Fuente: https://www.projectmanager.com/

Respect is a strange thing: it isn’t something that you can really pin down as it means different things to different people in different environments. However, there are some commonalities when it comes to being a project manager and I think we can all agree that being respected as a project professional is something that we all want.

Earning respect as a project manager is easier than you think, even if you have very little experience of managing projects. Here are the 5 things that I think will help you earn respect amongst your team and stakeholders.

1. Be Professional

Professionalism for project managers stems from a number of points. First, use respected tools. Make sure you are using industry-standard products for Gantt charts and time recording. Professional tools enable you to be more successful because they save you time with automation, allow you to see your projects in real-time with visual dashboards and generate custom reports for stakeholders.

Second, use respected methods. You could obtain a credential or qualification that shows others that you know how to manage projects. Or you can simply know your stuff and work with established industry practices. When you make skill-building a regular part of your practice, you will also be more confident.

Third, act in an ethical way. PMI has an ethics code of conduct that is freely available online. Anyone can agree to abide by this, whether you are a PMI member or not, so it is worth reading it (or the ethics code of conduct for your own professional body) and making sure you are familiar with the contents and what they mean to your projects.

2. Be Honest

When your project sponsor asks if something can be achieved, be honest. Don’t give the answer that you think he or she wants to hear (such as, “Yes of course we can integrate that 30-day change into the project with no extra resources, time or impact on quality”). Tell them straight. They will appreciate your honesty, and you’ll avoid any problems that may hit later through being less than truthful.

Be honest when you don’t know the answer, as well. It is much better to say that you don’t know, when the alternative is making up an answer on the spot. If you do have to confess your ignorance, go back and find out the answer and follow up. This also shows that you have the ability to deliver and follow through, something else that you’ll be respected for.

3. Be Trustworthy

Many projects involve maintaining confidentiality. That could be anything from staff salaries that you are told in order to budget effectively, or ‘secret’ projects that may have an impact on your own work, to elements of office politics or contract clauses. It could be something as simple as not discussing another supplier’s bid with the winning vendor or sharing data between two customers.

Discretion as a project manager is key. No project sponsor is going to be impressed with you if they hear through the grapevine that you have been talking about your project and the confidential elements of it in a way that is inappropriate – that’s a fast way to lose any respect that you may have built up.

4. Be Trusting

Don’t micromanage your team. Project team members are generally subject matter experts with their own sense of professionalism and the desire to do a good job for the benefit of the organization overall and this project specifically. OK, you may from time-to-time work with someone who doesn’t fit that description, but in the main people are chosen to work on projects because they have earned respect themselves in their own professional field, and someone else (like your sponsor) thinks they would be an asset to the team.

You can trust these people–and you should. They will also respond well to being trusted because you demonstrate confidence in their abilities. Personally, I would go with the approach of trusting someone to do their job until they prove that they cannot be trusted. If this happens, I would then think about what strategies I could employ to help them improve, but micromanaging people before this point wouldn’t be a valuable strategy.

5. Deliver

Finally, the biggest thing you can do to earn respect as a project manager is to make sure that you deliver on your promises–and deliver on your project. If you say you are going to do something, do it. If you can’t do it as a result of circumstances beyond your control, then you should say that too, so that you don’t ignore the commitment made to the individual concerned.

Delivering on your project means doing the best you can to get the project completed successfully, on time to the required scope and quality levels. I know it isn’t always possible to complete a project as they get stopped for a number of reasons, or cancelled. But if your project is still a concern, then you’ll earn respect by making sure you do the best you can to help it finish.

Being a well-respected project manager does take time and as with any job you have to build up a reputation. That reputation, however, starts with today. Think about how you are performing today and how that contributes to your reputation overall. Do the tasks that help you earn respect and drop those bad practices that might be, at one end of the scale, unethical or at the other end, just not necessary.

Professionalism, honesty, trust and performance will all help you earn respect as a project manager. If you do all of those things well then I guarantee you’ll be well thought of in your organization.

Using ProjectManager.com will help you achieve all of this. It’s a professional toolset that supports your own project management processes and helps you stay on top of everything to do with your project. The bespoke, stylish reports will help you manage stakeholders and show that you are delivering, and provide great data to help with making those difficult decisions.

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