Project managers believe it or not are good at managing, the giveaway is in their job title. Make their roles easier by embracing what they do and having the right structures in place to make them succeed. Remember if they succeed so do you, your business, your project, your program, your implementation, it is a win-win for all parties and stakeholders.

See below for some helpful points:

• TRUST your Project Manager to deliver.
• Give your Project Manager more authority, don’t have them at the bottom of the food chain.
• Don’t impede and block Project Managers with unnecessary governance, it will only frustrate and delay delivery.
• For organisations, have good PMO and Project sponsor structures in place to aid Project Managers and help deliver successful projects.
• Embrace different project methodologies, there is no one fit for everything. Tailoring is key.
• Match project methodologies to the project being delivered and get advice/guidance from your project manager. Methodologies should fit the project, not the other way around.
• Don’t standardise delivery, there is nothing standard about projects.
• Never micro-manage a Project Manager, they will become disinterested, and productivity will suffer. It never works!
• For organisations embrace Project Management as a profession, it’s a unique skill.
• Don’t blame Project Managers for project delays and failure because it’s the easy thing to do.
• Use Project Managers experience, most have worked in different industries and delivered projects of different sizes.
• Embrace project managers flexibility, they are one of the few professions that can work in a multitude of environments and situations.
• Project Managers can be program managers, change managers, test managers, business analysts, training managers, wannabe solution architects to name but a few, what other profession possess such a wide range of skills? – use them wisely.
• For organisations don’t follow textbook project management, real life is different, every project is different – don’t overburden Project Managers with unnecessary documentation & templates.
• Reward and recognise your Project Managers, don’t take the credit for what they do, without them your project will fail.