Be a Better PM

This was presented at the Digital PM Summit on October 14, 2013,

You are not a robot, you're a project manager. You are valuable to your team because you're damn good at what you do. Let's think about project management as a practice, and how we can all be better at what we do, and truly support our teams and projects to make amazing products...on time, under budget, and conflict-free. This talk will hit on how WE, as a community of digital project management professionals, can better our skills and elevate the profession through solid practice in communications, stakeholder management, and a little bit of cheerleading.

**This is published under design only because the categories are...not inclusive. :)

Transcript

1. Be a
   DIGITAL PM SUMMIT
   Brett Harned | @brettharned
   Better
   Better
   PM
   

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2. ★ So lonely.
   

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3. ★ We have arrived!
   

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4. Thank you!
   (high ves all around)
   

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5. ★ You can thank @pmarsceill for this one on Twitter
   

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6. good
   You are a
   project manager
   

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7. better
   We can always be
   

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8. 1
   1
   Ask
   questions
   

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9. ★ PM of Steel
   

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10. 2
    2
    Learn
    from your mistakes
    

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11. Conduct a post mortem meeting:
    ˒ Quick session: Ask “What worked?” and “What didn’t work?”
    ˒ Compile your answers; draft a conversation guideline
    ˒ Conduct a 1-1.5 hour meeting
    ✦ Ground rules: no nger pointing
    ✦ Look for action items; ways to better process
    ✦ Accept all opinions, discuss them
    

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12. 3
    3
    patient
    Be
    

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13. 4
    4
    expectations
    Set
    

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14. ★ You’ll sort it out
    

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15. cope
    Understand your
    

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16. timeline
    Lock down your
    

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17. oles
    Establish
    

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18. ★ Who’s doing what? When?
    

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19. 5
    5
    cheerleader
    Be a
    

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20. ★ Go team!
    

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21. 6
    6
    Know
    your craft
    

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22. methodology
    Study your
    

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23. procedures
    Learn company
    

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24. tools
    Practice using
    the right
    

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25. skills
    people
    Hone your
    

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26. 7
    7
    difficult
    Don’t ignore
    conversations
    

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27. 8
    8
    calendar
    Own your
    

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28. 9
    9
    process
    Own your
    

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29. 10
    10
    Share
    everything
    

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30. Share
    (almost)
    everything
    

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31. 11
    11
    nacks
    Bring
    

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32. ★ Feed them
    

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33. 12
    12
    Vent
    (to the right people)
    

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34. 13
    13
    fun
    Have
    

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35. ★ A little bit of dancing can lighten the mood
    

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36. 14
    14
    “No”
    Practice saying
    

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37. ★ Practice makes perfect
    

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38. 15
    15
    oofread
    everything
    

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39. `
    16
    16
    concise
    Be
    

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40. 17
    17
    notes
    Take good
    

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41. ★ Make your notes clear and concise (happy robots edit)
    

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42. 18
    18
    feedback
    Facilitate useful
    

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43. 19
    19
    tatus
    Conduct
    

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44. ★ Team status meetings: helping get things done!
    

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45. ★ Client status calls make everyone happy
    

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46. Every status should include:
    What’s important?
    ˒ What was done last week
    ˒ What will be done this week/next week
    ˒ Action items
    ˒ Update on timeline
    ˒ Update on budget
    ˒ Risks & Issues
    

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47. 20
    20
    Follow-up!
    

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48. 21
    21
    Understand
    what it takes
    

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49. ★ Learn from your peers
    

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50. What’s it gonna take?
    Sample task: Create HTML Wireframes
    ˒ Brainstorming Session/Sketching (1-2 hours)
    ˒ Follow-up session (1 hour)
    ˒ Set up environment to build HTML wireframes (1 hour)
    ˒ Code wireframes (24 hours)
    ˒ Internal team review (1 hour)
    ˒ Edit (4-6 hours)
    ˒ Make public, present wireframes to clients (2 hours)
    

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51. 22
    22
    jerk
    Be a
    (when you have to)
    

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52. 23
    23
    Keep
    calm
    

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53. time
    you need
    Take the
    

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54. personally
    Don’t take everything so
    

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55. mistakes
    It’s okay to
    

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56. mistakes
    It’s okay to make
    

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57. perspective
    Keep
    

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58. 24
    24
    informed
    Stay
    

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59. http://cog.gd/5ns
    All the links...
    (my blog: brettharned.com)
    

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60. 25
    25
    proud
    Be
    of your role
    

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61. ★ Let your PM ag y!
    

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62. After the Digital PM Summit, let’s...
    So what’s next?
    ˒ Connect
    ˒ Learn
    ˒ Share
    

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63. Thanks!
    Brett Harned | @brettharned | brettharned.com
    dpm2013.com | ownercamp.com
    

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