Susanne Madsen Intl. Developing Project Leaders
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Be a Project Champion

5/10/2011

2 Comments

 
The need for highly competent, confident, and effective project managers is growing, in a world where projects are becoming larger, more complex, and increasingly cross-cultural. It is no longer enough to master the essential tools and techniques involved in managing tasks, costs, and resources. To be an excellent project manager, you must have drive, confidence, and attitude, and be able to lead your team to success through your vision and engagement. You must become a project management champion and take your team on a journey by sharing an appealing project vision and a road map for achieving that vision. 
 
It is not your ability to manage tasks and resources that will set you apart. It is your ability to build relationships and lead the team to success through your vision and engagement. As much as knowledge matters, it is your drive, confidence, and attitude that will really help you get your projects over the finishing line.

To become a project management champion, you must fully embrace the goals, objectives, and plans of the project. Spend time visualizing what the end state looks like once the changes have been implemented and the objectives achieved. See it the way the end users and beneficiaries see it. Feel it, taste it, and smell it. Take ownership, not just for delivering project outputs and capabilities, but for delivering the ultimate business benefits.
 
The greater clarity you have regarding the future you wish to create, the easier it will be for you to provide focus and direction to the team. When you understand and take ownership of the strategy for achieving a successful outcome, you are able to inspire and motivate the team and make the day-to-day decisions necessary to reach that future. Keep the vision alive and make it relevant to your people. Draw them into it by illustrating how they fit in and how each of their roles matters to its overall execution.

As a  project champion, you are more than a manager of people and resources. You become an inspiration to the team and the embodiment of the project. You become an agent of change who measures and monitors the ultimate business benefits. You become the person who makes sure that the customer adopts and implements the necessary business processes and procedures to support the end product so that the change initiative is ultimately successful. As a project champion you serve your team and your customer and you set a great example for others to follow.

 ***

· How well do you understand your project’s vision and objectives?  
  Give yourself a score between 1 and 10.


· What would need to happen in order for you to rate your understanding of
  the vision 10 out of 10?

· What can you do to inspire your team to achieve the vision?

· What can you do to become an agent of change?


If you liked this post, you may also like:
My Story - Working Smarter; Not Harder! 
Become a Proactive Project Manager 
10 guidelines for estimating project effort 
Risk management is how adults manage projects

2 Comments
birmingham personals link
25/8/2012 21:39:02

Anyone know where I can find more information?

Reply
Susanne Madsen link
29/7/2013 04:24:33

More information can be found in my book "The Project Management Coaching Workbook - Six Steps to Unleashing Your Potential"

You can purchase it on Amazon UK or Amazon US. Find the link here: http://www.susannemadsen.co.uk/my-book.html

Kind regards,
Susanne

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Susanne Madsen International - Developing Project Leaders