What do you do if find yourself leading a project with no training in project management?

Many people are placed in this situation or fall into it: they are accidental project managers.

Arguably, practicing lawyers are the ultimate accidental project managers.  They all have projects to manage.  Most obviously, these projects are their client matters.  As lawyers become more senior they are often asked to lead and be responsible process improvement projects as well.

It’s almost certain the lawyers concerned have had no training in project management.

In this post I give 7 tips for accidental project managers (especially lawyers), to help them run projects successfully.

Whether you are an accidental project manager or not, I hope you find the tips useful.

 

1. Press the pause button and plan ahead

Planning is an essential pre-requisite for successful projects.

Research shows that high performing project managers spend more than twice as long on planning as lesser performing project managers.  There is a lesson for us all here: we must spend more time planning our projects.

I also suggest it’s a common trait of lawyers to rush in and start work on a matter as soon as possible to show ‘client responsiveness’.

The desire to get things done is laudable, but everyone would be better served if project managers (especially the accidental ones) pressed the figurative pause button and started to plan the project.

It is often impossible to plan everything in detail during the early stages of a project.

That’s OK, because you don’t have to plan the details at this stage.

What is required is a high-level outline of what you and the team will do during the project.

You must also put this outline down in writing.

I often hear people say something like ‘I know in my head what I am going to do’.  But this is not a good approach.  Here are reasons why:

1. Putting a high-level plan down in writing helps you clarify what it is you and the team will do. Even writing a few bullet-point ideas down will force you to think more carefully about what you are intending to do during the project.
2. Leaving things in your head will not help your team much. Putting thoughts down in a document which can be shared within the delivery team will help everyone – including you.
3. Most importantly, as much project planning and supporting documentation as possible should result from teamwork. All team members should feel they have an opportunity to contribute and feel engaged in project planning. Team members can’t do this if any plan exists solely in your head and, by implication, is not up for discussion.

 

2. Create a Project Definition Document

In project management literature the project outline I am thinking of may be called a Project Initiation Document, Project Definition Document or Project Charter depending on the terminology used.

I always encourage people to use a one-page canvas style template for their Project Definition Document (PDD).

One advantage of this is that you can see on one page all the foundational building blocks required for a successful project.

Another advantage of the canvas style format is that it encourages brevity.

When creating a PDD, think in terms of bullet-point notes.  There is no need to agonize over detail (not least because you won’t have much detail to go on at this point).

For example, when completing a PDD try to produce single sentence summaries or bullet-point lists of things such as:

• The project’s objectives
• What deliverables are required to achieve the project objectives
• What activities are required to create the deliverables
• Who the key stakeholders are
• Who are the core team members and what project roles do they have and
• What risks are likely to occur during the project (and I am using the word ‘risk’ in its everyday meaning here – i.e what events might occur which would hinder you and your team from completing the project successfully?)

Creating a good PDD need not take long.  It is a great tool to help clarify your thinking and, literally, making sure everyone is working from the same page from the beginning.

 

3. Keep developing the project plan

A good PDD supports project planning.  For small projects you might find a well crafted and regularly updated PDD is all you need to plan and deliver the project successfully.

For most projects however, you will probably need to create a more comprehensive project plan.

When you plan further you will build on the work you have done in the PDD.

By way of illustration, consider the project deliverables.

You will have identified key deliverables in the PDD, but not considered them in any detail.

To build out from the PDD, you will need to understand what activities and tasks are required to create the deliverables and who will be doing those tasks and activities.

Once again, working with the project delivery team is essential here.  As a starting point you will need to consider which team members are best placed to complete certain tasks, given their availability, skills and experience.

 

4. Do some stakeholder analysis

Poor communications are often a root cause of project failure.

Spending just a few minutes doing some basic stakeholder analysis can help with project communications and much else besides.

To start the stakeholder analysis, list key stakeholders.

Then ask yourself several questions about each.

The answers should help you understand things such as the attitude of the stakeholders to the project, how you can work with them constructively and how you can best communicate with them.

Some illustrative questions to ask of each stakeholder:

• What is each stakeholders attitude toward the project?
• What influence and power do they have?
• What does the project team need from each stakeholder?
• What should the team do to ensure it gets what it needs from each stakeholder?

 

5. Communicate project status regularly

Most project managers probably spend at least 70% of their working time engaged in communication activity.

Ensuring the continued flow of information about the project to all stakeholders is one of the most important tasks a project manager performs.

One of the first things experienced project managers will do on a new project is draw up, and commit to, a communication plan.

The communication plan need not be anything fancy.

You may simply want to make it known that, say, once a week or once a month (whichever timescale suits the project best) you will send out a project status report to stakeholders and you will welcome feedback about each report.

Having a simple status update report template is an easy way to start.

By sending out a project status update report you are broadcasting information about the project to the stakeholders.

What you should be ultimately aiming for is a meaningful exchange of information between you and the stakeholders.

Hopefully the status update report can act as a prompt for stakeholders to provide information or simply ask questions about the project.  If so, you are now engaged in communication rather than broadcasting.

The likelihood is however that you will need to follow-up on your status report and engage with stakeholders more directly.  Looked this way, your status report acts as a key to unlock more meaningful discussions with your stakeholders.

 

6. Review and learn as you go

The classic advice for project managers is to have a review at the end of each project to see what worked well and not so well and then take the lessons learned forward to other projects.

Sound advice, but why wait until project end?

It is far easier to have a short review at the end of each phase – or simply at the end of each month regardless of project phasing – so you and your project colleagues can learn and apply lessons as you work through your current project.

 

7. Stop being an accidental project manager and get some training about project management

Many project managers start as accidental project managers and it can be unnerving running a project while being unsure whether you are ‘doing things right’.

I was fortunate enough to receive formal project management training at different points in my career as a practicing project manager.

The training always helped me run projects better in different organisations facing different challenges.

After training I also felt re-invigorated and this allowed me to progress my projects, and my career, with confidence.

If you would like to step up from being an accidental project manager, why not take one of my project management training courses?

I deliver training and certification courses in legal project management and legal process improvement.  All certifications are awarded by the International Institute of Legal Project Management (IILPM).

If you feel a certification is not a requirement for you yet, consider one of my shorter non-certification courses which serve as an introduction to project management in the legal service industry.

My training will give you the knowledge, skills, and confidence to manage projects of all kinds better than you can now.

Having a legal project management certification is also a visible demonstration that you are no longer an ‘accidental project manager’, but someone with a professional approach to running projects in the legal service industry.