Sin #3. Thou Shalt Not mistake Project Admin for Project Management.

“Wait – but my ‘project manager’ doesn’t do any of those things?!”
My post yesterday generated a whole lot of DMs into my inbox. 😕

Many organisations do not really see the value of a #ProjectManagement function. Instead, they have Project Admins, Project Officer (or Project Management Officer – PMO), Project Leads.

Project Admins:
🍎 Updates project plan
🍎 Keeps tool up to date (JIRA/Confluence/Trello etc)
🍎 Schedule meetings
🍎 Updates Project Documentation
🍎 Sets up logistics
🍎 Manges budget and project finances
They have been hired to do the tactical.

Instead, Project Managers:
🍩 Manages project scope
🍩 Sets and manages project budget
🍩 Inspires and motivates project team
🍩 Plans and executes communication strategy
🍩 Monitors project progress and keeps it on track
🍩 Takes responsibility for risk management
🍩 Manages client relationship

We do so much more than project admins.

We do the hard stuff.
Like dealing with the messy business of human relationships.

It’s easier to do the easy stuff.
Hiding in JIRA and user story management.
Doing busywork in Trello and excel and reporting.
Hassling for project updates and complaining about delays.

#RealProjectManagers do not shy away from the difficult business of building human relationships.

We don’t shy away from conflicts and having that challenging conversation when it’s needed.

When you mistake project admins for project managers, you’re not setting your project up for success.

It might be ok for small-medium sized projects that are low-risk, low-complexity, with amiable clients and a team that gets along reasonably well.

But when the smelly stuff hits the fan… 💩
It’s not going to be a pretty sight.

Have you ever worked with a #RealProjectManager?

#OnThePeiroll
#ARealProjectManagerIsntNamedFigment

—
This is part of the “Sins of #ProjectManagement” series started off on the Salesforce Ben webinar I did with Ben McCarthy.
Link in comments 👇🏻