Learning From Project Management Best Practices

Want to ruin a project fast? Put a PM and Superintendent at odds. But when they’re aligned? You get magic ✨ • Seamless execution • Less chaos and finger-pointing • And a team that clicks Here are 10 powerful lessons and realizations that have helped me build that kind of partnership: 1️⃣ The Superintendent and PM relationship is CRITICAL. Nothing destroys a project faster than when your PM and Supt aren’t on the same page. It’s like trying to raise kids when Mom and Dad aren’t getting along—it’s impossible. This relationship MUST work for the project to succeed. 2️⃣ Intentional Check-ins Work Wonders Go for a walk. Grab lunch. Sit down for a real conversation. Building a personal connection leads to a strong professional relationship. 3️⃣ Give Without Expecting Anything in Return Give respect. Give trust. Give time. True collaboration starts when both people stop keeping score. And if you want to go deeper, try this: - Understand each other's DISC profile. - Match the moment, not the mirror. - Ask how you can support each other. 4️⃣ Plan together. Visually. Get out of your heads and into the same plan. Whether it’s a whiteboard or a digital platform, build the plan side-by-side—and stick to it together. Outbuild is a no-brainer for this. One place for everything: schedule, lookahead, weekly work plan, constraints, and analytics 🙏 5️⃣ Get crystal clear on roles. What are you owning? What are they owning? Then back each other up when it counts. 6️⃣ One Team, One Voice Make key decisions together. Back each other in front of the team. Disagree in private. Align in public. 7️⃣ Track Every Change and Decision Who said what, when, and what changed? Clarity = accountability. 8️⃣ Support Each Other’s World. Superintendents: Make sure PMs have what they need to move the paper (contracts, change orders, and pay apps). PMs: Make sure Supers have what they need to move the dirt (material, RFIs, and submittals). 9️⃣ Stay Three Steps Ahead—together. Anticipate problems before they happen and take proactive steps to prevent them. Superintendent focus (1-3 weeks out): • Equipment • Materials • Manpower • Prerequisite work • Inspections • Space • Layout Project Manager focus (3-6 weeks out): • Submittals • Fabrication • RFIs • Change Order Approvals • Approvals • Coordination The best duos build lookaheads together—and use them to stay out of each other’s blind spots. 🔟 Continuously Improve the Relationship Drop the ego. Ask each other: • “What’s one thing I could do better?” • “What do you need more of from me?” Remember: The strength of the relationship between the PM and Superintendent directly influences the success of a project.

Why is the role of a Project Manager so often misunderstood? Too often, it’s seen as just managing budgets, schedules, and contracts. While technical execution is critical, it’s only part of the job. The real challenge, and where projects often succeed or fail, is in managing people, expectations, and relationships. As PMs, we’re aligning teams, navigating conflict, and communicating across stakeholders with competing priorities. That’s where the real leadership happens. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is this: Every mistake anyone on my team has made is interesting, because it’s my fault. I hired them. I set the expectations. I built the structure. That shift in mindset changed the way I lead, for the better. It’s easy to look good when everything is running smoothly. But show me how you lead when things go sideways, that’s what defines you. Most people are peacetime generals. I’m looking for wartime generals. That’s why I’ve leaned into what I call the PR Principles—Project Relationship Principles—inspired by Dale Carnegie’s timeless ideas and sharpened by field experience: 1. Make people feel seen, heard, and valued 2. Lead with clarity and consistency 3. Stay solution-focused under pressure 4. Recognize contributions at every level 5. Build the team, not just the timeline Strong teams and healthy project cultures aren’t accidental, they’re the result of intentional leadership. When you combine technical execution with emotional intelligence, you don’t just deliver projects. You build momentum, loyalty, and trust that lasts beyond the job.

What I Wish I Knew When I Became a Project Manager 🤔 When I started my journey as a project manager, I thought success was all about meeting deadlines, staying on budget, and sticking to the plan. While those are important, here’s what no one told me:  📌 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁. Your team isn’t just a resource—it’s the engine driving the project. Building trust, fostering collaboration, and understanding their needs are as critical as delivering the project.  📌 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲. I learned quickly that no project plan survives first contact with reality. The ability to adapt, reprioritize, and communicate changes is more valuable than creating a perfect plan.  📌 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀. Leadership is about asking the right questions, listening to your team, and empowering them to find solutions.  📌 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀. Engaging them early, managing expectations, and keeping them informed can make or break your project.  📌 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘀—𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀. Moving from one task to the next is easy without pause, but recognizing progress strengthens morale and momentum.  Although these lessons weren’t in the job description, they shaped me into my current PM.  𝗧𝗼 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀: You don’t have to have it all figured out on day one. Embrace the journey, stay open to learning, and remember—you’re not alone! #ProjectManagement #ProjectManager #Agile #Leadership #PMPlaybook

I spent my 30s managing enterprise IT projects. Here’s what I wish I knew at 29. 1/ Getting teams to simply talk is most of the battle. 2/ Getting sign-off (actual sign-off) on scope will save your bacon. 3/ The right time to think about risks is before you notice problems. 4/ No one is thinking about your project as much as you are. (/should be) 5/ When you have to ask ‘whose job is that?’, it’s probably your job. 6/ If someone asks you if you can do something ‘just this once’ it’s probably their job. 7/ If you do something once, it will be expected for every project in perpetuity. 8/ Understanding *why* someone is making an unusual request will give you insights. 9/ Seeing into the future is a superpower developed through experience. 10/ Senior PMs have good stories. Ask them to share. 11/ Every exec has (at least) two tones. The one they use among piers, and the one they’ll use 1:1. Don’t be startled. 12/ The first step in planning should be to define what you’ll do when things don’t go to plan. 13/ Planning is useful only if that plan quickly evolves into actual work. 14/ Repetition in meetings helps define expectations. Expectations help with accountability. Accountability is how you influence without authority. 15/ Holding people accountable—without being a jerk—is how you preserve relationships. 16/ Don’t ask if something is ‘in progress’. Ask ‘how much work is left’. Use percentages. 17/ Budget more time than you need. Then push hard to use less time than budgeted. 18/ Expect things to go sideways so you’re never surprised--and so you're always ready to act. 19/ Don’t burn bridges. Assume you’ll have another project with them. 20/ Trust is the single most valuable currency in project management. What are your lessons learned?  ____ 👋 Follow me Timothy Morgan for more about enterprise project management.

Project managers are the memory of a project Stakeholders are busy. Priorities shift. Teams change. Months from now, decisions get forgotten, context fades, and what seemed obvious becomes unclear. That's where you, the project manager, create above-and-beyond value. You're not just tracking tasks. You're preserving the story (and details) of the project so the team and stakeholders don't lose their way. Here's how you can do it well: 👉 Document decisions immediately and share them regularly Don't rely on memory or casual notes. Capture who decided what, why, and when. Then share it out repeatedly for awareness and dependencies. 👉 Maintain a single source of truth Ideally in one specific place (repository). Centralize project notes, timelines, updates, RAID log, etc. Make it easy for anyone to find the info that they need. 👉 Summarize key learnings After milestones or sprints, create a brief recap. Highlight what worked, what didn't and lessons for the next phase. Share them with the team so they can be implemented. 👉 Connect past to present When new stakeholders join, onboard them with context. This prevents the team from wasting time revisiting old conversations. And gets your new team members off on a good foot. 👉 Keep things accessible and actionable Use clear language, bullet points, and visual aids. Make the history of the project easy to consume. This makes next steps palatable too (and usually quite obvious). Effective project managers don't just manage the work. They safeguard the memory of the project. So that it can be used to progress it every step of the way. 🤙