One aspect of being a PM that a lot of people overlook is the fact that the PM is in charge of all activities of his/her project. Some people have the idea that the PM just takes care of check lists and scheduling status calls. However, there is a reason that the word “manager” is in the title.
The PM is responsible for the success of his/her project and if a proper charter or SOW has been singed, he/she has been given the power to make decisions about the project and the team that is under him/her. Of course if you are in the situation where you do not have a charter or SOW signed, then you probably should be running away from that project as fast as you can. But that will be a post for another day.
OK, so now we have established that a PM receives power over a project from another authority, such as an executive of your company or the customer you are providing services to. That power is transferred in the signed document that allows the project to have existence. This power now gives you the authority to assign resources and expend budget as you see fit to meet the goals of the project. You are effectively the leader of the team.
With great power comes great responsibility. That means that the buck stops with you. Because of this, you need to be aware of and a part of all decisions that are made, all schedules that are set and all work that is performed. The best way to make sure you are in the loop is to publish and review with the team and stakeholders a communication plan that shows who needs to be informed in various types of communication that may take place in the project.
In small projects, where there is only one or two resources in play, this is simple and can be communicated in the kickoff notes. On larger or more complex projects, you might want to use a RACI chart. RACI is an acronym that stands for responsible, accountable, consulted and informed. A good discussion on RACI charts can be found at HOW TO DO RACI CHARTING AND ANALYSIS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE ~ By Royston Morgan.
Ok, you have the authority, you have established that you are the leader, you have communicated the process for getting things done. Everything should go smoothly and usually does. But, every once in while someone (manager, sales person, resource, etc.) will decide that they have something that needs to be done and will direct someone on the team to do execute some action and not inform you. Hopefully, the resources on your team will let you know when this is happening.
When this happens, you need to have a private one on one with the offending party. The discussion needs to emphasize that there can only be one leader in the project communicating actions to the team. If directions are coming from multiple sources that are not in sync, then confusion will be generated and project can go south quickly. Let them know that if something is needed, they only need to let you know and you will take care of making it happen.
The point is that as the leader you need to defend your turf for the good of the project.