$30 off During Our Annual Pro Sale. View Details »

PM Pitfalls—DPM:UK, Manchester 2015

Suze Haworth
January 31, 2015
320

PM Pitfalls—DPM:UK, Manchester 2015

Being a project manager is easy… said no project manager, ever. There are plenty of hazards, perils and obstacles waiting to get in the way of running a project smoothly, making us want to tear our hair out on a daily basis. There are ones of our own making (yes, we are human), or caused by our team or the client. There are also external factors lurking around every corner just waiting to derail our projects.

In her talk, Suze goes through some of the common pitfalls facing us every day on our projects—as well as ones we least suspect—and how best to tackle and overcome them. All while keeping a smile on our faces and our sanity intact!

Suze Haworth

January 31, 2015
Tweet

Transcript

  1. PM PITFALLS
    Suze Haworth
    @suzehaworth

    View Slide

  2. How to plan for the unknown!
    !
    PM PITFALLS

    View Slide

  3. How to plan for the unknown!
    !
    PM PITFALLS

    View Slide

  4. How to plan for the unknown!
    !
    PM PITFALLS
    How to think like an action hero…

    View Slide

  5. pitfall!
    ˈpɪtfɔːl/!
    noun!
    noun: pitfall; plural noun: pitfalls!
    ! ! 1. 

    a hidden or unsuspected danger or difficulty."the pitfalls of buying goods at public
    auctions"!
    ! ! synonyms:!
    ! ! hazard, danger, risk, peril, difficulty, issue, problem, catch, snag, stumbling block,
    drawback; informal banana skin !
    "the pitfalls of setting up an office at home”!
    2. !
    a covered pit for use as a trap.

    View Slide

  6. pitfall!
    ˈpɪtfɔːl/!
    noun!
    noun: pitfall; plural noun: pitfalls!
    ! ! 1. 

    a hidden or unsuspected danger or difficulty."the pitfalls of buying goods at public
    auctions"!
    ! ! synonyms:!
    ! ! hazard, danger, risk, peril, difficulty, issue, problem, catch, snag, stumbling block,
    drawback; informal banana skin !
    "the pitfalls of setting up an office at home”!
    2. !
    a covered pit for use as a trap.

    View Slide

  7. pitfall!
    ˈpɪtfɔːl/!
    noun!
    noun: pitfall; plural noun: pitfalls!
    ! ! 1. 

    a hidden or unsuspected danger or difficulty."the pitfalls of buying goods at public
    auctions"!
    ! ! synonyms:!
    ! ! hazard, danger, risk, peril, difficulty, issue, problem, catch, snag, stumbling block,
    drawback; informal banana skin !
    "the pitfalls of setting up an office at home”!
    2. !
    a covered pit for use as a trap.

    View Slide

  8. Risk vs uncertainty

    View Slide

  9. Risk vs uncertainty
    • Risk: the events and issues that can be
    foreseen, so mitigation can be put in place

    View Slide

  10. Risk vs uncertainty
    • Risk: the events and issues that can be
    foreseen, so mitigation can be put in place
    • Uncertainty: the unknown issues that you can’t
    plan specifically for that can derail your project

    View Slide

  11. The client

    View Slide

  12. The client

    View Slide

  13. The client
    • Know your ‘enemy’

    View Slide

  14. The client
    • Know your ‘enemy’
    • Pre-empt their concerns

    View Slide

  15. The client
    • Know your ‘enemy’
    • Pre-empt their concerns
    • Check in regularly

    View Slide

  16. The tech

    View Slide

  17. The tech

    View Slide

  18. The tech
    • Try not to over rely on your tools

    View Slide

  19. The tech
    • Try not to over rely on your tools
    • Back up

    View Slide

  20. The tech
    • Try not to over rely on your tools
    • Back up
    • Consider a generic contingency response plan

    View Slide

  21. The PM—you!

    View Slide

  22. The PM—you!

    View Slide

  23. The PM—you!
    • You don’t have to do everything

    View Slide

  24. The PM—you!
    • You don’t have to do everything
    • Make sure you delegate tasks to the right
    members of the team

    View Slide

  25. The PM—you!
    • You don’t have to do everything
    • Make sure you delegate tasks to the right
    members of the team
    • Try to minimise the single points of failure

    View Slide

  26. The team

    View Slide

  27. The team

    View Slide

  28. The team
    • Ensure there are back ups

    View Slide

  29. The team
    • Ensure there are back ups
    • No single point of failure - again! (Hint, this is
    important)

    View Slide

  30. The team
    • Ensure there are back ups
    • No single point of failure - again! (Hint, this is
    important)
    • Work fast to isolate the single points of failure,
    and put in place actions to get rid of them

    View Slide

  31. So an action hero…

    View Slide

  32. So an action hero…
    • Knows the enemy

    View Slide

  33. So an action hero…
    • Knows the enemy
    • Keeps things simple

    View Slide

  34. So an action hero…
    • Knows the enemy
    • Keeps things simple
    • Takes on a sidekick

    View Slide

  35. So an action hero…
    • Knows the enemy
    • Keeps things simple
    • Takes on a sidekick
    • Makes sure they don’t have single points of
    failure

    View Slide

  36. So an action hero… PM
    • Knows the enemy
    • Keeps things simple
    • Takes on a sidekick
    • Makes sure they don’t have single points of
    failure

    View Slide

  37. And finally…

    View Slide

  38. And finally…
    Never let an explosion knock you over, just keep
    on going…

    View Slide

  39. Thanks!!
    !
    Suze Haworth
    @suzehaworth

    View Slide