The digital project manager what makes a great digital project manager by Spyros Langkos

What makes a great project manager (PM) is debatable – is it about great experience, great project control, excellent team management, great quality delivery, great internal politics, or great client management? It’s all of them and more! Considering what makes a great PM is worth exploring as a basis of what to develop in yourself, and secondly, as an indication of what to look for in others when recruiting, or building a team of project managers. It’s probably worth pointing out, as with any discipline within an agency, or any comparison of people, you’ll rarely find two of us with the same background, training and skill-set. Perhaps more than other disciplines within digital agencies, you’ll rarely find that project managers set out on their career path with the intention of becoming one - most common though seem to be either a background in account management or development. Depending on where these people come from, their skills and way of working is likely to be very different and shapes their approach to project management. - PM’s from an account management background will be great at understanding the strategic and financial workings of a project, - PM’s from a development background are likely to be much stronger technically, and accurate in their understanding of exactly what’s got to be done to deliver a project. But there’s got to be some commonality, so enjoy this guide to the things I’m looking to develop in myself as a digital project manager, and the things I look for when I’m interviewing someone or considering whether or not someone is ready for a promotion. What makes a great project manager is a combination of the right experience, with strong character, competence and chemistry.

There really is no shortcut or substitute for experience. Project management experience leads to project management wisdom. And wisdom can be the difference between a project going off the rails or not. Relevant experience is key to being a great project manager. While we can all get the right qualifications, read the right books, and even study other project manager’s lessons learned, there’s nothing quite like having ‘been there, done that,’ yourself. There’s no ‘right’ experience – it all depends on what you’re trying to apply the experience to. That’s why relevant experience is what matters. For example, the ‘right’ experience for an agency project manager could be someone who’s got experience working in a large agency, on technically and creatively diverse projects, for big clients, across a variety of industry verticals. But it might not. It really does depend. Flexibility and specialisms are always useful though. So if you’re a project manager or a hiring manager, trying to think about what experience you need - someone with a wide variety of experience will be more flexible and adaptable to different types of projects – unless what you need is for example, someone with particular CMS experience.

Next up, character is probably the most important. While competence and skills can be learned over time, and good chemistry is helpful but not essential, changing and adapting your character, can require considerably more effort. But whilst it’s difficult, I think it can also be the most influential in defining the kind of project manager you are, and the extent to which you will be liked and admired by your colleagues. Being ‘a good egg’ - someone with good character - will be someone that other people want to work with. And when people like working with you, it usually also means that they’re more likely to forgive any of your competence issues, and through it, enable you to develop better chemistry. Below are three key areas for character development:

You need to be able to proactive and pull people along with them. They’re the linchpin, the person that everyone in the team looks to for knowing what’s going on, and where a project is at. The only way of the project team knowing this, is if you, the PM, is actually managing the project, and leading the project from the front. This doesn’t mean issuing orders as much as checking in with people and making sure not only you know where everyone’s at with what they’re working on, but when they’ll be finished, what the next steps are, and instilling in the team confidence that everyone’s pulling in the same direction. When they’re not, it’s gently guiding them back on track. It also means taking action before a risk escalates into and becomes an issue, and being on the front foot all the time, being proactive and anticipating what’s coming next.

Before you can lead others, you need to be leading yourself. As much as anything else, this is an exercise in self-control, motivation and discipline. This means not being lazy with anything. Everything you do at work is a reflection of your integrity – check and double check everything you do to make sure it’s correct. Check and double check work before passing it on to someone else for review.

Without these things you’re going to find it difficult for anyone to take you seriously. Throughout a project this also means treating people not just as a ‘resource’ to milk for all its worth, but as people that need care and respect, no matter what’s going on.

Because of the demands of all the above, the project management role is demanding and stressful at times. It’s inevitable: you’re trying to bring together different people; clients, suppliers and colleagues, each with their own agenda for a project, and more often than not, they’re not totally compatible. Not only that but ultimately as project managers, we’re responsible for delivering a project on time and on budget, and make sure it works as we said it would, and delivering the results that we suggested it would . That in itself can be stressful. The important thing in all this is being able to tolerate the pressure and not become overwhelmed by it.

Whereas experience comes from years of running projects and can be applied to specific projects, I think overall competence is something far more fundamental and important. Competence is the way you approach a project - the skills you use, and the rigour you apply. Even if you have done a certain type of project before, by the time you come around to do it again, the technology will have invariably developed, the standards have changed and the best practice that you thought you knew, isn’t best any more. It’s not that experience doesn’t matter, but you can find vastly experienced project managers that aren’t very good, and inexperienced but competent project managers whose approach makes them far better at managing projects. It’s what makes digital so exciting; there’s always something new to learn. So apart from the real need to be keeping yourself up to speed with the latest digital technologies and developments, what are the core competencies that project managers need to function well? Below are 5 key areas for competence development:

Reading, writing and (mental) arithmetic. Nail them. This includes good oral and written skills to ensure there’s clarity, especially when writing scope definitions or communicating the status of a project. Good mental arithmetic is really important; you’d be surprised the difference knowing your times tables makes. It means you can quickly give ballpark estimates without having to get a calculator out or telling them you’ll get back to them half a day later. Learn your tables!

