Project Managers Coach

By Ruth Pearce

One of the key things expected of a project manager is to build and execute a plan. For many project managers, this is a daunting task, and often new project managers believe that they and they alone must construct the plan that everyone else will follow. The result is a plan that others don’t or won’t buy into and that is hard if not impossible to execute successfully.

With coaching skills, project managers and their teams enjoy a whole different experience, as the project manager builds trust, gathers information through effective communication, and develops a plan alongside other team members. The result becomes a plan that team members co-own and to which they feel connected.

Coaching skills are helpful when a new project manager first joins a team – especially if that team has already formed its working norms and created team bonds. Through coaching, the project manager has an easier entrée into the team and builds connection and trust more quickly.

In the chapter, Project Managers Coach, I explore the benefits of coaching skills with a coaching client who is facing some challenges at work and in achieving a balance between work and home-life that feels good. Idris, the project manager, discovers that coaching skills make his life and his team-members lives easier, more productive, and more satisfying.

Given that we manage our own lives and jobs, note that we are ALL project managers in one way or another. Daily life is a series of projects and the more we can engage our team or family members through presence, listening, and trust the easier our projects – and our lives – become.