Maybe I’m just too cynical, but when I hear the phrase “he’s a nice guy” said of a fellow Programme or Project Manager, I instantly think, “okay so he’s a pushover”. Sadly so do the resources as well.

Possibly it’s a British thing, but over here if you are a Permie Project Manager you can get away with “being a nice guy” for the simple reason that you could be there for years. However for people like me who are Interims; well we need to be Respected rather than being Popular.

I treat my team fairly. I don’t micromanage unless I get a gut feeling that they never deliver or know what they are doing and I always give plaudits to those who have delivered. That’s why people usually say of me, “It’s good working for Susan. You always know where you are with her”. I would be astonished if anyone ever called me “nice”.

Regards

Susan

Maybe I’m just too cynical, but when I hear the phrase “he’s a nice guy” said of a fellow Programme or Project Manager, I instantly think, “okay so he’s a pushover”. Sadly so do the resources as well.

Possibly it’s a British thing, but over here if you are a Permie Project Manager you can get away with “being a nice guy” for the simple reason that you could be there for years. However for people like me who are Interims; well we need to be Respected rather than being Popular.

I treat my team fairly. I don’t micromanage unless I get a gut feeling that they never deliver or know what they are doing and I always give plaudits to those who have delivered. That’s why people usually say of me, “It’s good working for Susan. You always know where you are with her”. I would be astonished if anyone ever called me “nice”.

Regards

Susan

Thinking back on some of the most successful projects I have worked on, (both as a team member and as a PM) being “tough but fair” seems to be the words that mostly come to mind.

Honestly, I don’t seem to recall that “vision” or “mission” had much of anything to do with my respect for the better PM’s I’ve worked for. What does stick out is working for a person who was able to push me to do more than I thought I was capable of doing, and then allowing me to bask in the glory of having done a good job under tough circumstances.

I specifically remember winning a subcontract to provide all the carpentry work on a major school rehab and addition on Cape Cod. The General Contractor was a crusty old Jewish lawyer from Boston and I had partnered with a lesbian owned carpentry sub-contractor. We had won the rough and finish portion of the carpentry work under the minority set aside laws. To make a long story short, it wasn’t until after the project was successfully completed that the old Jewish lawyer and his project superintendent congratulated us noting that they never thought we could do the job using primarily gay and lesbian construction workers.

Despite having had our share of internal conflicts and challenges on the project, everyone was proud to have earned the respect of this highly regarded general contractor, And even though during the project, he was tough and demanding, never was he mean or condescending. We made him look good in the eyes of the client and he was quick to give us credit for a job well done.

BR,
Dr. PDG, Jakarta

Thinking back on some of the most successful projects I have worked on, (both as a team member and as a PM) being “tough but fair” seems to be the words that mostly come to mind.

Honestly, I don’t seem to recall that “vision” or “mission” had much of anything to do with my respect for the better PM’s I’ve worked for. What does stick out is working for a person who was able to push me to do more than I thought I was capable of doing, and then allowing me to bask in the glory of having done a good job under tough circumstances.

I specifically remember winning a subcontract to provide all the carpentry work on a major school rehab and addition on Cape Cod. The General Contractor was a crusty old Jewish lawyer from Boston and I had partnered with a lesbian owned carpentry sub-contractor. We had won the rough and finish portion of the carpentry work under the minority set aside laws. To make a long story short, it wasn’t until after the project was successfully completed that the old Jewish lawyer and his project superintendent congratulated us noting that they never thought we could do the job using primarily gay and lesbian construction workers.

Despite having had our share of internal conflicts and challenges on the project, everyone was proud to have earned the respect of this highly regarded general contractor, And even though during the project, he was tough and demanding, never was he mean or condescending. We made him look good in the eyes of the client and he was quick to give us credit for a job well done.

BR,
Dr. PDG, Jakarta

In the long run being a likeable manager is always better than being an ass-hole. It’s much more difficult too, so that’s not an easy way to choose.

In the long run being a likeable manager is always better than being an ass-hole. It’s much more difficult too, so that’s not an easy way to choose.