Transcription
Six things that every good project manager does. So we're going to do a deep dive into what PMs do and how they can be great. So what are the main focuses of PMs? And what are some steps that you can follow tomorrow? Instead of giving a big ol' honkin' list, like I'm gonna give you six things that you can do to elevate your game tomorrow, and I think you're gonna love it.
So we have a bunch of content on this channel talking about what PMs do with comprehensive lists. You already know that the project manager manages that project from the start to finish. And curate, brokers, procures, and helps with his or her builder knowledge to get everything that the project team needs to go build it successfully and on time. So that means building the team. That means helping to make the plan. That means allocating resources.
So I do want to draw that if you really want to think about something really, really simple, a simple pattern, whether you're an owner, or an owner's rep, whatever it is, but in this case, a PM, you will always build the team, and the team comes first. Okay? That team will make a plan. You remember in Jim Collins' books, he says get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off, the right people in the right seats, and then decide where to drive the bus. So a great project manager will always build a team, then the team decides what the plan is. And then it's really the PM's job to make sure that the team has the right resources. Like, that's really the main focus. Now we can dig into like, oh, I see meetings and pay applications. Yeah, I get these are all tools. But at the end of the day, a PM will build the team, make the plan, and provide the resources to execute that plan. That is the basic role of a PM.
So according to this basic outline, I'm going to give you six steps that you can follow to be an amazing PM. And I really, really, like I said, I think you're going to enjoy it. And if I deliver on this well-researched topic, I would like to ask you to like this video. The algorithm on YouTube notices that it scales this information to more people. So the question is, if the video is helpful, do we want more people to see it? Yes or no? Likes, subscriptions, and sharing really add to that ability to scale and share. So let's get started one by one.
Number one, build a team. So we already talked about this. There's a couple of things I want you to know about this. Number one, teams, when they start to form, this is called the forming stage. Then when they start to like work together, this is called the storming phase. And the reason I always draw arrows on top of each other is because there's conflict, they're stepping on each other's toes, they don't know each other, it's a little bit of a rough start. But then that leader will want to start to rally the team around him or her. And to really start to norm, that's called the norming phase. So forming, storming, norming. And then what happens is the PM will build the team around the plan. And everybody, including the leader, will follow that plan. And I'll just put L for leader there. These are the different phases.
So a PM for building the team is going to, and let me just take you through this one by one, form the team by getting the right people with the right experience. Okay, it was the right experimentation with that project type and people that complement each other and can fill the right roles. Secondly, we're going to have assignments and roles on the project. So the PM will, as the team starts to work together, watch for that unhealthy conflict and start to build the team in this way. Have them get to know each other, build trust, have healthy conflict, not unhealthy conflict, right? And then start setting goals together, then holding each other accountable. So the project manager will really help the team through the storming phase, where people are having some bank conflict and stepping on each other's toes. Then the leader will really start to rally the team and adjust where everybody's headed towards a common culture, which means their common actions and beliefs, actions and beliefs. So the leader will rally them together into a culture to where they start to normalize. That's why that's called the norming phase of the project. And then what happens is with that team, the leader will set a plan. And this is when the team starts to actually perform, which I'll show on here with PERS.
So when building the team, this is the main focus of the project manager. And I want you to know that that triangle or that that, I don't know what you want to call it, a pyramid or pillar, whatever you want to call it, is really built on people getting to know each other so that people will help with that building trust. So connecting people, having healthy, so I'll put H C O N F L, healthy conflict. Once they engage in healthy conflict, they will set goals together, and then hold each other accountable. Once they hold each other accountable, again, they will be back to performing. But I do want you to know that in order to get this done, you'll want to have proximity. Okay? You will want to get people to know each other. Because people like people that they like, people like people that they know, people like people that they are near, and it is your job to build that team. If you want more information, there's a book called The Five Dysfunctions of a Team that will help you with this. But that's habit number one.
Number two is keep the team focused. So if you have a team that's built and is cohesive, and you have that working group of people, I'll just draw them as little humans here, right? You need to keep them focused on the next milestone or focused on the next task. And here's the reason. There's a pattern in team building where if you have the right leader, which we're assuming you are, and then you build the team, you must then have a goal or a target or a milestone. So the leader is there to support the team. And the goal is there to get the best out of the team. So it's always leader, build a team, goal, leader, build a team, goal. And these all work together, you have to have all three. So if you have a nice team, what are they focused on? And are they working in one-piece flow? And what is the milestone they're working to? That will galvanize them and force them to work together, as long as it's a possible target.
Number three, if your team is focused, a good project manager will manage the risks. So the way that I like to really look at this is, if you have a team that you've built, right, we've already covered this, right, and they're working towards a milestone, we can look at it like this. There are massive risks, roadblocks, constraints, black swans, missed opportunities. A project manager, oh my gosh, I love this video so far. Like, you've got to like this video, it's crazy. Once you have the team, and you've got them focused, a good project manager will keep focused on those risks, those roadblocks, and those constraints, and move the team around them or remove them ahead of time so that there can be ideal flow and good productivity.
Number four, would be track the finances. I will say that this is important because yes, we have to know the dollar amounts. So you're going to want to know, in your financial projections, it will link you to the video about this. But like, what, how much buyout contingency do you have? What amount of buyout do you have remaining? What are in your different contingency buckets? What kind of gains do you get from labor or insurance or bonds? How does your current fee tie into that whole thing? And what, how does that all math out to total to your gross profit? Now, one of the big things I want you to know is that you can't really make more money by just managing numbers, but a project manager can make sure that you have a good team with a good plan and prevent money from being lost, right? You already have probably a guaranteed maximum price, or a lump sum, you have a stipulated sum, right? So you can't like have money magically show up. But you can make sure that you're not losing it. So one of the key habits is to always be in tune with the financial projections throughout and to manage those numbers.
Number five, what I want to talk about is to always have the plan. Not only will, if you have a team, and you have the target, let's say this is substantial completion, not only will you make sure that there's a long-term plan, but there's also like a 90 to 120 day plan. And there's also a short interval plan with these checks. So maybe this is your long-term milestone, right? Maybe this is your shorter-term milestone, and that you have a short interval milestone that really keeps people focused in the right direction. So a good project manager will make sure that along this path, that everybody knows what the plan is for these different intervals. And if you get behind, a good project manager will help recover, help recover, help recover.
Which is number six that I wanted to mention: solve problems. So I'll leave you with this bit of advice, which I think you will be like, I stole this from Jean Wickman in the EOS system, but IDSS is identified, discuss, solve. So if you have these problems, like I was talking about, if you have delays that you're going to help recover, that's great. It's your job to help get the team back on track by bringing those to the surface, discussing them, and solving them together.
So this is an overview of the six main habits of a project manager. If you do those things well, you could really, really win on your project. And one thing I'd like to say, if you really want to amp up your career, I'd love to see you in our Super PM Boot Camp, where you will learn the process for planning and running a lean project from start to finish. I hope you've enjoyed this video. On we go.