This presentation/talk was given as a part of “Research & Development Project Management” (#RnDm) Course in Moscow State University for IT Magisters and PHD-students Authored by Alexey Kachalin (@kchln) based on his experience with management practices and personalities in research and industry teams/organizations V.1.0 - 2017.04.18 @ MSU

1. I, Manager
Traits & character
Skills to boost
by Alexey Kachalin

2. About this presentation
This presentation/talk was given as a part of “Research &
Development Project Management” (#RnDm) Course in Moscow
State University for IT Magisters and PHD-students
Authored by Alexey Kachalin (@kchln) based on his experience
with management practices and personalities in research and
industry teams/organizations
V.1.0 - 2017.04.18 @ MSU
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3. Management Skills List
Accuracy
Achieving Goals
Adaptability
Administrative
Analytical Ability
Assertiveness
Budget Management
Business Management
Business Storytelling
Collaboration
Communication
Conflict Management
Conflict Resolution
Coordination
Critical Thinking
Decision Making
Delegation
Development
Diplomacy
Discipline
Division of Work
Dynamic
Emotional Intelligence
Empathy
Empowerment
Energetic
Engagement
Execution
Facilitating
Finance
Financial Management
Flexibility
Focus
Genuine
Goal-oriented
Goal Setting
Hiring
Honesty
Influencing
Innovation
Interpersonal
Leadership
Legal
Listening
Logical Thinking
Logistics
Microsoft Office
Motivation
Negotiating
Networking
Nonverbal Communication
Obstacle Removal
Organizing
Patience
Persuasion
Planning
Presentation
Productivity
Problem Solving
Professionalism
Product Management
Project Management
Process Management
Public Speaking
Punctuality
Research
Responsibility
Qualitative Skills
Sales
Scheduling
Staffing
Strategic Planning
Strategic Thinking
Success
Tactfulness
Teaching
Team Building
Team Manager
Team Player
Teamwork
Technical Knowledge
Technology
Time Management
Training
Uncertainty Removal
Writing
Verbal Communication
Vision
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4. Whois
Manager
Organization
Team
Function (Process)
Activity (Project)<<#RnDm
...
Him/Her -self (Selfmanage)
Person responsible for:
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5. Project + Management
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6. Know Your Basics
Waterfall/Agile
PMBoK/SCRUM
MSProject/Jira
…
Are not evil/good - they either fit or not in
organization/project << M. should know them to find what’s
working right/wrong
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7. (Project)
Management
Practices
In real life
Organization common
practice
Standards, industry best
practice
Manager’s experience/IMHO
Chaos
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8. Project
Management
frameworks
I’ll skip this part, cause
all #RnDm was about it :)
...
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9. M. Toolkit
Verbal communications -
follow up e-mails
Meetings - Meetings
Minutes
Project Artifacts
E-mail - Hundreds of them
Project/Issue Tracker
Robo-notifications - build
servers, etc.
What M. deals with
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10. Project
Management
Perks
Iron Triangle
S.M.A.R.T. Goal setting
PDCA
Change management models
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11. Project
Domain
Awareness &
Expertise
It happens M. doesn’t know
(all) details and (some)
task/role specifics
Roles & Responsibilities
Routines & Workflow
Workload estimation
Risk estimation
“I want to know” vs.
“I don’t want to deepdive”
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12. Team & Communication Skills
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13. Communicatio
n Skills
Crucial M. skill indeed
Set up team communication
Control & Fix channels
One on one
Announcements
Meetings/discussions
Conflict Resolution
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14. Communication: Effective meetings
Schedule meeting: Who, What, When/How Long
A - Agenda
Meeting Minutes (Protocol)
Decisions/Next steps (Timebound)
Routine: SCRUM Meeting
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15. Team/People
Managment
Most precious project
asset: the team
Hire/Enlist in Project
Setting goals/tasks
Assessing
Coaching
Project Review Practice
Team evolution:Forming,
Storming, Norming,
Performing, Adjourning
Team model
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16. Stage Activities
Forming Direct the team, and establish clear objectives, both for the team as a whole and for individual team members.
Storming
Establish processes and structures.
Build trust and good relationships between team members.
Resolve conflicts swiftly if they occur. Provide support, especially to those team members who are less secure.
Remain positive and firm in the face of challenges to your leadership, or to the team's goal.
Explain the "forming, storming, norming, and performing" idea, so that people understand why problems are
occurring, and so that they see that things will get better in the future. Coach team members in assertiveness
and conflict resolution skills , where this is necessary.
Use psychometric indicators such as Myers-Briggs and the Margerison-McCann Team Management Profile to help
people learn about different work styles and strengths.
Norming
Step back and help team members take responsibility for progress towards the goal. (This is a good time to arrange
a team-building event.)
Performing
Delegate tasks and projects as far as you can. Once the team is achieving well, you should aim to have as light a
touch as possible. You will now be able to start focusing on other goals and areas of work.
Adjourning
Take the time to celebrate the team's achievements – you may work with some of your people again, and this will be
much easier if people view past experiences positively.
