Berkun reading group discussion

Start here.

This is another chapter that will continue to hold-up over time. A lot of the tactics mentioned would not have resonated to me without experience. How can we teach or train new PMs to look for these patterns or apply these tactics if they've never experienced them? My favorite parts were


1. "Like a marine, assess the environment and then judge the best route to get to the project goals."
2. "The challenge of prioritization is always more emotional/psychological then intellectual, despite what people say."
3. "Eliminating tasks from people's plates gives them more energy and motivation to focus and work on what they need to do."
4. "If communication isn't working, switch the mode. Instead of email, call them on the phone. Instead of a phone call, drop by their office."
5. "Never walk into an important meeting without knowing the opinions of the important people in the room."
6. "If you want a frank and honest opinion, or an in-depth intense conversation, you need to get people alone."

I had several frank conversations with team members today that provided two alternative solutions to a problem on a project. But, these individuals never spoke up during the all hands meeting. Both are brilliant engineers but cannot communicate well verbally ( heavy accent ). The meeting was lead by someone who likes to interrupt or talk over you. I provided that feedback to the PM and he ignored it. So, we bypassed him and continue to progress on the project. When you have sufficient projects under your belt, you start seeing patterns or models for resolving problems. We need to have more simulation or case study training for PM's.

This is one of those chapters that could have been in a completely different book. I've actually thought about a pm-ish book that was all topics like this one - about behavior more than anything else.

> How can we teach or train new PMs to look for these patterns
> or apply these tactics if they've never experienced them?

I don't know that you can - I spoke to a PM class today and told them much the same thing. There are many skills you can only begin to appreciate, much less get good at, by being in them. You have to experience it. I suppose a book could offer more hypotheticals ("imagine you're on a project...") but that's a stretch too since imaginations depend on experience too.

I'm glad my advice here made sense to you. It seems so obvious to talk to people one on one, and that it changes things, but many people think it's too trivial a thing to make a difference.