Cross-Managing

One of the most valuable things I've heard on my project management journey is "If you want to be a project manager, you have to first learn to be managed". I was puzzled by this but it was so zen-sounding, I just knew there was some truth in it. That was several years ago and since then I've seen the truth of that statement everywhere. Many people want so badly to be "managers" and feel that by getting their PMPs & learning to delegate, they will have made it in the project management profession. They don't want to put in the time to learn the tasks they need to do their current job really well. They do the tasks to get them over with so they can get onto the next "bigger" thing. In other words, they become close to "un-manageable" in the job they are already in. Why would a senior person trust such a person with an important project to do if they are unable to perform their current job really well?

That's the way to grow in this business of business: Perform excellent work *now* in whichever role or function you're in. Gradually you begin to build yourself up and show yourself capable. Then people everywhere come to see you as reliable and you will increasingly get more work (which is a good thing!) Before you know it, you will become a manager!

However, it doesn't stop there. The entire business of management is not only top down, but also  bottom-up (as I've blogged about here: Managing Up). Now, I have yet another addition: Managing Across! What does this mean? It means managing people on initiatives/requests that you have no direct relationship with. So for e.g., since I am in IT, I have no direct relationship with someone in Expense Management or Credit. However they may ask me for something or I might need something from them. There is no on-going project that we're all involved in. Usually it's something like a one-off request. And yes, this can easily be seen as a distraction from current project work. And people may not respond with alacrity. Or they may not respond at all! In fact in some circumstances, you may need to escalate to get your request fulfilled. So in this case, there's nothing really in the PMBOK guide that addresses such circumstances (or actually there may be; I just haven't looked closely enough). However, some of the techniques that are used for managing people in general can be valuable here as well.

Here are a few:

• Ask for a favor
• Make the request as simple as possible
• Make a phone-call OR send an email and then follow up with a phone call: a personal touch is much more effective than an email to someone you don't know
• Thank them!
• When someone requests something of you in a similar fashion, respond with alacrity and be helpful

Managing Across is yet another opportunity to learn to be managed. We're managed by our bosses, but we can also be managed by colleagues in other parts of the organizations to provide them help/information. It's a constant exercise and requires discipline. There is no point at which you will NOT be managed.

In fact, if I can get philosophical, Life is the greatest manager of them all. Life constantly introduces new stresses and pressures; it changes directions on all of us & sometimes does so whimsically.  We all are managed by life in one way or another. So how do you deal with it?

The answer: Being managed at work is a microcosm of life in general and serves as excellent practice! So if you find yourself getting frustrated by requests from others or "distracted" from your project, treat that as an opportunity to be managed. How you respond in such circumstances will be an indicator of how you respond to your life in general.