Huge projects are like storms in companies’ lives. They change the way organizations operate and revolutionize the way people work from the D day forward. And behind the scene there is one person leading the change. The manager. It does not really matter, how we call you: project manager, change manager, restructuring manager… This is more a subject of academic discussion. For the company there is only one rule. The CHANGE has to be successfully implemented. In order to do that the knowledge and skills of all the above mentioned managers have to be blended. Otherwise, you can have a perfect project plan and execution but fail to deliver content promised. You can also perfectly analyze, what is the level of organizational change awareness and adaptability and prepare a perfect plan, how you should lead the people to accept the change.  However, you can fail in implementing the essence of change, new products, systems, organization, changing the old ones, restructuring the business… The change of this scale has to turn the company into another direction, slowly and carefully.

How the heck do you survive the day, week, month, year(s)? You are the one who is entrusted with the task to lead the change. Do you ever feel like this?

Everyone wants something from you: advice, decision, answer, report, assurance, reassurance… And you feel the excitement. Each day brings something new, is nothing like the last one was. Nor the one ahead of today. Ist he passion inside of you moving you forward to the goal you have to reach?

Well, that surely shows that you are on top of things.  Your team follows you, the stakeholders count on you, they appreciate your opinion and you enjoy your work. With passion. This is a nice sight of the story. The situation, however, can be different, if nobody care what you have to say and do. If you feel like a fire fighter always extinguishing small fires all around the project. Just jumping from solving one issue to another, having a feeling that you do not HAVE IT UNDER CONTROL.

You might very well avoid these following the next 5 simple steps.

 1. Do not be a Cowboy or a Cowgirl….

Don’t be dragged into solving all the details and taking decisions for every problem your team might have. Empower them to do that. Expect and demand from them to take decisions. Do not let them pass the responsibilities onto your shoulders. They will be a lot more enthusiastic, careful and committed, if they are empowered with the responsibility and are seen by stakeholders as a valuable team members. As you lead them to the front line, take them to the winner’s podium with you.

By doing that, do not parent them. There is a healthy limit on how much of “issues” you can understand. You cannot understand everything and say, “Ok, well, if you cannot do it, let us not do it at all”. You have to be the example that it can be done, even if it is hard. Show them that every challenge is possible to solve.

 2. ….be a leader, act transparently!

Lead your team to the front lines. Don’t just send them there… Roll up the sleeves and work with them. You can not only give orders and wait for the team to do the job. Be present at all times. You should know what your team knows (IQ) and feels (EQ) and where is the point when it is too much for them to handle. Then talk to them and help prioritize activities to be done. Be leader, but also a teacher. However, do not do everything by yourself.

Empower the team. Show the team how valuable they are. Trust them but control the outcome, from time to time.

Build effective teams, incorporating their incentives with the overall goals. You have to act clear, transparent, with high integrity to receive their full acceptance.In order to do this, you must be honest to yourself first and then to others. It does not mean spreading out confidential information to all. You involve the project team into your steps so they can easily follow the way you walk through. You have to make it easy to them to understand what you can change and what you cannot.

Have an escalation point. This allows the project team to stay focused on project work while the escalation point tackles issues that cannot be resolved by the core project team.

Build and excel your own management practices, such as dividing tasks into smaller chunks and create short delivery cycles.

 3. Be one step ahead…..

Focus on managing strategy and stakeholders instead of concentrating on project budget and scheduling activities all the time. Think and foresee at all times. It is your job to. To think about, what can happen, what can go wrong, what can change? It means having eyes wide open for anything unusual while hands on a steering wheel. Do not focus on negative things, there are plenty of opportunities waiting around the corner to be exploited and add value to your project. Seize them.

Communicate. There are lots of things a project manager has to think of before, during and after the project. No matter which project management methodology you use, the most important issue remains the same: the communication. And no matter how much you think you communicate, it is not enough. There is never enough of communication about designing, negotiation and implementing the change. So, come to terms with it. The sooner the better. And keep communicating. Formally over setting a communication plan or informally with management by walking around. And all in between…

 4. …but live in the present moment.

Being prepared is good, but is seldom enough. It is your job to plan, anticipate and worry about.  So be on top of the current task all the time. Adapt daily if needed. But with a clear view how to reach the goals.

Be patient. It is not always easy, it can be very hard. Sometimes you lack the energy to be patient. Sometimes you are tempted to overrule the patience with your formal authorization. Everything has to be done to a certain deadline. Remember, you have to give everyone enough time to adapt, to find their own way to execute tasks. But you can accelerate this time by giving exact instruction, to put tasks into perspective, to ensure that the team understands the “why’s”, so that can more easily design and prioritize the “what’s” to be done.

5. Take a break.

Take care of your body and mind by allowing it a break once in a while.  Maintain a good sleep pattern. Exercise on a regular basis. You need the strength.Eat healthy, take good deep breaths….

Mingle with the team. A coffee break with your team can do wonders. It can come at the most inappropriate time, when everybody is hurrying somewhere, but that is the time when a quick reflection can be better than doing the wrong thing or doing it wrong to the end. The rework will take longer than just a coffee break.

And above all let the passion inside you guide you on the path of change.