What is Servant Leadership: Project Management is About Doing the Tedious Work
By: Aru Deshmukh
Writing. Documenting. Editing. Writing it again. Following up. Checking in. Communicating. Making the calls. Listening. Following up, again. With everybody. Adjusting. Reporting. Wash, Lather, Repeat. Ugh. The details, the details. For a Project Manager, these are the jobs that must be done.
There’s a purpose behind this effort though. A Project Manager must build a capable, flexible, problem-solving, accountable team to deliver results. If you don’t do the work, don’t build the team, then the project fails. Every time.
Robert Frost said it best, “The best way out is through.” In this case, ‘through’ the team. The Project Manager therefore serves the team, and part of that means doing the tedious work.
Taking Meeting Minutes
Taking meeting minutes is generally not a fun task. Depending on the type of project and timeline, it’s usually a critical activity. Oddly enough, a majority of the time the act of writing the meeting notes translates to a better understanding of the overall picture for you. Focusing on the details of the meetings and thinking about what was said, what was avoided, and what was forgotten gives you the ability to connect the dots and ask better, deeper, and more meaningful questions.
Recording Action Items
Actions items go hand in hand with the meeting minutes, and sometimes these are the only things that need to be documented (be flexible and thoughtful). The best way to capture action items is while everyone on the team is participating. Be sure to ask if it represents the action. Do the assignees understand the task and the due dates? There needs to be an engaged agreement. When that happens, the chances of success go way up because those actions actually get done on time. It is a painful process, but it’s also an important habit to develop. Why? Because it’s the only way sh*t gets done.
Following Up
While a PM is taking names, numbers and meeting minutes, developing action items, drafting status reports; putting out fires; checking in on team members; there’s often a little voice that speaks up and says, “something just isn’t going so well with that.” The PM can feel it. So it’s time to follow-up. Dig in and help the team stay or get back on track. Use all your senses when you are engaged in getting through the detailed work.
Appreciation, trust, accountability. That’s what a servant leader is creating when they take notes, drive the action items, and follow-up with the team. It’s not something that can easily be measured and listed on a spreadsheet. It reveals itself in the strength of the process, the way the team thinks and works together coloring outside the lines. The team will notice it and come to expect it. It’s usually recognized as leadership, which is what Project Management really is all about.
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