Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

This is fundamental project manager advice. Avoid at your peril.

I’ve managed a lot of technical projects. These projects employed engineers, programmers, scientists, administrators, and so on. One thing I’ve learned is:

People tend to keep their work to themselves.

Hmm. So how is the working progressing? These people won’t come to me and tell me. Now what do I do? I recommend the title of the post. Go to every person on the project and ask them:

• How are you as a person today?
• What are you scheduled to be doing today?
• What are you doing today?
• If the two don’t match, what is happening for you?

The advice holds for every person on the project. Yes, that person as well—the one who gives me the creeps when I approach them, the one who is difficult to work with, the one who just doesn’t fit in, the one who will kill the project if they don’t do their work.

This advice does not mean spy on persons. This advice does not mean interfere with persons who are working. It means talk to them, every one of them, every day.