Finally, I feel like a PM again…

ByElizabeth Harrin Last updated: Research & Case Studies

This post is late too. Sorry – it won’t become a regular habit, but here’s a warning for next Monday:  as I’m getting the sleeper train back from Nice late Sunday night I doubt I’ll be in much of a state to post anything lucid after getting off the train and going straight to work.

One of the reasons for the lateness is in fact that finally, I’m feeling like a ‘proper’ project manager. I have a fully-rounded plan. A developer who has started work. Weekly reports. A risk log. And my Sponsor has seen the light for the August delivery date. Hurrah! All looks well in the world of LDAPs.

Projects are often slow-burn things, and then all of a sudden they’ll take off. For example, I know of an IT project that took about 2 years to get off the ground and was then launched in 8 months. However, 2 years wasn’t a long enough time to do the required preparation and convince the hearts and minds of the leadership because the project, despite being delivered on time and on budget, was deemed a failure and plans to decommission the system were quickly put in place. Sometimes it is better like that.

Don’t get disheartened if your pet project takes a while to kickstart. On some projects a slow burn is actually more effective – it gives you the chance to convince people that it is the right thing to do and that you are the right person to do it. That the project is inevitable makes it part of the office furniture and people will be waiting for you to deliver something that they expect is going to happen. Or it gives you time to come to the same conclusion as everyone else: that the project is going to be a waste of time and however well you implement it, your pet project is going to fail at the first hurdle. And if it does get going, and is a huge success, you can take the credit with a knowing nod.

Elizabeth Harrin wearing a pink scarf

Project manager, author, mentor

Elizabeth Harrin is a Fellow of the Association for Project Management in the UK. She holds degrees from the University of York and Roehampton University, and several project management certifications including APM PMQ. She first took her PRINCE2 Practitioner exam in 2004 and has worked extensively in project delivery for over 20 years.
Elizabeth is also the founder of the Project Management Rebels community, a mentoring group for professionals. She's written several books for project managers including Managing Multiple Projects.