Making Yourself at Home

All eyes are on you, the new guy. Being an independent project manager can be a stressful way to start a project. You ve got a project team of strangers to work with. They most likely know each other, but don t know you. You need to immediately get to work learning about the team members , their likes and motivations, and, most important, which team member has what abilities .

You ll have team members tugging on your sleeves for quite awhile trying to whisper in your ear about what they think is best for this and who the best person is for that. Some of their ideas may be great, and sometimes they may be right, but you ve got to make the decisions based on what s best for the project, not the latest rumor. As an independent project manager, you ve got to focus on the immediate talents of the team members and assume each is as dedicated to the project as you are.

Then, based on their actions (or lack thereof), you can determine their real level of commitment. Team members do, however, have a fantastic way of respecting the requests of an independent contractor, as they see this individual for the specialist she is. The perception is that you are a quality, skilled expert in the project you are managing. It s true ”perception is reality. Use that savvy to lead the team to complete the tasks they are capable of completing.

You ll need to also get to know the end users of the anticipated technology, the project sponsor (most likely the person who hired you), and the documentation of the project, if any exists yet. Study the impacted technology, the current technology, and, if needed, brush up on the technology the project is implementing.

Depending on the company you work for, you may not be privy to all of the financial information on the project that a full-time employee would be. For example, the company may not feel it is relevant for you to know the hourly wages of different team members to calculate the CPI or assign tasks based on wages .

On a practical note, create a reference card of the company s terminology for server names and application names, and get the names and contact information of people you should know, as you ll need these throughout the project. You have to do the mechanical, down-to-earth business that will allow you to absorb the project, the company outlook, and the project vision as quickly as possible.