I have been talking to a lot of project managers recently to get the trial for The Plan Is under way. One of the things that stands out is that the job is very similar regardless of the field, and that our good and bad days have a lot in common...
A day in the life of a good project manager
I get into work at about 8, so that I have time to get organised before the engineers come in. I do a quick skim through the overnight e-mails and categorise them before making coffee, which I drink while dealing with the issues I can answer on my own.
As the engineers drift in I talk to them, and one or two of them gives me an update about a work issue that they feel will run late or cost more than expected. I also do a quick check of the plan and if I feel it's necessary I ask how someone is getting on with a particular task.
One or two of them usually has a difficult problem, and so I help them find what or who they need to solve it. Quite often I join in the meeting, especially if it's something on or near the critical path of the project.
Around lunch time I put together a revised plan and send it out to people. My system generates a revised cost forecast to go with it, so I mark up how the changes will affect the project budget then walk out to pick up lunch with one of the engineers.
By the time I get back there are usually a few queries about the updated plan from engineers or my stakeholders so I make a couple of visits. The rest of the afternoon is spent planning for the next project, reading up on a new tool or technique, talking to prospective vendors and partners or occasionally some technical work.
After doing a last e-mail clear out I head home at about 5 feeling like the team doesn't really need me.
A day in the life of a bad project manager
I get into work at about 8 and do a quick skim through the overnight e-mails and categorise them before making coffee, which I drink while dealing with the issues I can answer on my own.
There are a large number of high priority problems and requests, so as soon as the engineers start to come in I push things out onto their stacks. There is no written specification so I spend time with each one first thing to make sure that they don't have questions.
I do manage to finish categorising my mail and delegating the really urgent things before my first meeting, but it's close. During the session I feel that I have to keep an eye on my mail in order to make sure that the engineers don't get blocked. The meeting stays on point and finishes on time, but I accept a set of new actions and tasks.
I use the gap between meetings to catch up on the progress of the urgent items before diving onto a conference call. This breaks for lunch, leaving me with more actions, and I use the time to start working on the new tasks I have picked up through the morning. By working fast I manage to get my to-do list down to the same size it was in the morning.
After the conference call wraps up I get back on to the tasks that I delegated to the engineers in the morning. I work through the release process with them and walk round the necessary approvals to get a 5pm fix out the door that I haven't yet had a chance to try extensively myself.
As the engineers head home I go into another meeting, to capture requirements for a new project. I can't give them a firm start date as I know that with the distractions that have pulled the engineers away from the main development projects I need to do some replanning work.
After doing a last e-mail clear out I head home at about 8 feeling really energised by the fast pace of work and proud of our ability to get releases out so fast.