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MenuWhat should you look for in a project manager?
What are traits you want in a project manager? What are things to look for while interviewing? Any professional resources that help when trying to find a project manager?
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This role in most organizations is designed for maximum fun! Well, maybe not, but I am ever hopeful. In twenty plus years I have led numerous projects and hired a few project leads [aka project managers] most of which have done a great job. For me, the best project managers are home grown. Promotion up through the ranks of the "A" players on the team, all with valuable insight on how all the processes work and interact with one another. However, should this not be possible, you have a lot of work ahead of you. Don't forget all the obvious steps like checking references. But the most important trait for me is that "eye of the tiger" concept. The will to survive. To thrive. The ability to think outside the box for sure, but it is more, it is the knowledge that they can make a difference in your organization. Not that they have done the exact same thing somewhere else, that almost never works! Find someone that must stretch to accomplish your goals. Make them convince you they are the right person for the position. Remember the 80/20 Rule: they need to do most of the talking. Give me a shout if you want a shoulder to cry on. I have hired over 300 people and only had to fire three.
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How do you organize your business? How do you stay on top of all the moving parts?
As you can imagine this is a vast question. The key elements are to be able to pay attention in 4 different ways simultaneously: 1. Diffuse Focus: You must keep an open mind to give you a global vision of what is happening within and outside of your business. This means keeping up with industry news but also knowing what is going on outside of your normal frame of reference. Keeping this global vision helps you take better mid & long term strategic decisions without being overwhelmed by daily pressure. 2. Narrow Focus: You must keep a very narrowly focused set of priorities and short term action points based on your mid & long term strategies. Having a precise laser focus of activities helps increase day to day performance and return on investment. This is the way to grow in a lean way as well as to manage employees successfully. Having a clear narrow focus is the key to get things done. 3. External Focus: Being able to take distance from your business and taking unemotional decisions helps you take the right strategic decisions. You must be able to step away from your baby and do what is best for the business rather than holding on to the past. It is easy to become to attached to certain aspects of our business that is detrimental to the well being of the business. Taking an external focus helps you get distance and take the right decisions. 4. Immersed Focus: By being in touch with your personal vision, values and goals, your business becomes more than simply a cash cow. Knowing why you believe that your business adds value to the world and communicating it with your employees gives a meaning to their work. The best way to inspire others and to keep motivated through the difficulties of running one's own business is to be in touch with the meaning of what you do. If you can pay attention to your business in these 4 different ways simultaneously, you will stay on top of all the moving parts. This means you will be able to simultaneously understand what is going on in your industry at a macro-level, as well as how to manage employees, deal with customers, keep track of finances, and update your strategies to maximise success.NK
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What does a business development role entail when it comes to hiring?
I think you should first really step back and ask if you need that role filled. Are your sales growing? Are they growing as quickly as you'd like? Do you think someone could push that needle? I've worked at companies with strong focus on sales and some where there were no sales people at all. It depends on your niche and who your customers are. Depending on your outreach methods, perhaps you need to hire someone with a strong sales background who's going to pick up the phone and start cold calls all day, or maybe you just need someone to handle your marketing better and help you out with some Adwords campaigns. Business Development is a big term, and it can cover a lot of things, most commonly sales... but salespeople aren't right for every business. So, look at your existing success. What sorts of things bring in the money now... and look to amplify those existing efforts before you go breaking new ground. You should be looking for someone who complements your existing success and can continue to tell that story, in your existing playing fields, and gradually moving into new areas. I know this was a vague answer, but I hope it helps.SL
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What is the best way to evaluate a candidate for product manager?
Some of this is stage dependent and all of it is highly dependent on the team above the product manager. The simplest answer of course is to find PM's from companies who have had exemplary success where the Product Manager candidate either led prior success or was exposed to it in a meaningful way. A simple starting point is to ask them to give you examples of conflicting opinions on a feature and how they evaluated the conflicting opinions and made a decision and tracked the success or failure of that decision. AirBnb actually gives PM's homework as part of the interview process where they have to actually present a unique idea (from scratch) to the interviewing team. Happy to talk to you about best process based on your stage and existing team.TW
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What is the best project management tool for a startup developing and scaling a mobile application?
I tried Basecamp, Jira, Unfuddle, Trello and PivotalTracker before for different projects which were developed with agile approach. All of them worked fine to me and I needed some time to setup my framework and processes there. I think it would be worth checking Trello or PivotalTracker which I personally like more than Basecamp because of better agile oriented structure.DL
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What's an alternative to equity based compensation that recruits, motivates and retains employees?
Before we dive into the equity,salary and such. Motivation and retention begins with the CEO. Ask yourself what is the culture of the company? If you don't know anything about culture then start with the basics: 1. Do you value employee opinions? Do you ask for others opinions? 2. Do you encourage people to listen to employee problems? Do you listen to what other people have to say? 3. Do you encourage others to come up with ideas and suggestion? 4. Can you sell your dream? 5. Can you build consensus? 6. Hire people for their strengths and fix their weaknesses 7. Don't assume shit, always ask 8. Treat your interns like employees and mentor them 9. Have a clear vision and be able to articulate it 10. Can you admit when you are wrong? VERY IMPORTANT So if you have a strong company culture this will help with new hires, motivate, and retain talent. The frosting on the cake is free food/snacks, happy hours, company paid healthcare benefits, etc.TP
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