Your mom’s best friend’s project manager! Key skills for a successful career in project management and management - Semyon Kolosov

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to other team members. It sets high standards and ensures that all employees are accountable and comply with agreements. It helps create an atmosphere where everyone knows that their work is appreciated.

      Working under conditions of uncertainty

      Systemic does not mean bureaucracy and unconditional adherence to algorithms. The ideal PM is flexible, able to work in a changing environment, and able to develop solutions in the face of uncertainty. He knows that certainty exists only in mediocre projects. And not always. He is not afraid of uncertainty, he knows that projects can be subject to change, sudden shifts and surprises. He is ready to adapt coolly to new circumstances, to eliminate uncertainty or turn it into risks with all his actions. When it’s unclear what to do, there are many inputs or interdependent connections, he doesn’t panic, lose direction or call his mom in tears. The ideal PM is creative and goes beyond traditional methods and solutions. He is especially adept at communicating with the team and stakeholders to ensure that the situation is understood and changes are agreed to. Uncertainty for him is an everyday occurrence. No matter what happens, he will change the system to suit the conditions, just as sailors change course and sail position simultaneously when the wind changes.

      Responsibility and reliability

      In almost every job opening for a project manager you will find the requirement “to be responsible”. You don’t know the goals, conditions, team and atmosphere yet, but they already say that you will start working and you will be responsible. In short, the ideal PM is a responsible PM. But what does it mean to be responsible? I thought about this question for a very long time and decided that “taking responsibility” means making a decision and being prepared to experience negative emotions, suffering and pain if something goes wrong. To experience failure on one’s own, rather than being scared of it in the beginning and inaction. And if everything is clear with a person’s personal life, because there the consequences will inevitably come and it will be painful, where does responsibility at work come from?

      In the workplace, it is commonly believed that to be “responsible” is to have a vested interest in the business, the project, the outcome, etc. But how should an employee have a vested interest in someone else’s business? Cultures of “ownership positions” are invented and “shared missions and values” are created, but it doesn’t work. Because the business owner, partner and employees have different goals. And they use their work in the company for their own purposes, not for shared ones. They don’t care no matter what they tell them in the interview. The interests of the employees conflict with the interests of the owner at every turn. The business owner risks everything every day, the workers risk nothing. Where would the consequences that the worker would fear come from in such an arrangement? There is no accountability. Even to fire an employee for a joint is very difficult, if he is employed by law. And even if there is such leverage, the employee will simply change jobs. For some people this is scary, so they tolerate, do not dare to change and do their job responsibly. And some do it irresponsibly, but take advantage of the unprofessionalism or softness of management. Spent someone else’s investment, sitting on a salary, and no result – oh, well, it happens, sent the payment to the wrong place – sorry, promised cosmic goals and did not do it – so the world has changed, we are not to blame. It won’t be a big deal, the money and resources are not spent by the employee. And an employee will not agree to risk something personal and his own. Why should he go out of his comfort zone for a paycheck? There is no accountability, just a line in the mission and in the dreams of the manager. Even if the owner thinks he’s paying fairly. We know we never have enough and we work like wolves. It’s always unfair by default.

      Employees aren’t bad, they just have their own goals and motivations. That’s the way it should be. This needs to be recognized and understood, then the picture of what to do about it will become clearer. You just need to recognize that there is no premise for the birth of responsibility at work. Come down from the turquoise skies and stop imposing responsibility. Responsibility comes from within. And in the perfect PM, and in any human being. No matter where I’ve worked – from shanty towns to cool companies – there have been non-ideal processes, non-ideal salaries and non-ideal teams, but my employees have always been accountable. They may have complained and been disgruntled, but no one ever let me down. They were reliable. Their accountability came from not wanting to let me down specifically or let anyone down in principle. But in the beginning there was a desire to accomplish the goal, to be committed to achieving the goal and meeting the needs of the stakeholders, and to implement all necessary measures to achieve a successful bottom line. This is the kind of attitude that is valued in an ideal PM. It is always easier to quit than to change your attitude to that of a business owner. But it is this transformation that affects the application of all the skills of the ideal PM. Whatever he does, he will put his best effort to make the result. I mention this at the beginning because without an understanding of responsibility, the other skills are meaningless.

      Ability to recognize and reflect on mistakes

      A perfect PM knows that no one is perfect. Everyone is strong and weak at the same time. That is why he is not afraid to admit his mistakes, realize them and learn from past experiences. He knows that mistakes are inevitable, and instead of hiding them or denying them, he openly admits to them rather than turning the tables or holing up in Zoom without a camera. He accepts responsibility for mistakes, looks for ways to correct them, and never repeats them again. He may step on new rakes, but never on old ones. I have seen people who will deny their mistake and blame everyone around them until the end. I have seen managers who would rather find someone to blame and make him a scapegoat than draw conclusions and support the team. Therefore, it is equally important to understand the culture and management styles of the company to avoid being the one who just takes everything on himself and destroys his reputation. The ideal PM knows when to admit mistakes publicly, and when to admit them in the small circle of the team or in his or her own mind.

      Session 2.

      Planning

      Planning for the ideal PM is not just a Gantt chart. First and foremost, for him, it’s a process. A thought process. When planning, he looks at the entire project from analyzing the current situation to the ideal end result. This allows him to assemble a plan of action that will lead to the outcome with the highest probability. That is, to sign up for a plan that is impossible not to execute. Or realize on the shore that you need to change the terms or not do the project. You’ll never hear from the perfect PM, “Why bother planning? Things change so fast” or “There are too many inputs and scenarios, you can’t plan here.” He will consider all aspects of the situation and prioritize scenarios. He will choose the best plan of action and how to work with the plan to adapt when it is implemented.

      Evaluation and verification

      In a perfect world, the ideal PM is involved in sales, preparing a project estimate and a commercial proposal that leaves no chance to the client. He takes into account all factors related to the project and creates accurate estimates that help in planning and decision making. In the real world, a job estimate can be passed to the PM from sales department, another PM, etc. The project may be new, obscure, or have specific requirements. In such a case, I want the PM to know how to prepare a detailed estimate. Verify the functionality, cost and team, consider the risks and not overpromise. And if there is no experience, could organize the estimate using methodologies or with the help of other team members and experts that allow to make a realistic estimate in different scenarios, highlight assumptions and constraints. I think a 20% deviation from the initial estimate is acceptable, but you still want everything to be perfect. Often novice project managers can’t understand what to estimate because the scope is unclear or there are a lot of inputs. An ideal PM in such a situation fixes the project boundaries himself and describes the constraints. In his evaluation, it is always clear what scope or result is being evaluated, what can affect

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