Why Good Project Managers Matter

In many companies, unfortunately, this is the view on a PM's work. And the truth? A skilled project leader knows he/she needs to work in the dark to bring things into the light while saving your time and money and leading team members to great performance. Even though it seems clear, many companies are making a terrible mistake by ignoring investing in the “PM department”. So, why should you have a great PM on the board?

Because your team members want to be lead

Surely you have great professionals on your team – let it be software engineers, architects, or idea makers. To deliver their best results, they need to clearly understand their responsibilities, have their working time perfectly organized, and become enthusiastic about the common team goal. And to lead them there – that is the project manager's job. If he or she fails, it is quite possible that one of the following will happen:

• You will end up with an annoyed bunch of frustrated talents who become resistant to the project – and, we don't like to say it, but to you either. It will then be very difficult for you to build the trust and respect of the same or another team in your future projects.

• Or people will do what they enjoy, but with “the left-hand does not know what the right one is doing“ style. And since the team is one body, it may result in an uncontrolled choreography. Maybe you will get a wonderfully creative idea from your idea maker, but if its implementation costs three times more time and money than agreed with the client, at some point you will crash.

Therefore, a competent leader is the brain of the project and owns the project from the very beginning – when allocating resources and creating the first mindmap. Thanks to a project manager like this, you may proudly deliver the final piece of work to your honored client.

“A great project manager leads unique assets
to the common goal by perfect organizing
and cleverly targeted motivation.“

Because somebody needs to take chaos under control

Projects are chaotic, and that is ok. What is not ok, is when “being chaotic“ turns into a mess. It is exactly the breaking point differentiating an average PM from a great one. The great one sees the scope of work in terms of time and resources (using the Gantt chart), always keeps an eye on real vs. planned budget spend (with the Project budgets tool), and – especially with the large projects with many people involved – monitors risks. Before ensuring stakeholders everything will be ok, a great project manager will introduce you to data-based information allowing him/her to tell you so.

“You do not control chaos by lowering your voice,
but by having a doable plan your teammates
and stakeholders believe in it.“

Because you should rule the PM tool – and not vice versa

How many times have you asked yourself: Is the PM tool we use the right one? Average project managers see it comfier and money-wiser to stay with “good old software” while repeating the same mistakes. Some come up with adding one, two, three (you-name-it) extra tools – but this usually leads to distraction and annoyed team members. However, if there is a great project manager on your board, he/she will most probably suggest an all-in-one tool that can be adjusted to the size and needs of your business. To switch to another software may sound heavy, but it is all a question of quality support.

“If your PM comes up with an idea to switch
to all-in-one PM software, you can be sure
you have a dedicated partner on the board.“

Because soft skills are just a halfway to success

Around the web, a lot has been written about the importance of soft skills when managing people and projects. And we agree – a project manager truly should be a great diplomat, communicator, and empathic person. But there is another inevitability. Besides the soft skills, he/she should also master the features within the PM tool. For instance, a great agile PM should know:

• If Scrum or Kanban board fits the team better

• The necessary features to manage the digital projects

• How to adjust the PM software to his/her needs

• How to manage and have an overview of several projects within the team/organization

• How to work from anywhere using a few taps on the smartphone

• How to create working plans using the Gantt chart

“Mastering time-proven features
within a project management tool
has still been a challenge to many.“

Conclusion

Invest in the (development of your) project managers. Why? Once you grow a great PM, he/she will come up with the ideas to smoothen your workflow, keep the working atmosphere just as it should be, and do all to deliver the best results for your clients. To do all this, do not hesitate to provide your talents with an all-in-one tool instead of several applications or tools.