Antiwork

[Kepler]

Good luck, but being in the same boat I've found the snark still slips out when a project is trending red, or a customer or coworker is particularly...uh..."difficult".

Hit me up on the reddit PM sub. It's going to be very easy to figure out who I am based on name. I'd love to hear your experiences and advice because despite being a confident person I have First Day of School jitters about changing careers and could use the support.

My plan for dealing with the difficult stakeholders is go full Ted Lasso on them.

[dxmnkd316]

I've been a PM for capital projects at a large company for over a decade now. Sometimes snark is appropriate, though almost never in email.

I'll give you the same advice I was given by one of the best PMs my company has had: You can be late, you can be overspent, and you can be late and overspent. What matters in the end is you deliver a working process.

One other bit of advice from our most senior PM currently. Never take anything personally. You're going to get beat up a lot and it won't be your fault. Your job is to deliver.

And be honest. If you're going to be late/overspent, tell people. They can plan around that.

[Kepler]

I've been a PM for capital projects at a large company for over a decade now. Sometimes snark is appropriate, though almost never in email.

I'll give you the same advice I was given by one of the best PMs my company has had: You can be late, you can be overspent, and you can be late and overspent. What matters in the end is you deliver a working process.

One other bit of advice from our most senior PM currently. Never take anything personally. You're going to get beat up a lot and it won't be your fault. Your job is to deliver.

And be honest. If you're going to be late/overspent, tell people. They can plan around that.

Thank you, this all helps and is highly inuitive.

I believe in transparency and honesty and giving people the room they need and want to get jobs done.

[burd]

Thank you, this all helps and is highly inuitive.

I believe in transparency and honesty and giving people the room they need and want to get jobs done.

weird

[Swansong]

I do a lot of small-scale project management (mostly developing and implementing new workflows). It's never easy but I agree with above advice. Be as transparent as possible, hold people accountable to the best of your ability, and daily check-ins are key. Ignore the whining about them.

A daily standup for 15-30 minutes doesn't material take away from anyone's day and it lets you get almost real-time updates. It also softly holds people accountable without you needing to harangue them.

[Kepler]

I am a believer in actual stand ups (disabilities allowed for obviously). I know I am a different speaker and listener when I have my butt in a chair than when I am up. I probably use 10% of the words to make the same point.

[MissThundercat]

My line lead: Your stats are important!

Also my line lead: *makes decisions which hurt my department's stats*

[LynahFan]

My PM advice: never go to your boss with problems. Go to him/her with a recommended solution that you would like them to endorse. Even if you are horribly wrong and they have to tell you to do something completely different, it's still way better than going in asking, "derrrrrr, what do I do now?"

[dxmnkd316]

My PM advice: never go to your boss with problems. Go to him/her with a recommended solution that you would like them to endorse. Even if you are horribly wrong and they have to tell you to do something completely different, it's still way better than going in asking, "derrrrrr, what do I do now?"

To an extent. I'd rather say I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to XYZ. Do you know who our corporate experts are in CYZ?

The worst thing you can do is waste his or her time, the project's time, or money. Don't spend a week trying to figure something out and propose a solution that makes you look stupid.

[Kepler]

My PM advice: never go to your boss with problems. Go to him/her with a recommended solution that you would like them to endorse. Even if you are horribly wrong and they have to tell you to do something completely different, it's still way better than going in asking, "derrrrrr, what do I do now?"

I don't agree at all. In general, hiding is a bad solution.

[LynahFan]

I don't agree at all. In general, hiding is a bad solution.

I’m in no way talking about hiding. I’m just saying that when you do (as soon as you can) tell them about a problem/challenge, *also* tell them what you intend to do about it. I’m not talking about hiding the problem until after you have actually solved it - I’m saying go in with a plan for solving it.

[Kepler]

I’m in no way talking about hiding. I’m just saying that when you do (as soon as you can) tell them about a problem/challenge, *also* tell them what you intend to do about it. I’m not talking about hiding the problem until after you have actually solved it - I’m saying go in with a plan for solving it.

I meant hiding one's uncertainty.

I certainly ascribe to the cliche that bad direct reports bring their managers problems and good ones bring them solutions. But I read your statement as "if you don't have a solution keep quiet," and I do not agree with that. I'm much rather somebody who understands their limitations (and is willing to learn) than somebody who is trying to play superman (and believes admission of ignorance is weakness).

[jerphisch]

Kep, Project or Program? If Program your endless optimism will be erased by Friday. If Project and you want any help on RTX stuff or whatever you can look me up and msg me, 1132010.

[LynahFan]

I meant hiding one's uncertainty.

I certainly ascribe to the cliche that bad direct reports bring their managers problems and good ones bring them solutions. But I read your statement as "if you don't have a solution keep quiet," and I do not agree with that. I'm much rather somebody who understands their limitations (and is willing to learn) than somebody who is trying to play superman (and believes admission of ignorance is weakness).

Sigh. I am clearly unable to communicate on this topic.

Last try: Share *everything*, including unknowns, uncertainties, risks, and of course specific things that you need your boss to do for the project to succeed (resources, doors opened, etc), but do not expect your boss to do your job for you. I have seen that situation far too often - if the boss ends up wondering "what am I paying this guy for?" then he won't be asking that question for very long.

[Kepler]

Kep, Project or Program? If Program your endless optimism will be erased by Friday. If Project and you want any help on RTX stuff or whatever you can look me up and msg me, 1132010.

Project. Thanks!