Today marks a new year, a chance to watch bowl games, and an opportunity to evaluate your own playbook as a project manager. Specifically, is a quarterback sneak in your PM playbook?
Many project managers have the ability to manage scope, schedule, budget, risks, and resources via tracker spreadsheets. However, managing in this fashion creates gaps in your execution. These gaps can manifest as cut scope, increased budget, and more than likely an end product that does not tie together well for users.
In 2011 I challenge project managers to get in the game. This means at times you have to run the football yourself. You can assist your team to make the small gains necessary to deliver a product and reach the end zone. This may mean getting involved to ensure a key piece of functionality is delivered on time, helping the QA team test the product, or answering user training questions. There is a delicate balance here to not assume long term responsibilities that should be handled by existing or new team members. If executed correctly though, the PM quarterback sneak will make you a better manager and help you ship better products.
Brook Buchanan is the Founder and Principal Consultant for Collistic
1st January 2011
