by looking at historical data. Review your past projects and examine the challenges you faced. Then evaluate if similar challenges could occur in this project and prepare accordingly.
Common places PMs face ambiguity?
(GRSV)
Project managers often face ambiguity in
goals,
requirements,
schedules,
vision,
or other areas related to the project.
Five ways a PM can help their team deal with ambiguity?
(TEK MC)
Keep Calm
Express Empathy
Communicate what you already know, clearly.
Make decisions and stick to them.
Trust the expertise of your team
Handling ambiguity: Why keep calm?
Keep calm. In uncertain times, handling ambiguity with grace and poise will help inspire the members of your team to do the same.
Handling ambiguity: Why express empathy?
Express empathy. As a project manager, it is important to try to understand what your team is thinking and feeling, especially during times of ambiguity.
Let your team members know that you care about the challenges they are facing and are there to support them.
Handling ambiguity: How do you communicate what you know clearly?
Communicate what you know clearly. Define the aspects of the project that are confirmed and will not change. This helps your team get a better sense of what to expect, regardless of any aspects of the project that are still unknown or changing.
