Stories of a Creative Project Manager: Priorities

It seems most ambitious careers have a very similar start. Determined individuals often accept every project without hesitation, chase each one with equal importance and try to please everyone in the process. It’s a great recipe for late nights and caffeine addictions.

Their intent and heart may be in the right place, but it doesn’t mean this approach is helping their organization, stakeholders, or certainly - themselves. Here are some tips to consider if you find yourself in this type of spiral.

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Focus on the most important things first.

It is common to want to take care of the low-hanging fruit first, but giving your first energy to the highest-importance projects can set priorities for the remainder of your day. Read The One Thing. It’s jam-packed with rationale that will change the way you work and help guide how you allot your time and focus.

Ask questions early.

What’s the impact of the initiative? Does it align with your team’s goals? If another group is making the request, is there alignment at the leadership level? That last one is especially a doozy at larger companies. In my personal experience, outside departments task marketing with just about anything if they are in a pinch. All this to say, the answers to these questions will help you prioritize your tasks or pushback on the project if needed.

“Remember, it’s okay to say no.”

We’ve all heard this one before, but it’s easy to get cold feet when the requestor is right across the table expecting a quick agreement. It isn’t about whether you should or shouldn’t say no, but how you say no. The key is understanding that you can offer alternatives. If you couple your “no” with a choice of alternatives, people tend to respond more positively.

Methodologies.

If the above suggestions aren’t enough, there are always various product management strategies to explore. One particular strategy I have found to be successful is creating a 2x2 matrix. The concept of this 2x2 matrix involves stakeholder alignment regarding which items are Do First, Do Later, Fill in, and Forget About. This categorization cascades to respective departments and eventually into project request input.