Most of us are beyond the point where we believe that successful rental agency near me can be accomplished by following a formula or merely using the right system. It’s not that the tools are unimportant, or that the systems don’t work, because they do. However, the systems and the software only make the job easier; they aren’t the elements of success.
Great ideas aren’t great products until they can be made and sold at a profit. Solid project execution can help bring this about.
The project manager needs to be one of the best managers in the company and picked at the onset of the project. After all, they have a difficult job. They must manage diverse teams with members who all have “real” bosses elsewhere in the company. When picking someone to be a project manager, keep these requirements in mind;
- Project managers need detailed cross functional knowledge. The development, production, procurement and quality systems at your firm are complicated. It isn’t necessary for project leaders to have worked in all these functional areas, but the more the better. Understanding the workings of these areas is critical to prevent the leader from being bamboozled by the functional experts. Detailed, first hand knowledge of the product, design and engineering systems, quality standards, manufacturing technologies and the politics of your company is mandatory.
- Technical projects should be led by technical people. Don’t expect a leader of product development team to be successful if they can’t speak the language of the technical team. A procurement specialist or a logistics expert is unlikely to be able to fully understand the subtleties of the design and specification process; and they will have difficulty separating the critical requirements from the fluff. Engineers have disdain for those who are not technically sophisticated and can unintentionally intimidate others with the knowledge of technology; project managers must be able to ask tough questions to be successful. Not all projects are technical in nature. Redesigning a service offering or revamping marketing plan projects should be led by those who are experts in these fields.
- Project managers must have superior organizational skills. The great engineer who can never find the spec book or retrieve the latest test results probably isn’t a good candidate. The management of project is an exceptionally detailed endeavor – pick someone who loves the detail.
- Make sure that your project managers are great problems solvers. A project is nothing if not an exercise in solving problem after problem; make sure your leader knows how to deal with these issues.
