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!

Transcript

1. PM PITFALLS
   Suze Haworth
   @suzehaworth
   

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

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

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

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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.
   

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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.
   

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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.
   

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8. Risk vs uncertainty
   

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

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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
    

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11. The client
    

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12. The client
    

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13. The client
    • Know your ‘enemy’
    

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

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

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16. The tech
    

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17. The tech
    

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

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

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

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21. The PM—you!
    

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22. The PM—you!
    

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

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

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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
    

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26. The team
    

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27. The team
    

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28. The team
    • Ensure there are back ups
    

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

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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
    

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31. So an action hero…
    

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32. So an action hero…
    • Knows the enemy
    

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

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

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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
    

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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
    

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37. And finally…
    

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

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39. Thanks!!
    !
    Suze Haworth
    @suzehaworth
    

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