Managing Project Managers

Whether you’re managing a program to bring many subprojects together in one release or releases over time, you’ll be managing project managers.

When you’re managing project managers, make sure to manage by deliverable. Also, consider managing by exception. That is, assume people are responsible and handling problems until they tell you they aren’t. You’ll need to build trust with your project managers and make sure you understand what they’re doing. See Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management [RD05] for more details.

There’s always a problem when you manage by exception—that of overly optimistic project managers or those who are not measuring their projects enough. You’ll need to review their project dashboards ...

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