Effective Project Management ChecklistV2

Are you an

Effective Project Manager?50 Questions to get you thinking more deeply about your personal effectiveness

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gantthead.com Are You an Effective Project Manager?

How to Use This Self AssessmentThe feedback you will get from going through this exercise is on levels. The score itself, in total and within each section, will give you a sense of scale – How much you need to work on and in what areas. The second form of feedback, probably more important, is the thought process you will go through with each question. If you can list examples of what you do and how you do it, then you have tangible evidence of your contributions. If you do not, then you know you have area to work on and can create a plan for getting there.

Scoring the assessment is quite simple. Go through each item in this list and give yourself a “2” for every “yes” and a “0” for every “no” or “don’t know”. Then total your score. Your total score will be out of 100. So:

90-100 gives you an A

80-89 gives you a B

70-79 gives you a C

etc.

Basic Questions To Ask Yourself Why does it matter? Example Yes No Don’t

KnowDo all the people working with you on projects that you are managing committed to the project and enthusiastic about their work?

Do you bring out the best in others?

Do members of the organization, who are not on your team, work well with you when you call on them for help?

Can you manage without authority?

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Do the people that work with you generally trust your judgment?

Do others have faith and trust in your leadership abilities?

Do peers come to you for advice about their projects?

Do your peers see you as an expert?

Do you find yourself consistently pointing out critical issues and identifying solutions before others do?

Project success often hinges on details.

Do people generally understand what you are trying to accomplish and why?

Are you a good communicator?

Business Case Questions To Ask Yourself Why does it matter? Example Yes No Don’t

KnowDo you understand how each of your projects relate to the organization’s strategic business objectives?

Do you understand the big picture?

Have you enrolled sponsors in each project and understand their personal stake in the outcome?

Do you have the influence you need to get the job done?

Have the financial and organizational benefits of your projects have been quantified in a way that makes them clear and compelling?

Do you know what success looks like?



Do you understand the key risk factors and failure indicators in each of your projects and have a plan to mitigate them?

Can you run a somewhat predictable project?

Do you understand the assumptions for each project and how they relate to project requirements?

Do your expectations and goals live within a reasonable context?

Have you budgeted for all capital and operational costs related to your projects?

Can you manage project finances?

Do you understand each of your projects’ return on investment?

Can you prove the value of your project?

Planning Questions To Ask Yourself Why does it matter? Example Yes No Don’t

KnowDo all of the projects that you are managing have clear goals and objectives that have been agreed upon?

Do you know what you are driving toward?

Is the scope of each of your projects well defined, understood and agreed upon by stakeholders and documented?

Does everyone know how you are focusing your efforts? Do they understand what you are NOT doing?



Is each project’s “products” or expected results well defined and documented?

Do you know what you are producing?

Do you understand the constraints that you are dealing with for each project?

Do you know what is not possible?

Do you have a documented approach and schedule for each of your projects?

Do you know how to get there?

Do all of the projects that you are managing have adequate resources for completion?

Do you have the people and other resources that you need to get the job done?

Do all of your projects conform to applicable organizational standards for approach, reporting, etc.?

Does your approach align with organizational standards?

Are potential conflicts with other projects are easily identified because of open communications and clear project plans?

Do you make what you are doing clear to those who operate outside of your projects?

Do you understand the documentation required by the organization as well as what should must be in place to ensure successful execution of each project?

Is proper documentation an integral part of how you run your projects?



Do you understand the tasks on your projects well enough to provide accurate estimates or have access to an expert who can assist in that area?

Do you know how long things will take?

Do you understand the skill requirements for all of the roles on your project and the knowledge sources team members need to draw upon to be successful?

Do you have enough technical expertise to run this project?

Are all the people and vendors involved with the projects that you are managing appropriately skilled and adequately trained to complete the project work?

Can you assess your team’s skills and abilities?

Do you have a well-defined work breakdown structure for each of your projects?

Do you know how the work breaks down into manageable parts?

Do you understand and have documented all of the activity dependencies for each of your projects?

Are you clear on how all of the parts of the project fit together?

Do you have a well-defined project organization?

Do all of your team members have clear roles?



Do you understand how your resources are allocated so that they are employed efficiently and effectively across projects?

Are you sure that everyone that works for you is being as effective as they can be?

Does every activity that you have scheduled have a well-defined output?

Are you producing something meaningful with every activity?

Do you have the equipment and facilities you need to get the work done?

Will someone be sitting idle because they don’t have a laptop?

Communications Questions To Ask Yourself Why does it matter? Example Yes No Don’t

KnowHave you informed all stakeholders about your project and what you see as the impact it will have on them?

The people who have the most to say about your project care about specific things. Do you know what they are?

Have you briefed all project participants about their role in the project, expectations and how they will be measured?

Is everyone that works for you clear on their goals?



Do you have schedules and systems in place to communicate effectively with all sponsors, stakeholders and team members on a regular basis?

Have you made the path to success clear to everyone?

Are you always aware of the current status of the projects that you are managing?

Do you have solid reporting systems and schedules in place?

Project changes are clearly communicated on a regular basis and are always understood by project participants.

Do you understand and properly implement change management on your projects?

Management Questions To Ask Yourself Why does it matter? Example Yes No Don’t

KnowHave you taken action to ensure that teamwork is properly incented?

Are the interests of your employees aligned with your own?

Do you have a mechanism in place to tackle and resolve issues as they occur?

Do you a way to address issues head on?



Do you have standard mechanisms for resolving disputes?

When project conflicts and disagreements come up, effective agreements are reached quickly and with minimum disruption to workflow.

Do you understand each individual’s performance and how it is measured?

Who are your key /critical players? Are they performing?

Do you acknowledge good performance as it happens and reward it appropriately?

Do people know it when they’ve done well?

Do you identify sub-standard performance and take corrective action as needed?

Do people know it when they’ve not done well?

Can you confidently track project progress and take corrective actions at the appropriate time?

Do you monitor things closely enough to catch and correct problems?

When alternatives are presented, do you take a logical and effective approach to decision-making.

Versus knee-jerk, reactive, or emotional.

Closeout Questions To Ask Why does it matter? Example Yes No Don’t



Yourself KnowDo you always summarize your project results and metrics for all stakeholders?

At the end of the game, does everyone know the final score?

Do you consistently identify lessons learned, archive project products and reusable objects?

Is what you have learned made available to others?

Do you consistently review resource performance?

Do team members understand how they did?

Do you monitor the reassignment of resources after each project?

Do the people that worked for you matter as individuals?

TOTAL SCORE: [# of “yes” answers X2]


Documents

Effective Project Management ChecklistV2