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Congratulations! All that hard work and you’ve finally proven your value. Now you’re ready to move from associate to manager. Take a deep breath and get ready for the hurricane. There are many books, seminars and mentors available to guide your journey. Popular PM software provider Mavenlink’s recent blog turned best practices into a checklist. What a great place to start!

Hurricane You Say?

Successful management is a habit. The first days at the helm are going to be chaotic. You’ll forget to eat, you’ll forget to sit down. Mavenlink’s advice is spot on. Build yourself a checklist and put it on your desk. Follow it religiously. Start your career right and never look back. Here is my experience with this checklist.

1. Start Each Morning Out With A Simple “Good Morning”

Mavenlink points out the power of this simple beginning to the day. You are in charge of pushing your team to the highest performance level. Senior management will fill your email box with metrics before the coffee finishes brewing. Don’t rush into these demands, there’ll be plenty of time for that later. Drink your coffee and greet your team without mentioning work.

2. Listen

Mavenlink reminds us of the power of active listening. Buddhism refers to the practice of deep listening. Put down the phone or laptop and make eye contact. Listen to what they’re saying without thinking about your response.

3. Address Your Department’s Missions, Goals, Processes, and Procedures

Know your department’s mission. Use this to build your own team mission. Incorporate both goals and mission into your communications. Keep the team involved in the progress daily, weekly, and monthly. Steal from elementary school teachers and build a visual display of your goals and the team’s progress. As Mavenlink suggests, measurable goals support teamwork.

4. Hold Team Meetings So That Communication Is Freely Flowing

Carve out time each week for the team to be in the same room. Go in with an agenda and let the team take ownership of projects. Let the team members ask questions and find answers. Here Mavenlink reminds us that these meetings need to end with clear cut action plans.

5. Set Expectations, Roles & Responsibilities From The Beginning

Meet with each team member and discuss the mission and goals. Help them take ownership of their piece of the pie. Mavenlink asserts the power of a sense of purpose. This will build loyalty and create enthusiasm.

6. Give Credit Where Credit is Due

Take time to celebrate success. Corporate culture too often wanders into negativity, keeping people very too focused on their failures. One of my favorites is Mavenlink’s suggestion to use handwritten cards. I will never forget the expression on an employee’s face when I gave them a handwritten thank you card. And not just for the big things, notice the little things too.  

7. Lead By Example

You own the culture. Mavenlink’s charges us to make decisions confidently. Live the values that earned you this position.

8. Smile

Nothing undermines team success like poor morale. As Mavenlink points out, happiness and enthusiasm are contagious. Negativity is a weed in your vegetable garden and a smile on your face is a weed killer.

9. Don’t Lead by Fear or Create an Environment of  Anxiety

Mavenlink’s warning about scare tactics is accurate. You might see short term gains, but people don’t learn from punishment. Use positive reinforcement to correct people. Teach people skills and be forgiving if they don’t get it right away. 

10. Do Not Look at People Merely As a Number

Everything in a manager’s life is a number. The paradox is that you can’t manage to the number. Mavenlink urges us to create meaningful growth plans. If you take the right approach, you will see the numbers.

11.  Be Humble. Be Grateful.

The title doesn’t make you perfect. Acknowledge your shortcomings, appreciate your team’s feedback. There’s tremendous power in answering a question with “I don’t know”. Mavenlink adds that we should acknowledge the strengths of other people.

12. Ditch The Ego & Unnecessary Politics

Leave your ego at home. Let your work stand as the testament to your skill. Don’t look to others for validation. Avoid drama at all costs, keep the focus on the goal and the mission. Mavenlink points out that doing this will make you happier.

13. Nurture Growth

Mavenlink reminds us that boredom hurts performance. A mentor explained to me once that a truly successful manager creates other managers. Encourage your associates to push themselves. Create opportunities for leadership roles. Give them a chance to provide recommendations. 

14. Promote Education

Mavenlink urges managers to create an atmosphere of wonder in your team. Keep your associates engaged in the latest innovations. Uncover opportunities for them to learn. This is a feedback loop, and their learning will keep you at the top of your game.

15. Adopt A Work/Life Balance Philosophy

Mavenlink knows that this reduces burnout. Our jobs sustain our lives outside of work. Respect your teams family time and you will have happier employees. In return, they will rise up when you need the time out of the office.

16. Be Respectful

We spend 8 hours a day, 5 days a week with our co-workers. Make the time together as positive as possible. As Mavenlink points out, this includes peoples time. Don’t expect people to get everything done now, prioritize tasks and clarify timelines. Trust trickles down – how you treat your employees is how they will treat customers.

17. Ask Questions

Here, Mavenlink acknowledges the importance of constructive communication. In conversation with associates, keep your talking to a minimum. Ask them about the mission and let them answer. Let them tell you about how they are doing in attaining their goal. This reinforces ownership and nurtures accountability.

18. Keep Your Door Open

Mavenlink says that, that is the power of your visibility. Success is a two-way street. If I want my people receive my feedback, I must encourage them to provide me feedback. Post your schedule, communicate when and why you have to close your door – “Conference call, I’ll be available in an hour”.  

19. Get Your Hands Dirty

Mavenlink refers to genchi genbutsu, the Toyota system of productivity. Good managers are not afraid to get in the middle of the work. This is a difficult balancing act. Your excellent work earned you your promotion. Learn how to show your team that you know how to do the job without doing it for them. Don’t be afraid to wade into difficult situations and help them find a way out.

20. Be Real

Mavenlink wants you to know the importance of laying it all on the line. You’re responsible for the success of the company and the careers of your associates. Clearly, communicate expectations and measures of success. Do not shy away from accountability.