Some people have this naturally; it’s knowing what works from a visual or design perspective; what looks good and why. This is something that you can develop both by listening to creative directors when they’re critiquing work and by reading up on design blogs (take a look at http://www.alistapart.com, http://www.smashingmagazine.com, http://www.thefwa.com for starters). Once you’ve honed this skill it means you can add a lot of value making sure that the creative work is right before you start sharing it with other people and getting them to sign if off. The fun bit, is that you also get to make your mark on the project (don’t tell the creative directors that through!)

Knowing technically what’s feasible, and what’s not and even more importantly, how much work might be involved in a type of project is invaluable. As with the mental arithmetic, it means you can very quickly give estimates as to the length of time and cost of a project. It also very useful in client facing situations as it gives you the confidence to explain where a project is really at, rather than having to give vague answers about the project being ‘in development’!

Before a project starts and it’s being scoped and costed, you need to be aware of the potential value of the project to the client but also know if they can really afford what they’re asking for. Is the brief right for the budget they’ve got? When a project’s underway, is it on budget now and are you going to be able to continue delivering it on budget when the project is delivered? At all times you should have an idea of the status of the budget of your projects; WIPS should be updated weekly and any variations from budget accounted for and where possible mitigated before they happen.

Attention to detail is one of those things that people don’t notice unless you haven’t got it! Nothing dents other people’s confidence in your ability quite like attention to detail. Double, then triple check everything you do, from writing emails, to creating timing plans and probably most importantly, cost estimates. And if you’re too busy to check, ask for more time, or at least tell people that it’s a draft and you’ll need to send a final edit later.

Getting on with people, is what chemistry is all about. Particularly, and importantly, when there’s conflict, when you don't like them very much, or would rather not have to work with them is what chemistry is all about, and something that we probably all need to continually develop. When recruiting people we’ll naturally gravitate towards people who are like us, and that’s the reason I suggest character and competency are the things we should be looking for first. That said, chemistry is important when hiring people; good chemistry will make everyone happier. So what skills can we develop to improve our chemistry within project teams and what should we look out for when recruiting PM’s?

It’ll come as no great surprise that you get much better results from a project team that likes you. Demonstrating and showing concern for the project team is a good place to start; you’ll get better work as a result. You need to get along with others and make them believe that you’re on ‘their side’. The project team need to believe that you’re rooting for them, not just someone who’s cracking the whip. This can be especially important in getting your team excited about a project; focusing on motivating them rather than intimidating them!

Project management can be a bit of a power struggle, there are always jobs to be done, and rarely enough resources to do it. Learning to navigate your way through the horse-trading and bartering, knowing when to put your foot down without alienating yourself and upsetting other PM’s in the process, (who need the same scarce resources that you do) is a very useful skill. As is knowing when you can afford to let up.

Similarly to diplomacy, being persuasive and confident in selling in your scope, costs, or timings to an account management team, for them to in turn sell to the client is a hugely valuable skill.

If you can get your message across, and persuade senior stakeholders, even in front of a large group that you’re right, you’ve got a much better chance of delivering a project the way it should be delivered. Conversely, if you get this wrong, you’ll find your costs and timings get eroded while your time-lines shrink!

As a digital project manager you should be constantly looking to develop and improve so that you become better. The better you are, the greater the chance that you’ll deliver your projects on time, on budget, and within scope. Not only that, but when you’re doing your job well, you’ll have greater job satisfaction and the chances of getting a pay rise are improved too.

Going from good to great isn’t going to happen overnight. Getting relevant experience for the type of work that you’re most interested in is an important aspect in your development as a project manager. But underpinning experience, needs something more fundamental; character, competence and chemistry. By working on your character – leadership, maintaining personal integrity, and being calm under pressure; Developing your competence – reading, writing and arithmetic, a good eye, technical nous, commercial awareness, And refining your chemistry – diplomacy, persuasiveness and people skills you’ll ensure you’re on the right path to becoming a great digital project manager.

For further reading check out the following -

Digital Project Management Basics: Estimates, Timelines & Statements of Work What makes a great digital project manager: Blog series How much do digital project manager's make? Digital project manager interview questions and answers: The ultimate guide