Tom has been working his fingers to the bone managing a project at The Glove Factory. He’s constantly on the phone with project team members trying to figure out answers to his project problems. Which answer best exemplifies an action that would have moderated Tom’s need to spend most of his time on the phone?
Explanation
Answer: b - If Tom had taken the time to assess the various subject matter experts among his stakeholders and team members, he’d be able to delegate certain problems out or be able to more easily and expeditiously tap subject matter experts for quicker resolution of issues.
Giving team members a chance to review the drafted project plan, meeting with managers to assess the availability of resources and determining a method to create a project plan are all important parts of the project planning process, but would not have prevented Tom’s problem.
Key Take Away: Especially when Project Managers are new to a company, it’s very easy to get swept into a project in -progress without taking a moment to step back to familiarize yourself with as many aspects of the project as possible. Although it may take away from some project ‘working’ time, experienced project managers know that the more you are aware of your available resources, the more you can utilize those resources, making more effective use of your time.
One major problem we’ve noticed at Upward Mobility is that people tend to call who they like the most, or who they are most comfortable with rather than the appropriate subject matter experts.
