First Day as a Project Manager? Start Here

Adriana Girdler

Here’s some key information to start off your role as a PM on the right foot After a lot of hard work and dedication, you …


Here’s some key information to start off your role as a PM on the right foot

After a lot of hard work and dedication, you did it! You became a project manager. Congratulations! You’re about to step into a role that is both rewarding and impactful. And while some hard work lies ahead of you, I want you to know that there are some simple ways you can make your job easier and get yourself and your team off to a good start.

There are some things you ought to do and be aware of your first day as a project manager. Let’s outline what those things are, shall we?

1) Get to know key players

When you’re stepping into a new role where you’re going to be managing people and tasks, it’s important to get to know key players in the project. There are many people who will be impacting or be impacted by the project in some way – stakeholders, sponsors, team members, subject matter experts, executives, customers, and more. But don’t let this overwhelm you – focus your attention on getting to know those you’ll be directly working with on a regular basis like stakeholders, sponsors, and team members, one at a time. You can’t know everything about everyone on your first day, but if you can focus on getting to know key players, you’ll learn important information about them that you ought to know as a project member, and they’ll also be given the chance to get to know you as well.

2) Team bonding

Supposing you’ve established who is going to be part of your project team, it’s important to create an opportunity for team bonding as soon as this happens. This can take different forms; perhaps you want to take your team out to lunch for something more casual. Otherwise, you can incorporate fun team bonding activities into meetings for your team members to get to know each other.

3) Build your credibility

Your team needs to know right off the bat that you are reliable. So, be extra cautious not to make promises that you can’t keep. Be honest and realistic, and if you say you’re going to do something, carry it through. A great project manager practices what they preach. Communication and action need to go hand in hand. This is key here!

And more…

The truth is these three tips aren’t all of what you need to know to make your first day as a project manager successful. I’ve already created a video that goes into more detail about these tips and adds additional ones, like make your availability clear, scope out the break room, and review your roles and responsibilities. I would love for you to learn more about what each of these tips encompass. So please, don’t miss out! Head on over to YouTube with me for a few minutes and we’ll talk about the rest of these so that your first day can get off to the best start possible.


I really hope that you found this helpful – and if you did, it would mean so much to me if you would share it on your social media.

Meanwhile, if you really are committed to mastering your next project, do consider taking my SLAY Project Management online course where I show you step-by-step how to successfully manage a project, plus you get access to every template you will need, along with detailed video instructions on how to fill them out.

-Adriana

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Adriana Girdler is a project manager, productivity specialist, entrepreneur, professional speaker, facilitator, visioning wizard, and author. As President of CornerStone Dynamics, Adriana is one of Canada’s prominent business productivity and project management specialists—helping both individuals and businesses do what they do, only better. She is a certified master black belt lean six sigma with over 20 years’ experience improving how companies work.

She also holds both PMP (project management professional) and CET (certified engineering technologist) designations. She’s a Tedx speaker, as well as a HuffPost and Thrive Global contributor. She has been interviewed on Global, CBC, CTV, CHCH, 680News Radio, Newstalk 1010, Sirius XM and published in the Globe and Mail and numerous industry magazines. WANT ADRIANA'S FREE ONLINE TRAINING? In 45 min, learn Adriana's 5 project management secrets she use on EVERY project. Sign up for the Free Webinar here: THE FAB FIVE FUNDAMENTALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

SLAY Project Management

Online Course

5 Sections and 24 step-by-step HOW TO Videos! The only 5-hour on-line course that teaches you the PRACTICAL side of project management. This course will guide you step-by-step on HOW to successfully run a project and provides you with all the templates and tips you need to be successful.

Fab 5 Fundamentals

Free Training

Are you striving for successful projects, but get overwhelmed figuring out what elements of project management to focus on for the best results? In the Fab Five Fundamentals of Project Management, you’ll learn the five things you need to do on EVERY project to bring it to success.

Why Projects Fail?

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If you're new to projects or need a refresher, here's a guide of all the things I learned during my journey. Project success is about knowing how to navigate and stay clear of roadblocks, issues and problems. Understand the top 10 reasons why projects fail and how to avoid them.

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