As project delivery evolves and different methodologies are being leveraged to manage projects in organisations, so is the team dynamic changing as well, and so we as project managers need to change the way we manage projects as well.
It is not enough anymore to just be a scrum master or old school waterfall project manager, you need to be more or bring more to the table to be differentiated from the rest.
One of the ways to be a better project manager/scrum master is to focus on leading teams instead of managing tasks, this might sound logical, but how many times have you sat down with your team and asked them what they have achieved today or how far task A, B or C is?
If you have done this you are managing tasks and not leading the team. The team already know what they have to do – assuming that you have communicated the end goal of the project and there is some form of plan or specification the team is working towards.
So assuming everything is in place, then why would you want to know what the team is doing on task level? As a manager your job is the opposite, your job is to lead the team through the project and ensure that they have everything they require to complete the tasks in the plan, and not to worry how far they are with each task.
Your role is to track the deliverable and ensure that all obstacles are removed out of your team’s way for them to focus on delivering the tasks that will move your deliverable forward and eventually complete in time, by managing their tasks, your eye is kept off the ball, and it will eventually drop and your project will be negatively affected.
So let the team worry about their tasks, and you worry about leading them through the maze to deliver your project on time instead of trying to manage your team’s tasks, and inevitably drop the ball and deliver late.
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