Project Management that Works: Real-World Advice on Communicating, Problem Solving, and Everything Else You Need to Know to Get the Job Done

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o be a great project manager (PM), your team, stakeholders,

sponsors, and peers must be able to rely on you. Trust is not given

right away; it is earned. Unfortunately, the corporate world has

taught many team members to not always be truthful. For instance, an ex-

ecutive may approach a team member in passing and discuss a task. At

the end, he may ask, “Hypothetically, how long would this take?” The

team member answers, “About 2 weeks.” Two days later, the team mem-

ber finds out that he has been committed to completing the task in 2

weeks. At some point, the “hypothetical” became the actual. This is a

standard problem for many people. The next time ...