11 Things Project Managers & Leaders Should Never Do
Tanmay Vora
Updated on
If you are a supervisor, project manager or a leader, you should NEVER –
- Detach yourself from the business acumen required to manage and lead. Anyone who calls himself “manager/leader” without knowing the business side of work is living in a fantasy land.
- Give ambiguous work instructions. It kills productivity and leads to re-work. Take more time to think, if needed. “Some delay” now is better than “lot of re-work” later.
- Bad mouth your organization in front of your team. Sure, there are things about your company that you don’t like much. Go, talk to people who matter. Team members get terribly demotivated when they hear their boss bad mouthing the organization.
- Bad mouth a team member in front of other team members. It is a matter of pure common-sense.
- Sugar-coat problems and hold back the information. Call spade a spade when it is needed. Problems have a bad habit of showing up sometime or the other. When they do, you loose respect because you did not communicate the enormity/magnitude of the problem upfront.
- Just hear what your people have to say. Listen. Actively listen.
- Talk constantly about problems, issues and delays. People are smart enough to gauge “who you are” by the “words you use”. Spread the good news and celebrate small successes.
- Under estimate the power of non-verbal communication. Smart managers/leaders pick up some vital clues about team members from their non-verbal communication.
- Manage by inducing fear. Thats dictatorial behavior. People grow only when they are “coached”, “counseled” and “enabled”. With fear, they will do everything dispassionately.
- Use “You” versus “I” language. You are tearing the fabric of your team apart. Foster support and be there when they need you.
- Under estimate the power of setting right examples. People observe and emulate your behavior. Model right behaviors.
Most project managers and business leaders know these but they lack discipline to follow these simple rules consistently. Great Leaders are no super humans. They are average people who focus like a laser beam and follow simple rules consistently.
Having the fundamental thumb-rules right and following them consistently is the first solid step to success as a manager/leader.
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You always hit the nail, in one shot.
Thanks for sharing the information and wonderful tips.
Useful tips for the PL /TL or budding Leaders.
Short but, very sharp tips! Thanks for sharing valuable knowledge + experience, would definitely help to growing PL/TL.
@Vikas – Thanks! I am glad you liked them. Most of these are derived from our day to day experiences!
Keep weighing in!
Yusuf – Thanks for commenting and I am glad that you found these tips useful.
Happy Managing!
Excellent !!
I will remember all these and play the role accordingly when it comes to me… 🙂
Thanks Tanmay. Some of the tips are really touching, like “Manage by inducing fear” & “Use ‘You’ versus ‘I’ language”.
Thanks Tanmay ! ! Good points to keep in pocket when you are managing/leading/supervising a team.
Its been often seen that people theoretically know whats the perfect way to do something, but when it comes in practical terms they do what they naturally are.
But one who can guide himself to do it in practical also, can get their unique identity.
@Ketan – Thanks for your comment and I am happy you liked the ideas.
@Mithilesh – these are essential “thumb-rules” that needs to be kept in mind, more than in pocket. You are absolutely right – knowing is not enough, doing it and doing it really well us what matters at the end of the day.
Cheers!
Tanmay
Great article, ‘Call spade a spade’ is one of the most valuable points here. It might have some -ve impacts initially but the end result will always be a +ve one.
Thanks for penning down & sharing these rattling tips, though leading and managing is a contineous learning process, it really helps keeping fundamental rules frozen be it the hefty situation or feeble.
@Andy – Thanks! Best way to manage the -ve impact of calling spade a spade is to first explain the rationale and then get to the point. Address “Why” part first and then get to “what”. Has always been effective for me. Thanks for reading/commenting.
@Nirav – I totally agree. Leading is a lifelong journey, however it is important to note down the essential learning and have ‘thumb-rules’ to be more effective and consistent in leadership style. Keep reading/commenting!
I heard you write in blogs and wanted to read one. This is first time I am reading your blog. Tips are really helpful. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing this ‘to-the-point’ tricks. Very handy & informative for upcoming leaders & treasured by all.
QASpire as a whole is a very good collection for people working in project management & for future leaders too. Thanks for sharing everything here-Blog, short stories everything has a learning material & inspirational thoughts with them!
@Hasan – Thank you so much for dropping by and reading the posts. I hope your first experience on this blog was pleasant one 🙂
@Avani – I am glad you liked the posts and stories. Thanks for your affirmation which only motivates to write more!
Nice one!
“Bad mouth your organization in front of your team” – Every manager should understand that if they think the organization is bad, take the actions to convert it into a good one. If they can’t they should just shut up.
Here are Nine Steps they can use to deal with bad management.
Thanks again for adding a perspective Utpal. I totally agree that management is a responsible position where people look up to you. Cribbing manager always leads a negative team, where he/she is the driver of negativity.
Have a good weekend!
Very valid point and very practical as well.
Keep it up Tanmay.
.-= Sheo Narayan´s last blog ..SQL Query Optimization FAQ Part 1 (The SQL Plan) =-.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting Sheo.
Best,
Tanmay
[…] wrote earlier about “11 Things Project Managers & Leaders Should Never Do” (Recommendation: Read the earlier post before you read further to ensure continuity of ideas) […]
I would definitely require these tips to polish my skills. Thanks Sir for sharing.
This is an excellent post. It would’ve been nicer if the post only focused on Project Managers (it applies to Project Managers across the board).
.-= PM Hut´s last blog ..Role and Responsibilities of the Business Change Manager =-.
Sorry I meant it applies to “Managers” across the board.
.-= PM Hut´s last blog ..Role and Responsibilities of the Business Change Manager =-.
@PMHut – Thanks for stopping by and taking time to comment. I am so glad you liked the post. Yes, in the series further, I would be including items that are specific to Project Managers.
Best,
Tanmay
.-= Tanmay Vora´s last blog ..Adding Value and Importance of 2% =-.
[…] 11 Things Project Managers & Leaders Should Never Do by Tanmay Vora @ QAspire.com/blog […]
Such as good point for all leader and members
.-= Erol Erturk´s last blog ..Cake Mania 3 =-.
@Erol – Thanks for the comment and I am glad you liked the post!
Best,
Tanmay
I am a leader at fast growing company. just read your blog for managers and leader. I do some things from the list but never did certain things so i got point from your blog it’s really very good post for me. thank a lot for sharing post.
@Redesigning Web – Thanks for the comment and I am glad you liked the ideas presented in the list.
Regards,
Tanmay