Manage Your Project Portfolio, 2nd Edition

Know What Work to Collect

You can collect work only in your immediate sphere of influence. That’s because you don’t know what people two levels up or down from you are actually doing. If you’re a first-level manager, you can ask each person in your group what they are working on. But the more middle- or senior-level management you are, the more you have to work through your staff. Explain what you want to know and how you want to see it. You might even use the next few paragraphs to help them understand. Don’t be afraid to depend on others to help collect the work; be clear on what you want to see.

As you collect your work or as you ask others to collect theirs, remember to look at all five categories of work—periodic work, ongoing work, emergency ...