Good project managers needed 📅

Now that a few clients were on boarded for the consulting side of the company I’ve noticed that most of them are stuck because of the same thing and that is that they do not manage, track and measure projects well. I’m a bit intrigued that this is the case, but, not at all surprised I used to be terrible managing projects and worse of all managing my time. I suffered from the very same thing I’m looking at right now which are these two everything feels important and demands my attention. Now that I have more experience in general operations and project management it seems baffling that people would think like that, but, it’s worth mentioning that I was the same way.

I don’t want to come across as the all knowing one because I most certainly am not and have a lot more to learn and build on. But, maybe detailing common mistakes could be beneficial for someone.

As far as I can tell the problem ultimately stems from the talent in the upper level management realm. Meaning the Executives and upper managers (The people who take on the most difficult and sensitive projects). It’s relevant to state that I’m speaking within the realm of start ups not long established companies, they have their own monsters to deal with.

Executive’s problem

What I’ve seen and analyzed is that a lot of executives tend to overestimate the abilities of their managers just because they know they (themselves) could do it (or maybe they think they can). This creates a really big expectation bar for the managers to hit and if they don’t then it’s all their fault. I’m a huge proponent of accountability and putting people through the fire and hope they come out unscathed (I’ve gone through the fire), but, most people if they don’t know something they often don’t have the cognitive tools to figure it out.

This leaves the executives to question why their managers are so inefficient and it’s not as much a matter of inefficiency as it is a matter of ignorance. There are people willing to step up, but, you have to be a good teacher to help them or hire someone like me to do so.

In summary: The executive’s problem is measuring their managers by the standards that they measure themselves

Upper manager’s problem

It’s very funny that in a way the manager’s problems are rooted in overestimation as well. We’ve already talked about ignorance, the expectation that they could do more, etc. We all love the story of a good underdog, odds stacked against you and you still pull through… I’m afraid that odds almost always are right, you shouldn’t operate under the presumption that everything will go right and as planned. Let me use this to detail the other problem, the lack of preparing for when things go wrong. WE ALL WANT TO WIN! But, a lot of us won’t so establishing contingency plans, buffer time and having very present that something WILL go wrong is imperative. If nothing goes wrong? Great, relish and celebrate in your next to god level victory, but, understand that just because everything you planned and executed went amazingly well don’t pretend that it will always be the case.

In summary: Manager’s overestimate their abilities in pursuit of ambitions and their ignorance blinds them to the actual risk of the project

Let’s finish this

Even though most of this post is more about the negatives, don’t let that cloud your views and ambitions. Go for the big fish, try to conquer the world, do everything you can to achieve success. But, be aware of what could go wrong, and with that knowledge, minimize your chances of failure by preparing for the what-ifs.

Stay strong entrepreneurs!

-Gian from Hostpitality