Cons of being a project manager
Overall, I believe that being a project manager is very interesting and enjoyable. However, as with most jobs, it does come with it’s ‘downsides’ too. In this blog I’m going to talk about some of the cons of being a project manager.
Before I get started, I’d like to tell you a secret. And that secret is, most of these cons are actually pros. Just because something isn’t enjoyable, it doesn’t mean it isn’t a ‘good’ thing. A lot of these cons will actually push us outside our comfort zone and force us to develop new skills. They make us better project managers. I only label them as ‘cons’ because I want to be transparent with you about what it’s really like being a project manager. To do that, I need to tell you about the parts of the role that you might not like….at least to begin with.
Now that I’ve said that, let’s jump into the ‘cons’ of a project manager role.
It can be stressful
As a project manager, you are on the line for delivering the project. It is your responsibility. That can be a lot of pressure, especially if there are ‘serious’ consequences if the project does not complete on time (I say ‘serious consequences’, but no-one is going to die). Projects often come with aggressive timescales, and issues will always crop up to prevent you from keeping to those timescales. This can be stressful. What’s more, you cannot just deal with these issues by yourself. If work needs doing urgently to get a delayed project back on track, you are usually reliant on others to get that work done. Trying to influence someone do something immediately when they have, from their perspective, more important things to do, can be stressful.
So, if you want a stress free job, then maybe project management isn’t for you.
Now, the good news is that the stress does reduce with experience. Firstly, your experience means you are better able to avoid getting in those stressful situations in the first place. Secondly, you will have experienced so many of those types of situations, that it becomes just ‘another day at the office’. There isn’t a great deal that can phase you anymore. However, if you keep pushing yourself with harder and larger projects, stressful moments will always come and be part and parcel of the PM role.
If you want more info on dealing with stress as a project manager, see my post –
https://projectmanaverse.com/2022/02/08/project-manager-stress-overwhelm-and-working-too-many-hours/
You have to nag people
Maybe ‘nag’ is too strong a word, but I am going to use it anyway. Nagging people is not a fun part of being a project manager, but it is an essential one. As a project manager, you are responsible for ensuring all the milestones on your plan are completed by the agreed dates. That means you can’t afford for people to be late with their activities, so you need to keep constant pressure on to ensure things get done. If you don’t, then your milestones will start to slip. It’s not that people are lazy, they are just busy, so you need to keep reminding them about their work and the deadlines.
For tips on how to get your project team to complete their task on time, see my blog https://projectmanaverse.com/2022/02/10/how-to-get-your-project-team-to-complete-their-tasks-chasing-actions/
Again, as you become a better project manager, you will find you are nagging people less, because you are running the project in a way that is conducive to people getting things done on time.
You have to deal with difficult stakeholders
A stakeholder is someone who has an interest in your project, and yes, sometimes they can be difficult. How that difficulty manifests is wide ranging, you may have a customer who is never satisfied, a team member who won’t pull their weight, a project director who rules with an iron fist, a project sponsor who doesn’t really take any interest in the project, or just someone who is an idiot. Dealing with these difficult stakeholders can be a headache, but you must find a way to work with them if your project is to succeed. The good news is, in my experience, that you don’t have to deal with many of them, they tend to be limited to one or two per project.
Resolving conflict
Personally, I don’t like conflict. It’s uncomfortable and I would rather avoid it. I like to get on with people, I like a nice and pleasant atmosphere, I like peace. Conflict doesn’t give you that. However, resolving conflict is something you will need to do as a project manager. Sometimes the conflict is between you and someone else. Sometimes it is between different parties and you are caught in the middle. Either way, if you want your project to move forward and succeed, you can’t bury your head in the sand and ignore conflict. You need to face it, deal with the uncomfortable feeling, and get it resolved as quickly as possible.
Red tape
Red tape is an expression that means ‘excessive bureaucracy or adherence to official rules and formalities’. This is more common in large organisations that have got so big that tight regulation is required to try and keep control of everything. It can be repetitive, it can be boring, it can be very time consuming, and sometimes it can block progress. However, if you want your project to progress and you want the thing that you are building to ‘go live’, you need to play by the rules and ‘do the needful’. Every project manager worth their salt will moan about red tape now and then, but trying to avoid it by cutting corners can backfire in a big way. In my experience, being a ‘Maverick’ PM doesn’t end well in the long run.
Staying positive when times are tough
Sooner or later, one of your projects will go through a very challenging time. Usually it’s only during a particular phase of the project (e.g. testing or implementation) but occasionally you get a brutal project that is a challenge right from start to finish. This can be tough on you. It feels like issues are cropping up all over the place, the project is being delayed, you are burning through your budget, and pressure is on from senior management to deliver. This is stressful and it can get you down. However, even if you are feeling down, you need to put on a brave face for your team and for your customers. You are the project manager. You are the face of the project and you are the leader. You need to stay positive so that your team can stay positive and your customers believe the project will deliver. Some days you really don’t feel like turning up and dealing with it all. You open up your diary in the morning and you have back to back meetings all day. Even worse, you have the responsibility of running most of them and for steering (sometimes wrestling!) each one to the desired outcome. This can take a lot of emotional energy. However, you can’t go back to bed. You have to suck it up. You can’t take the day off, if you do, things will slip further and just get worse. Hours count, and the clock is ticking.
Now, that being said, there are not many better ways to improve and grow (in a ‘safe’ environment) as a project manager and a person, than to get through those tough times. It’s like going through a forge. If you can grit your teeth, keep your head up and find a way to hold onto a sense of positively, you’ll come out of the experience as strong a steel.
Those are are my top cons of being a project manager. As I said at the start, although they are a pain, I actually see them as pros in the long run. They force you to become a better project manager. What are your thoughts? Do you have other PM peeves? If so, please leave them in the comment section below, I’d love to read them. Until the next time!
Project Manaverse 