Project Management is People Management
The key to successful project management is to focus on managing people rather than things.
By making the statement that Project Management is all about managing people and not things, it doesn’t deny the fact that there are many “things” that still need to be achieved for a successful project. However as a project manager, it is important to keep in mind that you are the conductor of a team of people who will help you deliver a project. It’s a chain, and it only takes one weak link to bring the whole project to a standstill.
As a project manager your first goal is to try and surround yourself with a team you know and trust, who are experts in their individual fields, and bring solutions not problems to the table.
Of course this is not always possible, as many clients have their own preferred consultants and builders who they have a relationship with. In this instance take the time to get to know your team members, understand how they work and what motivates them, and work with those traits not against them.
However, there is always the 10% who are just not team players…cut them loose before they bring the whole project down.
John Rosel