PM: Keep monkeys on their owner’s back!

Highly effective Project Managers are often asked to perform duties which are outside of what would be considered core PM responsibilities. This could range from simple things (such as coordinating lunch for an important meeting) to more in-depth activities such as filling a team member gap, whether the resource hasn’t yet been assigned to the project or a crucial resource to the project suddenly left the company.

Anyone who has worked with me has observed that I’ll do ANYTHING necessary and appropriate to ensure the success of a project. That said, there is a key boundary we must adhere to: we cannot (MUST NOT) take on duties that would consume so much of our time that we’d put the overall project at risk.

A common scenario…

The Project Manager learns that a critical member of their team has left the company. That person’s manager asks if we (the PM) would be willing to help fill the void.

First, I’d suggest that we view this request as a compliment. That is, they must think highly enough of us to feel that we would do a good job in filling this gap! Otherwise, they would NOT have asked us.

That said, it is the manager’s problem (NOT the PMs) that they had someone in their department leave the company. So, while we might feel really good about the fact that they have enough confidence in us to perform duties in their good name, we must be VERY careful as we consider if or how we might help in this regard.

There is no, one, right answer.

To this, I’d suggest that if you “should” have extra bandwidth and the aptitude to take on the task, feel free to do so. It will very likely be yet another opportunity to learn something new. I love that!!! However, prior to doing so, I would clearly define the scope and objectives of this support to ensure we aren’t sucked into an endless set of activities that usurp our time from our key responsibilities on the project.

Said another way, PMs can easily and quickly pick up project-related tasks which are better owned by the functional areas, especially considering the likelihood that these tasks WILL take the PM into the weeds, away from their primary focus and objective: managing the project.

When we determine it is appropriate to say “no” to such a request, we can do so with tact and diplomacy to maintain good relationships while at the same time ensuring the project isn’t impacted. To that, we might respond with:

[Manager],

Thank you very much for the confidence you have in me, in asking that I help fill the void left in the wake of your crucial team member leaving the company.

Unfortunately, the demands of this project require me to focus on the planning, execution and management such that I cannot afford the time to assist in this regard, without putting the project at risk.

That said, I’m happy to help identify options. For example, do you have other avenues to consider, such as resources in other departments? Could you engage a temporary / consultant? Is there any way that you could step in to fill the void left by your team member. Finally, we could bring this up to the steering committee to determine if they have any ideas or resources to assist filling this crucial void in the project.

Please let me know how you’d like to proceed.

The key aspects of the response include thanking them for their confidence in us, providing a concrete / undeniable reason why we cannot fill the void and offering to help them with the issue resulting from THEIR employee leaving the company, all while keeping the monkey squarely on THEIR back.

In closing, if you are looking to improve PM performance and capabilities in yourself or organization, feel free to reach out so that we may discuss how I can help.

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