I still remember very clearly what I was told at the very first lesson of PMP (Project Management Professional); “As a professional project management, one should process NO EMOTION!” Although you could not find it in any official text books of PMP, my guru told us that it is the basic requirement of being a successful PMP.

Pre-requisite:
Honestly, it make scene when you need to manage tremendous tasks by numerous people from various departments with different working background and personalities. To stay firm, be fair and well-organized is a must, but showing no affection or emotion is just not too human from my humble opinion. A big project like Chinaplas, is something that always makes me introspect my management and leadership skills.

9 Management Areas:
Any major projects involve 9 management areas which could put project management into a test both mentally and physically: (1) Project Scope, (2) Human Resources, (3) Time, (4) Quality, (5) Cost (6) Procurement, (7) Integration, (8) Communications and (9) Risk. Each management area links to one another, and any weakened links could break the chain and provoke big impact on the progress. In most areas and during the processing, it require cooperate of pre-processors or post-processors. Those who have worked for Chinaplas project would understand that it is a training ground for new staff and also always big challenge even for veterans.

The success of a project is entirely relied on each expertise’s contribution and building up the proper team spirit. Project heads relies on information provided by field workers to analysis the situations, especially on risks. If we could not foresee the possible risks and take proactive actions accordingly, the consequence could be horrible.

Challenging but Rewarding with Sharing Memories:
Working with different people for different projects is challenging and also rewarding. Showing affection like appreciation is a must, showing your anxiety in a proper manner at the right time could alert your subordinates and create the sense of crisis. It should not be regard as showing your weakness. It is because proper tension could be a good driver of motivation and eventually boost up the performance. The stories of such could become sharing memories amongst the members for years to come.

Emotions are Human Being Nature:
I truly believe that the success of a project builds on mutual trust. To build the mutual trusts, I must let my subordinates know I am a human just like they are. Emotions like happiness, fear, anxiety, worries are just nature of human beings. Then they know they are being respected and could come to talk to me for guidance or directions whenever there have doubts. With such communication management, they become my eyes & ears, and let me monitor the project in a much wilder scope than I could do it alone!

By Cliff CHAN