Five attributes of a bad project manager

Project managers come in all shapes and sizes. Like with all jobs some excel in the role while others find it a struggle. Consequently, you’ll find that most businesses have a spread of great project managers and some that well, um, aren’t so good 😉

Having great project managers can be crucial for businesses when faced with complex activities that without adequate management cost more money and don’t happen when they are needed. Great Project Management brings governance, motivation, and leadership. At its worst bad project management can cause chaos.

So given its importance, what exactly does a business look for in the role and how do you determine whether somebody is a mediocre or a sublime project manager?

In this article, we’ll look at six key failures of bad project managers and how you can spot them.

1/. They don’t work well with others
One of the things that any project manager needs to deliver on is in collaborating with colleagues and the wider project community (stakeholders, customers etc). If an individual finds it hard to relate and deal with other members of the team they are going to find it a struggle in enabling their team and motivating them to achieve the deliverable.

2/. They don’t follow the process
While this could be true for any role it’s especially true for project management which is a discipline that requires a structured methodical approach. Where a project manager doesn’t follow the process (for example doesn’t bother with Risk reviews) the result can be catastrophic and can lead to the project failing. Processes give you an increased chance of being successful, ignore at your peril.

3/. They make up the schedule as they go along.
One of the most important ingredients of a successful project is the project schedule. The schedule is there for 3 key reasons,

a) To help organize and drive a critical path of activities to deliver the goal of your project.
b) To help cost activities
c) To help communicate to stakeholders

Whilst at times it might be tempting to divert from an agreed plan and cut corners a well thought out and structured schedule offers your best “sequence of events” to deliver your goal.

If your PM’s schedule isn’t detailed enough or doesn’t look far enough forward they could be mistaken for not really having a grasp of what’s going on, this could result in issues cropping up (due to lack of forward planning) that could derail you.

4/. They ignored risk.

While it may seem obvious, effective risk management helps underpin successful projects. Good risk management spots issues before they occur and puts actions in place to control and mitigate them. Failing to follow a risk management plan can stop your project dead in its tracks. Also, risk management has a well-established process and should be well within the capabilities of most project managers.

5/ They are overly optimistic.

Projects are usually complex things with interwoven tasks and personnel that require close control and management. Most projects will have a level of issues to manage and to think it should be plain sailing is fool hardly and perhaps describes a project manager that doesn’t have their eye completely on the ball. If your project manager is overly optimistic and believes that they’ll sell through the project delivery without any issues then this should set alarm bells ringing.

So there are our 5 ideas to show you if your project manager sucks. Have your own thoughts? Feel free to leave some words in the comment section below.