Project Managers Cannot Give Up!
It has been more than one year since I got to be one of the Project Managers at Inkubator IT, one of the departments in the Student Association of Informatics (Himpunan Mahasiswa Informatika, a.k.a HMIF) ITB. Inkubator IT is a software house accepting software projects from various clients, such as students, early startups, and corporates. But mostly, our clients are either organizations or individual college students.
Until now, I have handled five projects, varying from the website, mobile, and desktop applications, from 1 to 25+ million rupiahs. During those responsibilities as a project manager, I learned a lot of things, from the hard skills in software engineering to soft skills in communication, problem-solving, team management, and many more. So now, I want to share those lessons I have experienced, so you guys do not have to face the same problem as mine. Furthermore, I hope this will give you a view of how I try to take wisdom from my experience as a Project Manager!
Lesson 1: Be Bold
First, I want to explain why I chose to drown myself in project management. I never thought I would pursue this project management role for my future career. The main reason I want to dive into this position is to encourage my weakness of being unconfident and lacking communication skills.
But, thankfully this experience leads me to understand that as project managers, we must have faith and conviction. If the client or developer is stubborn, like it or not, we have to be that too. In communicating with stakeholders, the project manager should lead the communication, especially during the meeting. Don’t let anyone be dominant, either the client or the developer, because that can make them feel more powerful to sail the project.
And please, appear stronger than the client or developer!
Lesson 2: Suit to What is Best
As a Project Manager, I have planned the timeline for executing the software project. But, during the execution, there have always been tons of obstacles.
Let me give you examples. I heard my project manager peers get a problem because the client faced a kind of fall down, so the payment was delayed for several weeks or months when the developers demanded the fees.
Some issues also came from the developers, such as they could not finish the project on time due to unpredictable conditions when clients kept chasing project managers for updates.
Personally, I have the experience to handle a project that is expected to finish in 3–4 months, but guess what? The project was delayed for the sake of 8 months due to immature preparations that caused a growing requirement. God, I even struggled for more than one semester with that project!
But yeah, all stakeholders take part in every step of the project. So rather than blaming each other, there is a way called collaboration. Every time the stakeholders (clients, project managers, and developers) face a problem, tell the truth so everyone can help find the best way to break obstacles in the journey.
So, plan for the best, and prepare for the worst.
Lesson 3: Tell All Truths
Project managers must always know the project conditions. When the project manager sees that the situation is not conducive, it’s a good idea not to say things that we feel could worsen the conflict until the time is right. So, as project managers, we should share all information with stakeholders, but it must be at the right time.
Still, there is no reason for the project managers to cover up disappointing facts to fix the situation because there is a major potential to create new problems later on.
Tell the truth. Don’t dare to lie even for a single word.
Lesson 4: Project Managers Cannot Give Up
Yup. Just like what the title says. Project managers cannot give up. That was what one of the leads of the company where I was working told me (directly!). Clients might push us away to get the best product they need. Developers might hold us down to get the project done faster or get paid more. And we, project managers, cannot give up since we are the ones who decide whether we will drive the project to succeed or fall before arriving at the finish line.
Every word written up here will always be a reminder for the future me. Suppose you are experiencing the same story as mine; cheers! I believe that those obstacles made the great us today.