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17. Collaboration
Culture
M. is the key actor in
workstyle & work culture,
e.g. - Collaboration
Benefits:
1.Fast production time
2.Better Brainstorming
3.Improved Communication
4.Conserved Physical
Space
5.Better Employee
Relationships
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18. Critical
Thinking
As alternative to believe,
emotion, faith/force
Inductive, Deductive (Top
down)
Valid vs. Sound argument
Techniques: 5Whys, Cause &
Effects diagram, etc.
----
M. should follow & induce
good communication
practices (=Critical
reasoning)
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19. Reporting
(up & down)
Push/pull communication
Assessment
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20. Building
Support &
Confidence in
Project
Efficient communication
(stakeholder matrix)
On-time resources
procurement
Awareness for
resources/personnel needs
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21. Analysis & Control
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22. Don’t be afraid to dive into tech/administrative
things
It doesn’t hurt to ask (and expert will not turn your request
for information)
Better estimates
Second pair of eyes for expert
Understand whom to hire/not if expert becomes unavailable
Don’t have to waste time figuring basics when crisis strikes
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23. Financial
Skills
e.g.
Calculate/Track/Predict
planned and emerging
-expenses & costs
Awareness of Organization
practice/policy on
acquiring finances, payout
procedures (delays)
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24. Change
Management
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25. Only constant is Change
Project “Triangle” changes << Deal with it daily
+Process/Procedures changes
Lewin’s change model: Unfreeze -> Change -> Refreeze
Kotter's 8-Step Change Model <<Innovation gets accepted!
Changes in Organization: Burke-Litwin Change Drivers model
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26. Strategic Skills
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27. Bigger Picture:
Project in
Organization Project Program Management
Project Portfolio
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28. Strategic ideas from ordinary M.
Routines Scripts & Automation - reporting, reminders etc. -
reduce overhead
Continuous monitoring & planning - reduce error costs
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29. Self Management
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30. Self
Management
Plan Your work and work
your plan
Can you manage (whatever)
if you can not manage
yourself???
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31. What You (should) manage
Responsibilities
Tasks
Context
Time
Energy (!!!)
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32. Howto: make your work process work (for IT
guys)
Handle inbound data
Plan Process(inboxes) = items - act, info. Add attributes
(Projects) Review Routine - Next actions, schedule, loose
ends collection, empty buffers
Execute = Planned work = next action + @context
Some % of Unplanned work
(*yes, #GTD might be good for you)
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33. M. at the
Long Run
Professional - means you
are not going to
Work/Life balance
Stress tolerance -
conditioning/alt.activitie
s/nutrition
Mid.term/Long.term
(self)availability
scheduling vs. projects
deadlines
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34. M.Personality Traits
● Leadership
● Management skills
● Communication skills
● Foresight and vision
● Pragmatic
● Can do attitude
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35. M. Personality
1. Client-orientation: Take the time to understand your customer’s needs and push your team to provide
a product that exceeds the client’s expectations.
2. Authority: Don’t rely on your title to command respect.
3. Organization: Project managers need more than just vision to lead a project to success—they need to
be able to create a plan to achieve that vision.
4. Strong communication skills: Even when project managers know where a project needs to go, they
need to be able to clearly communicate their ideas and receive feedback from their team.
5. Foresight: Anticipate problems and head them off before they compromise deadlines and budgets.
6. Modesty: Project managers need to be able to reevaluate the project processes without an invasive
ego.
7. Pragmatism: Use what resources are available to you. Prioritize staying within scope and budget.
8. Empathy: Project managers would be pretty unsuccessful without a team. Take your employee’s
concerns seriously and commit to grappling with them.
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36. More M. Traits 1/2
1. Command authority naturally. In other words, they don’t need borrowed power to enlist the help of others
– they just know how to do it.
2. Possess quick sifting abilities, knowing what to note and what to ignore. The latter is more important
since there’s almost always too much data, and rarely too little. Ignoring the right things is better than trying to
master extraneous data.
3. Set, observe, and re-evaluate project priorities frequently. They focus and prioritize by handling fewer
emails, attending fewer meetings, and generally limiting their data input.
4. Ask good questions and listen to stakeholders.
5. Do not use information as a weapon or a means of control. They communicate clearly, completely, and
concisely. All the while giving others real information without fear of what they’ll do with it.
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37. More M. Traits 2/2
6. Adhere to predictable communication schedule …recognizing that it’s the only deliverable early in a
project cycle. All this takes place after very thorough pre-execution planning to eliminate as many variables as
possible
7. Possess domain expertise in project management as applied to a particular field. It’s not just that they
have generic project management skills; they have a deep familiarity with one or multiple fields that gives
them a natural authority and solid strategic insight.
8. Exercise independent and fair consensus-building skills when conflict arises. But they embrace only as
much conflict as is absolutely necessary, neither avoiding nor seeking grounds for control of a particular
project segment.
9. Cultivate and rely on extensive informal networks inside and outside the firm to solve problems that
arise. They identify any critical issues that threaten projects and handle them resolutely (vs. ignoring them).
10. Look forward to going to work! They believe that project management is an exciting challenge that’s
critical to success. The truly great ones view project management as a career and not a job, and they treat it
like so by seeking additional training and education.
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38. Good Luck!
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