Hello universe!

I want to share my latest discoveries, this time about the tools that should always be ready. And, as always and usually, everything is based solely on my own experience.

So, what are the most useful tools that a project manager can always use in their work?

0. The right people in the team. ================================

Exactly. Either you delegate and grow with the team, or you suffer from all sorts of project misfortunes. They didn’t deliver this, they didn’t send it, it fell down, they were late with delivery, etc. and so on.

On this, perhaps, it would be correct to end this post. Sit in the dark for five minutes, look back at your past mistakes, and never do the same again. Don’t have lunch alone, go out for beer and lemonade on Fridays, kayak with a team, take an interest in their life outside of work, become part of their family, in general, find your place in their picture of the world, and they will thank you for it. And if someone suddenly turns out to be a complete misanthrope and misanthrope, do not deny him pleasure, get rid of him. Everything is in your hands.

1. The word NO. ===============

Works great both in conjunction with the first component and independently. This magic word makes sleeping colleagues move and turns on the thinking apparatus even in the most advanced cases. Try it – the result will surprise you.

No, I cannot complete this project by such and such a date.

No, this solution is not technically feasible.

No, I can’t let you go this afternoon.

No, honey, we have a deadline tomorrow and we can’t miss it.

And so on.

2. The rest of the contents of the suitcase. ============================================

And now, my dear unfortunate project managers, let’s open the suitcase and look at its contents, which may come in handy if you were unable to use points 0) and 1). Fire fighting, patching holes in the budget, sedatives, and stimulants – it’s all here. Let’s look at my personal example:

2.1 Programmer skills

Quite recently, a project was completed in which, due to its extremely small budget, there was no tester on staff. It was understood that the developers would do something themselves, then check something themselves, and then the final testing would be carried out using the customer’s funds.

Alas, miracles do not happen, and if something can be fu$#@d, it will definitely be %$%$%d. The issue of maintaining the required quality of supplies arose quickly enough; automated testing helped solve it, and the test tool was written by yours truly. The C# language is a surprisingly nice thing, and the abundance of libraries for working with anything makes it an all-powerful tool. The main thing is not to get carried away and not to cross the line in the opposite direction from manager to developer. However, why not?!🙂

2.2 System administrator skills

It also sounds a little strange, but if you don’t have the right tool and the right people at hand to make this tool, you can try to make it yourself. I’m talking about the automation of some processes, when, after spending a couple of days independently studying and setting up, for example, some CRM, you can then speak the same language with system administrators, giving them the task of installing a specific version with certain settings and packages.

2.3 Skills of a physically healthy person

Going to the gym or swimming, eating right, avoiding things that can damage your physical shell and what is inside it, in general, are completely banal things. It’s not trivial that if you don’t follow this, by the age of 40 you can feel like an old rusty creaking trough. Yesss! Yoohoo! Crunch – and in half!..

Conclusion

If we continue further, it may well turn out to be a book of banal advice for reading over breakfast. Therefore, that’s enough, everything else is written in many smart books, let’s stop being a writer and turn into a reader. The next post is about one of these books!🙂