Collective Wisdom from the Experts 123
A few words about “ego.” My favorite project manager had the maturity and
self-discipline to keep his ego out of the way. Even though he was the boss,
he didn’t abuse his power, change tasks, or shift direction based on a whim.
His actions were never detrimental to team productivity, since his main goal
was to facilitate the team’s progress toward excellence.
By controlling his ego, he and the team achieved amazing results with satisfied
end-users and upper management, all while meeting budget and time con-
straints. Because this management style was so effective, there was a noticeable
absence of all-nighters, yelling, and general tension at the end of the project.
In less mature corporate environments, a project manager and a smoothly
performing team may not be recognized, because every project will seem
easy. Even without acknowledgment, satisfaction came to our team members
through doing right by the company, the end-users, and one another.
Today, an agile approach can provide new tools to make you a more effec-
tive project manager. I suggest you familiarize yourself with them, even if you
aren’t fortunate enough to work for an organization that has adopted these
methodologies. Instead, begin integrating these tools into your traditional
project management toolbox. Realize that one of the key roles of the project
manager is to increase the team’s velocity, and to work towards creating a team
environment with few inhibitors to productivity.