I’ve spent the past week identifying my personal key performance indicators moving into September — these are the sets of things that I do every day (3 things) and every week (6 things) to set myself up for success. This could be a whole post on its own, but basically my rules for these things are:
- As few items on the list as possible. I don’t want any filler because they need to be doable EVERY day/week, so they’re ONLY the things that are critical for success.
- They HAVE to be ACTIONS that I can choose to take or not take; they can’t be tied up in the results that come from these actions or the responses other people have to them. (For my KPI nerds in the audience, this would make them a “leading indicator”.)
For the rest of the year, one of these “weekly” KPIs is showing up on social 3x/week. And one of the things I know about my audience is that they seem to respond well to video. And video that is specifically… my face. This is no doubt at least partially because that’s what the Instagram algorithm prioritizes, but still — it’s a takeaway. So I’ve been thinking this week about alllll the feelings I have about showing up on camera.
There are always SO MANY reasons not to show up on-camera. I need a haircut. I’ve got some acne on my chin — maybe it will be better next week, and I should just do a reel then! The lighting isn’t right — it’s stormy this morning. I think the weather is supposed to be better tomorrow, I’ll record then. I’m tired. Look how baggy the circles under my eyes are!
Moreover, even once I do manage to take a video of my face saying some words about project management, I’m also just not that great at making reels. I never know how to pick audio, or sync up the cuts that even the “MAKE AN EASY REEL IT WILL TAKE 30 SECONDS AND YOU’LL NEVER LOOK BACK!!!!!!!” creators promise are “beginner” tutorials.
In contrast, there’s really only one reason to show up on camera: the posts do better. They’re shared more, bookmarked more. People reply to them back-channel. And then those same people are more likely to ask me more complicated questions in the future, which helps me be a better content creator and helps them get their questions answered to the degree of complexity that will actually help them.
So — only one real reason to show up on camera… and yet, what, out of the laundry list of reasons not to show up, could possibly outweigh that? What could possibly matter more than making the content that 1) people see and 2) feels helpful?
The connection to project management here is that project managers exist because projects are rarely straightforward. There are always competing priorities. Stakeholders always have different definitions of success — sometimes unaligned with each other, and sometimes in direct opposition. Often, resolving those priorities ultimately generates a set of next steps that may ask team members or stakeholders to lean away from their natural inclinations; a project manager might need to serve in a coaching support role alongside all the other hats they’re wearing.
A great project manager sees these disparate priorities and demands on resources and, instead of getting overwhelmed, takes a moment to:
Pause, reflect, and come back to strategy.
When we’re coming back to strategy, we might ask ourselves questions like:
Why was the project initiated in the first place? What strategic goals in the overall organization does it support? How does it do this: in concert with other, complementary projects? Or maybe as a standalone within the portfolio? How does it connect to other stakeholders? Who authorized it — who is the project sponsor?
There aren’t right or wrong answers here. We’re just looking to deepen our contextual understanding. And as a new project manager, you aren’t necessarily responsible for understanding the answers to these questions on your own. Your responsibility, especially when you’re new, is usually around understanding where these priorities are in conflict, making the smartest recommendation you can, and flagging it for your manager. But you’ll be able to do this more quickly and effectively if you follow the above: pause, reflect, and come back to strategy.
You’ll also be able to better build your case for moving forward, should you find that the right next steps are ones that your project team might drag their feet against. Often, our jobs as PMs are based in leadership as much as any other technical skill. Think about how you’ve motivated teams in the past: isn’t it always easier to build consensus when team members have a clearer understanding of how their work ladders up to org-wide success? You can’t provide that understanding unless it’s clear to you… and often, as the PM, you might find that building that strategic connection hasn’t been done for you. It’s part of your work as the project owner.
This “pause, reflect, come back to strategy” mantra is so helpful to me that I keep it on a sticky note on my desk. I don’t only look at it when I’m preparing to make a reel in spite of needing a haircut… but I do look at it then, just as I look at it when I’m neck-deep in a particularly thorny project. Hopefully it’s helpful to you in a similarly broad set of contexts!
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