Issues are bound to occur in projects. Issues can arise within the project team/performing organization, project sponsor, stakeholders, customers, vendors, etc. A project manager should identify, record, track and resolve issues using the issue log throughout the project. Failure to resolve issues might affect the project delivery.

As always, enforce a deadline to resolve the issues and to achieve a WIN-WIN outcome.

Your project plans need to be detailed for the near term so everyone knows:

• what they are working on,
• what their accountability is for the deliverables and quality, and
• how this fits into the greater objective.

The only thing that is certain about a long term detailed plan is that it will be wrong. PMs can learn a lot from military strategy - a general doesn’t plan a battle in detail but depends on the soldiers knowing their objectives, so they can react to events and seize opportunities.

“A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” - General George S. Patton

Establish a climate of trust on your project. This is a practice-what-you-preach concept so it has to start with you.

Build Trust

• Make an effort to get to know your team and your stakeholders.
• Make a point of being trustworthy through with every decision you make, every response you give.
• Lead by example. Let your team know how to behave by watching how you behave.

Manage Trust

• Build a communications plan so you know your team is building important relationships effectively.
• Set an open door policy. You want people to come to you with problems.
• Encourage trustworthiness in your people. Don’t punish them for making mistakes or bringing you bad news.

Project managers are inherent leaders. You need to inspire your team to work harder to accomplish more work for less cost and better quality. Listen to the team’s concerns, their understanding of the value of the project, its significance and their role in the bigger picture. Make sure your team is submerged in the mission of the project.

Listening skills for a project manager is crucial for effective communications across the project. Make sure messages relayed to the team by self or others are (1) clear, (2) accurate, (3) relevant, (4) concise, (5) at the correct level of detail and (6) transmitted using the most effective medium.

IT Architect & Systems Engineer - IBM Corporation
Project Management Faculty - Prince George’s Community College
Board of Directors, Chair - Islamic Leadership Institute of America

When working in projects, even if a small one, it is very common to get confused in the lot of information and situations that appear. You should maintain the focus in the solution and coach your team to behave in the same way.

This can be reached when the information is organized, the solution is clear, the vision of the end-state is commonly shared and the team is motivated to get the work done.

Difficult situations will pop-up during the project life cycle and if the dynamic of finding the solution is well disseminated among the team and the stakeholders the success of the project will be easier to achieve.

PMO - Citibank Brasil