Project Management Wisdom: PMThink Readers Speak

We recently asked PMThink readers to contribute the best project management advice they've even received. Here's the compiled list:

"Great organizations, especially those that do well over the long haul, are masters of the obvious and the mundane." - Bob Sutton, Harvard Business Online, May 4, 2007.
(contributed by PMThink blogger Garry Booker)

"Always remember, there is only us" - Alistair Cockburn, on collaboration instead of "us vs them", in Agile Software Development 2nd Ed.
(contributed by John Rusk)

It's about the people...not the processes or tasks. You treat your people right, they'll make sure the project is right.
(contributed by Eric Brown)

"When people don't care about a project they can find a 100 good ways to make it not work that aren't their fault"
(contributed by Jason Bates)

"Make sure you really need a collaboration/project management tool before you try to use one." Many times a PM or collab tool is overkill for something that you could have accomplished in a phone call, a single email or a single document.
(contributed by Isaac Garcia)

Although the PMBOK puts the statistic a little lower, experience shows that -- "100% of SUCCESSFUL project management is communication" (whether it is used for team building, coordination of activities, collection/ dissemination of data/metrics and status)
(contributed by Laurie)

I always try to balance the interest of the people. Always find out how you can make person "A" agree on an idea that contradicts his own idea.
(contributed by Randy, PMP)

"Your success is driven in large part by your ability to leverage the community you build around you."- Scott Allen and David Teten , authors, 'The Virtual Handshake'
(contributed by Jason Bates)

"Never take anything for granted, never assume that something is happening, check"
(contributed by Frederic Casagrande)

"If you can't measure it, you can't manage it"
(contributed by Lucas Rodriguez Cervera)

I also noticed that Frederic Casagrande (who, incidentally, won our drawing) has a great list of additional tips for project managers on his website...

1. You can't manage a Project on your own.
2. Never take anything for granted, never assume that something is happening, check.
3. Seek to understand before you seek to be understood.
4. Delegate and remember there is more than one way to complete the same task.
5. Allow the team to take responsibility for the tasks assigned to them.
6. Manage the sponsor and don't let them manage you, you own the project.
7. Be realistic with the expectations.
8. Everything is resolvable, it just may take time to find that solution. If something goes wrong, don't take it personally, it's not about life and death.
9. Look at the whole picture and keep the end in mind.
10. Taking a decision and moving forward is always preferable to indecision and delays.

Frederic runs a nice blog site, Digital Addictions, with some additional great advice. Check it out at: http://casagrande.blogs.com/english/ - Or, if you prefer it in French, visit: http://casagrande.blogs.com/

With all this good advice from our readers and colleagues, project managers can't go wrong.