Expectations From Project Managers

People will expect a lot! To be fair, the majority of the expectations are truly what you are supposed to do as a PM.  Some of the expectations are “a plus” and very nice to have on your repertoire of best practices. A few are completely unrealistic – but still expectations that you need to take into consideration for the sake of the project!

Here are a few expectations that a PM encounters:

• You have to take ownership of the project by the minute after you were assigned as the project manager.

• People will expect you to refer to historical information from similar projects to avoid making the same mistakes from the past.

• People will expect you to be the scope specialist of the project.  You should go over and over again through the requirements with the client and project team until you feel comfortable that scope is crystal clear.

• People will expect you to have the project schedule almost memorized in your mind, including the sequence of activities, duration and assigned resources. Is that possible? No, but you will see that having the schedule (and project baselines) with you will come in handy.

• The project team will expect recognition for the good work.  A happy hour to celebrate a successful project closure is a best practice in the industry.

• People will expect you to protect the team from having to deal with politics.

• People will expect you to say no when necessary and for the best interest of the project. Remember, that you own the project and you are accountable for the success or failure.

• People will expect you to say yes when necessary and for the best interest of the project. Having to say yes will most of the time mean accept a change request. Make sure that you evaluate the impact of the change in the project and that the change is approved by the change management board.

• In a meeting people will expect you to takeover and run the meeting – meaning that you send the meeting agenda, you make notes, you request people to provide time estimates for actions defined in the meeting and you send the meeting minutes and next steps to all participants at the end of the meeting.

• People will expect you to be communication savvy. That means integrate the whole project management process in verbal and writing communication. Translate business expectations into technical deliverable (and vice verse), create a communication plan, plan meetings, document all steps of the project, etc.

• People will expect you to capture every lesson, learnt (successes and failures) in the project and effectively share it with the team to be used for future projects.

• Report, report and report. People will expect you to frequently provide reports on the project status.

• Facilitate every aspect of the project, establish a good work environment, minimize conflict and resolve issues.

The list of expectations is much bigger, and it will vary depending on project size, organizational environment and especially the organization structure.

The important thing is to identify the “hidden” expectations from your clients and project members and evaluate what is applicable for the projects you are working with.