People focus Vs. Delivery focus

As a project manager, you have two chief duties.

  1. To deliver the project by the deadline and;
  2. To take care of the team that delivers the project.

Both the tasks are equally important, but typically, project managers favor one over the other in the natural course of the things.

While the soft project managers think about team aspects first, taskmasters care only about the deadline.

While the job of the project manager is to deliver the product of the project at the end by respecting time, quality and costs, people part, if overlooked may give negative results for the project over the long run.

Take a deep breathe and pause. Review recent actions. Analyze who you value more? Ask team members who are comfortable working with you how they find you?

Get clear on which type of project manager you are:

  1. The one who delivers by keeping the team happy
  2. The one who delivers by not caring if the team is happy or not

The answer to the above questions will bring the necessary awareness and will help you balance your actions and emerge as a successful project manager who is also loved by his team.