Comments on: Project managers: the great ambassadors of our time http://www.robborley.com/2009/12/01/project-managers-the-great-ambassadors-of-our-time/ ... because everyone else was doing it. Wed, 23 Jun 2010 22:53:10 +0100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Rob Borley http://www.robborley.com/2009/12/01/project-managers-the-great-ambassadors-of-our-time/comment-page-1/#comment-660 Rob Borley Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:08:18 +0000 http://www.robborley.com/?p=167#comment-660 You are right Sam. There have been occasions where a client has tried to circumvent me in an attempt to squeeze something extra out of the team. It is something that needs to be watched for as it can cause problems as you have described. The team are getting pretty good now at spotting this and putting me back in the loop. You are right Sam. There have been occasions where a client has tried to circumvent me in an attempt to squeeze something extra out of the team. It is something that needs to be watched for as it can cause problems as you have described.

The team are getting pretty good now at spotting this and putting me back in the loop.

]]> By: Sam Barnes http://www.robborley.com/2009/12/01/project-managers-the-great-ambassadors-of-our-time/comment-page-1/#comment-596 Sam Barnes Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:22:15 +0000 http://www.robborley.com/?p=167#comment-596 Great post Rob! I totally agree with the idea of getting the production leads involved with the client. Not only does it get the right people talking, it also cuts down on time needed by the PM to manage projects, thus being able to manage more in parallel. The only negatives I've experienced are when the client starts to cut the PM out of the loop and talk directly with the lead, and the lead starts to action things without you knowing that are affecting the project in some way as things like schedules and budgets arent taken into consideration. Of course this can be minimised by having an on-going understanding with your leads that you need to be made aware if this starts to happen. As for transparency, it's the only way to fly in my opinion. When things are going well it's great, but the real benefit comes when things start to go wrong. The trust established previously always seems to make a client more understanding to problems. Great post Rob!

I totally agree with the idea of getting the production leads involved with the client. Not only does it get the right people talking, it also cuts down on time needed by the PM to manage projects, thus being able to manage more in parallel.

The only negatives I’ve experienced are when the client starts to cut the PM out of the loop and talk directly with the lead, and the lead starts to action things without you knowing that are affecting the project in some way as things like schedules and budgets arent taken into consideration.

Of course this can be minimised by having an on-going understanding with your leads that you need to be made aware if this starts to happen.

As for transparency, it’s the only way to fly in my opinion. When things are going well it’s great, but the real benefit comes when things start to go wrong. The trust established previously always seems to make a client more understanding to problems.

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