In this episode, hosts Merv Jersak and Tim Jerome dive into the essence of project management, emphasizing the need for a project manager to not only possess technical knowhow, but to also excel in assessment, training, and influencing their teams for better results. The episode covers practical aspects such as managing project schedules, importance of continuous learning, enhancing team dynamics, and the value of creating an environment where team members can self-motivate and take ownership. It touches on the challenges and strategies in virtual team management, the role of personal development in project success, and the importance of stakeholder engagement and delegation. The dialogue concludes on the note that effective project management requires fostering an environment conducive to internal motivation and ownership among team members.

Main Take-Aways

1)     Project managers must be able to set their teams up for success through assessment strategies, innovative training techniques, and establishing an environment conducive for successful project execution.

2)     While assessment and training of team is important, so is self-development of your own skills to be able to be a more effective project leader.

 

Show Notes

Today’s Project Managers Coffee Chat: Mastering Project Leadership Through Assessment, Training, and Influence

01:13 Introduction to today’s tactical discussion on setting your team up for success to include assessment, training, and influencing:

01:43 Assessment when leading teams requires a collection of data/metrics and the analyzing the entire pipeline from contributions of individual team members, the maturity of the team, and the progress of the work.

05:03 Training during an ongoing project is challenging and requires innovative techniques for team development: taking advantage of downtime, collaboration among team members, shadowing and knowledge share, lunch-and-learns, scheduled with backup, internships, and others.

09:42 Does the need for training change when working with virtual teams? The industry is getting better at this given the development of remote management tools and the maturing of teams’ use of the tools.

12:48 What can you as a project manager do when the team and project are progressing well? What are some opportunities to develop individuals? to develop teams? to develop self?

17:26 When projects are progressing well, it provides time to practice more effective delegation and stakeholder engagement strategies, to spend more time with the team(s). You should take advantage of every opportunity to continue your development as a leader of teams.

20:18 Above all, your main task is to create that motivating team environment for excellent project success.