Team, communication and quality
It's often said that a project manager spends around 90% of their time communicating. The most common problem: “I thought someone else was responsible!”. The fix is a RACI matrix: for each task you set who is:
| R | Responsible: does the work. |
| A | Accountable: signs off and owns the outcome. Exactly one person per task. |
| C | Consulted: asked for input beforehand. |
| I | Informed: told about the outcome. |
| Task | PM | Analyst (you) | Developer | Sales director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Requirements document | A | R | C | C |
| Build the ERP integration | A | C | R | I |
| Approve the launch | R | I | I | A |
The communication plan sets who needs to know what, when and how. The sponsor wants a one-page weekly summary, the team needs a short daily meeting, and stores need an announcement two weeks before launch.
Quality: there's a difference between quality assurance (QA), improving the process to prevent defects, like code reviews and coding standards, and quality control (QC), inspecting the product to find defects, like pre-launch testing.
Watch outNew teams often go through stages: forming (polite and excited), storming (conflict), norming (agreeing how to work) and performing. Early conflict is normal; your job is to help the team through it.