paradigm shift
I realize that there are several fundamental shifts that must be made within my thinking to be successful at this project management thing.
Stuff I need to learn that is somewhat boring:
1. My opinion is, in fact, important and valuable. Going from a generally administrative person to a project manager is a big change in thinking. As an admin, it's not your job to think, sad to say. It's your job to help your managers and get out of their way so they can get their own jobs done. Your input is not necessary or required, and if it's not asked of you, you generally don't even give your opinion. Of course, if it's in regard to something dangerous or illegal, you should speak up, but outside of that? Unless your manager asks what you think, you generally don't share your thoughts.
In contrast, as a project manager, your opinion is at least somewhat valuable. Granted, most of the work entails getting experts together, asking them questions, and THEN getting out of the way so they can get the real work done. But of course, as a PM, you have to understand to some extent what they're doing, and why, so you need to ask questions and give your thoughts as to the best way to go about something.
2. My time is, in fact, important and valuable. I was given very minimal guidance to start with for this whole asset management thing. Then, I was turned loose to figure out what was going on, and to figure out solutions. In order to do this, I have to talk to some high level, busy people -- and the only way to do that is to ask them for time. As an admin, you don't want to bother your bosses. As a PM, you kind of have to. Even as an admin, if you want to talk to your boss about your professional development, you should schedule time with your boss.
3. Make sure your bosses know what you're doing. When you're an admin, if you're doing your job correctly, you're pretty much invisible. But if you're managing a project, you have to be sure the higher ups know what you're pursuing, where you are in the process, and what you're achieving. There's a fine line between giving them too little information and too much. Knowing your managers' tendencies and how they tend to communicate can help you a lot. Personally, I assumed that all the upper managers knew about my new role, but they didn't. That was my bad.
4. Be proactive, not reactive. An administrative job is largely reactive -- you're answering the phone, you're responding to e-mails, you're ordering supplies. All of this comes from other people.
When you're managing a project, you have to spend time being proactive. You have to set aside time to transcribe your notes into your own project plan and work out your own next steps. You have to know when to answer your e-mails and when to let them sit. And you have to give yourself time to think about and digest the information you're getting from a hundred different sources.
If you react to every little thing that comes at you right away, you will lose. You will never get the things accomplished you want to get accomplished, because you will forever be doing these little things. Plus, you need at least some down time to make logical leaps and let your brain percolate over all of the things that are being thrown at you.
OK, that is all I was thinking about. I am boring! :)
Stuff I need to learn that is somewhat boring:
1. My opinion is, in fact, important and valuable. Going from a generally administrative person to a project manager is a big change in thinking. As an admin, it's not your job to think, sad to say. It's your job to help your managers and get out of their way so they can get their own jobs done. Your input is not necessary or required, and if it's not asked of you, you generally don't even give your opinion. Of course, if it's in regard to something dangerous or illegal, you should speak up, but outside of that? Unless your manager asks what you think, you generally don't share your thoughts.
In contrast, as a project manager, your opinion is at least somewhat valuable. Granted, most of the work entails getting experts together, asking them questions, and THEN getting out of the way so they can get the real work done. But of course, as a PM, you have to understand to some extent what they're doing, and why, so you need to ask questions and give your thoughts as to the best way to go about something.
2. My time is, in fact, important and valuable. I was given very minimal guidance to start with for this whole asset management thing. Then, I was turned loose to figure out what was going on, and to figure out solutions. In order to do this, I have to talk to some high level, busy people -- and the only way to do that is to ask them for time. As an admin, you don't want to bother your bosses. As a PM, you kind of have to. Even as an admin, if you want to talk to your boss about your professional development, you should schedule time with your boss.
3. Make sure your bosses know what you're doing. When you're an admin, if you're doing your job correctly, you're pretty much invisible. But if you're managing a project, you have to be sure the higher ups know what you're pursuing, where you are in the process, and what you're achieving. There's a fine line between giving them too little information and too much. Knowing your managers' tendencies and how they tend to communicate can help you a lot. Personally, I assumed that all the upper managers knew about my new role, but they didn't. That was my bad.
4. Be proactive, not reactive. An administrative job is largely reactive -- you're answering the phone, you're responding to e-mails, you're ordering supplies. All of this comes from other people.
When you're managing a project, you have to spend time being proactive. You have to set aside time to transcribe your notes into your own project plan and work out your own next steps. You have to know when to answer your e-mails and when to let them sit. And you have to give yourself time to think about and digest the information you're getting from a hundred different sources.
If you react to every little thing that comes at you right away, you will lose. You will never get the things accomplished you want to get accomplished, because you will forever be doing these little things. Plus, you need at least some down time to make logical leaps and let your brain percolate over all of the things that are being thrown at you.
OK, that is all I was thinking about. I am boring! :)