21. Stay Focused

We ask our team to accomplish a week’s worth of work in one day. Mobile phones and laptops make this unreal expectation approachable. Don’t forget they are tools. Mavenlink sums it up with a reminder to take time for strategy and planning. 

22. Stay Calm, Cool and Collected

Mavenlink talks about the importance of your emotional state. You’re your team’s emotional anchor. No matter the situation, remain unflappable.

23. Don’t Replace Email With Social Interaction

Read Ernest Hemingway’s philosophy on writing. Communication with your team should be direct and simple. Business buzzwords are great for reports, but pointless when communicating with your team. Use your calendar and schedule time to meet with everyone on your team each day. Again, Mavenlink reminds us, don’t hide in your office. 

25. Know What Motivates Them

If you want your team to work achieve greatness, they must buy what you are selling. It might seem surprising, but not everyone works for money. Find out what motivates them to come to work. As Mavenlink puts it, get to know the engine that drives your people.

26. Don’t Micromanage

Mavenlink uses 2 words here – delegate and trust. If you expect your team to trust you, you must trust them. Trust people to do their jobs. You manage too many people, and not enough time, to stand over their shoulder and monitor their work.

27. Let Them Be Brilliant

Just because it worked for you, doesn’t mean it will work for them. Create space for them to explore new technology and ideas. Encourage them to create new methods and procedures. As Mavenlink puts it, create the freedom for people to be brilliant.

28. Be Transparent

What happens when senior management visits your team? Every team member must know the goal and the team’s progress. Quiz them about the things they should know and give them what they need to fill in the gaps. Mavenlink suggests that the managers job is to support the sharing of knowledge.

29. Host Team Building Events

Cultivate a team culture. Create opportunities for team members to become invested in each other. Plan an in office party. Hold a meeting on the grass out front. Mavenlink reminisces about meetings at coffee shops. You don’t need to go zip lining through the mountains to encourage this in-it-together feeling.

30. Get To Know Your Associates

One of my management classes called this “Win the Heart”. Learn who your employees are – as people. Learn about their families, their successes outside work, their hobbies. Acknowledge milestones – birthdays, weddings, etc. Attend funerals, give wedding gifts. 

Good luck! Managing a team is a rewarding experience. Take the time now to build good habits and reap the rewards. 

The post Management Checklist: 30 Things the Best Managers Know and Do appeared first on Project-Management.com.

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If you are a project manager, you might be wondering if you need to purchase insurance. Project managers need to purchase insurance. At the very least, all project managers should have liability insurance. If you do not have liability insurance, a lawsuit could take a large portion of your income. Several insurance agencies have policies that are suitable for project managers. Before you contact an insurance company, you should be knowledgeable of your coverage options.

1. Project Management Protective Liability Insurance

Project management protective liability insurance is an optional coverage option. The liability insurance does not have a standard form, and the project management protective liability limit applies separately to each project. The policy offers the insured liability protection for any incidents that are caused by the contractor’s work. The policy is supposed to reduce the hostility that usually arises when a claim is filed.

2. Insurance for Projects

Project managers define the project’s objectives. After defining the objectives, they acquire the resources that will make the project come to fruition. Ultimately, the project manager is responsible for the success or the failure of the project. A myriad of contractors and subcontractors are used to complete a project. All project managers should purchase professional indemnity insurance.

3. Professional Indemnity Insurance for Project Managers

A negligence lawsuit can bankrupt a project manager. Fortunately, professional indemnity insurance can cover negligence claims. A professional insurance policy can cover defamation, breach of confidentiality and intellectual property infringement. Some policies can fix a mistake before the issue becomes a problem for a client.

4. Public Liability Insurance

As a project manager, you will likely have several visitors in your office. Unfortunately, some of your visitors might be clumsy. If you do not have public liability insurance, you could be held responsible for any accidents that happen in your office. When you purchase public liability insurance, the insurance will cover the compensation claims.

5. Employers Insurance Coverage

Employees can get hurt, and they can sue for damages. The claims are usually due to injuries that occur inside or outside of an office building. If you do not have employer’s liability insurance, you might be sued by your employees. The insurance will pay for work-related bodily injury claims.

6. Office Equipment and Property Insurance

A natural disaster can destroy your furniture and office equipment. If your valuables are destroyed in a disaster, office equipment and property insurance will cover your technical gadgets. The insurance will also pay for plants and furniture. You might think some items are not worth insuring, but you might be underestimating their value.

7. Business Interruption Insurance

If an unforeseen event interrupts your schedule, you can still work outside of your office. The event may be caused by a flea infestation, fire or flood. Business interruption insurance will cover the cost of setting up your company elsewhere. The insurance will also cover any lost revenue.

8. Directors and Officers Insurance

Shareholders can sue higher level managers. Directors and officers insurance will cover higher level managers. If directors are sued, the insurance will pay for the compensation.

9. Consultants Insurance Coverage

Project managers have several insurance options, and there are several insurance companies. Usually, the most affordable insurance options can be purchased through an online insurance brokerage firm. A reputable online insurance brokerage firm will have knowledgeable representatives and affordable prices. The best insurance broker websites have great reviews. Before choosing an insurance agency, you should make sure that you have a thorough understanding of the policy. If the premiums and deductibles are reasonable, you should purchase the insurance.

Final Thought

As you assign project management roles to your employees, you should always be mindful of your insurance coverage. You will likely work with thousands of customers, contractors and subcontractors. When you follow the insurance requirements for consultants, you will ensure that your company’s finances are always protected.

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