They say everyone is in sales. But aren’t we all project managers?
“But Emma, you haven’t even been a project manager. We haven’t even finished our master’s yet. It’ll be years before we get a position like that.”
– No, that thing on the board is literally my life! I gasped surprised, looking at something similar to my life schedule on the screen in front of the whole class.
“No it’s not” My friend responded annoyed.
I had run late to the class of project management. Just managed to squeeze me over our classmates to sit beside my friend, when the slide of parallel projects was shown. I soaked up the lecture about planning, challenges, and structure with big ears. Leaving the lecture hall, I felt such a relief. There were both models and other people experiencing the same situation that I did. This was when I first started to look at my life as a set up of projects.
Planning
It’s way back now, studying at two universities. But I was also in parallel juggling two extra work schedules, and being in a long-distance relationship. I lived by my calendars. One digital version for tasks and reminders and one analog to get an overview. With two universities there were always at least seven courses at beginners and advanced levels being run in parallel. All had different deadlines, exams, re-exams, group work, or executions.
How is your life looking? Some people choose not to juggle too many parallel things and focus on one project. Others (like me) thrive with multiple things in the air. Whether it’s different jobs, kids, their interests, your interests, house projects or you are just trying to sync your calendar with a partner – they all require planning. It might not be as crucial to reaching certain deadlines or milestones but anyone who’s doing some planning in their life in collaboration with other people is doing parts of project management.
Not able to live without the yearly overview, my planning back then was meticulous with no room for spontaneous happenings or errors. There was no calendar sort or system on the market I hadn’t tried and I was (and still am) always on the lookout for a new way to support the organization of my life. Today, I keep my private schedule and projects loaded with wiggle room. It’s needed to not burn out resources. Regardless of what system, method, or how good you are at planning and re-planning things – too much will be too much. This brings us to…
Priorities
For me back then, juggling these many things meant that there were going to be collisions sometimes. And I needed to prioritize. Some things can be moved and negotiated but there will be situations where you need to choose.
For example, I knew myself well enough that such a workload would come at a cost of straight A+s. That’s a priority. I had to skip certain lectures because it’s impossible to be in two cities at the same time. That’s a priority. When tossed into a new group for group work, I always needed to start by explaining my prerequisites to be able to contribute to the work. Full days of group co-writing, where half of the day was fun and socializing wasn’t going to cut it for me. That’s a priority.
We all have and make these priorities in life, just as you encounter them in projects. It doesn’t matter if you’re going by the project triangle of scope/quality, time and resources, or any other priority model. You will probably never encounter a project where there are no priorities. Instead of not facing that, just discuss them, make them, and communicate them to all involved.
People
If you’re not living as a hermit, you have to deal with people on a regular basis. Our life quality is determined by the quality of our relationships. *Ester Perel* Just as certain people in your personal space might have a hard time being authentic or accepting parts of reality, you’ll meet them in projects too. As a project manager, you rarely get to cherry-pick your team and surrounding stakeholders. You even might need to encourage people that you’re in a conflict with to deliver. Or you’re having a team that makes you laugh in every meeting where bonds go outside of work.
It’s a whole chapter on its own and I can only say this: Don’t underestimate it. People are what most of your projects are made up of. Personally, I’m on a constant journey to get to know myself and others better. I highly suggest you do too. Make sure that you build relationships with and between your team members. Even if you don’t have a budget for it. Just as you might not be able to celebrate holidays with your family, or your best friend moved half the country – you can make face calls to them, and check in on them. In projects, your prime area will be those meetings everyone needs to go to. If you own the agenda, why not make sure it also consists of some bullets that deepen relationships?
Well, are they?
Yes. I would argue that everyone is a project manager even if they don’t identify as one. Different project managers will lead projects differently, just as people go along with their lives differently. Planning, priorities, and people are my key areas in projects and you’ll encounter them all throughout life.
Does it matter? It might. From a learning point of view, it’s always interesting to get input from new places. For me back then, it was such a relief to see that my situation was not unique. The comfort of that provided a more conscious reality from which I could make better decisions.
