How PMs Think — Consultants’ Voices #02

In the second installment of Consultants’ Voices, one of our consultants reflects on the desire to think more deeply about how work gets done—and to keep asking whether there might be a better way.

Drawing on experiences before and after joining PM Global, the consultant shares how working with different people and perspectives has shaped an approach to project management: understanding the purpose behind the work, adapting to the situation, and always considering what is best for the client.

There Must Be a Better Way

“I Want to Think More Deeply”

Before joining PM Global, I spent about 15 years at an independent systems integrator, working as a programmer, systems engineer, and project manager. Over time, I gained a solid understanding of how the organization and its projects worked. But the more experience I gained, the more I found myself wondering: Was that really the best decision? I wanted a role where I could think more deeply about the choices I was making.

After going through several project cycles, I had developed my own established ways of managing each phase and controlling costs. I was also involved in improving efficiency and reviewing processes within the systems I was responsible for. But those efforts were still limited to my own area of responsibility.

I began to want something broader—a role where I could look at challenges from a wider perspective and be more directly involved in solving them.

One of the reasons I chose PM Global was the opportunity to work in a global environment, something I had wanted to do since I was young. Another was the way the team worked, which I learned about during the interview process.

Rather than handling everything on your own, you work with the team to decide how to move forward. When you are unsure about a decision, you can talk it through with others and make sure you are on the right track. Hearing that made me feel that this was a team I could see myself being part of.

“The Right Way to Communicate Depends on the Person”

One of the first things that surprised me after joining PM Global was how quickly the managers responded when an issue came up. They could immediately suggest not just one solution, but several possible approaches.

At first, I was simply impressed by how quickly they could respond. But as I listened and learned, I began to understand what made that speed possible.

It was not just the depth of their knowledge. They could quickly judge who needed to be consulted, inside or outside the organization, in what order, and how something should be communicated to keep things moving forward. I realized that everyone on the team was constantly making these kinds of careful judgments as a natural part of their work.

There was also an experience that made me realize that my own way of doing things was not necessarily the best one.

I once sent a brief email to a stakeholder I was contacting for the first time, thinking it would be best to keep things quick and simple. Later, another colleague suggested that, given the relationship with the person and the circumstances, I should take more care in crafting the message so that everything could be communicated clearly and accurately the first time.

That experience stayed with me. There is no single “right” way to communicate. The best approach changes depending on the person, the organization, and the situation.

“Keep Thinking as You Move Forward”

What I value most in my work today is continuing to ask whether there might be a better way.

Rather than simply following a process because that is how it has always been done, I try to understand why we are doing it in the first place. Only then can I see what the next step should be.

Of course, that does not mean always pushing through the solution that I personally think is best. I also need to consider the scale of the project, the cost, and other practical constraints, and then find an approach that the client can understand and agree with. For me, that is part of what makes this work interesting.

When you keep thinking this way, sometimes your efforts are recognized in unexpected ways.

I once received very positive feedback from a client on a proposal I had made. What they valued most was not so much the proposal itself, but the fact that I had noticed something that no one else had—the perspective I had brought to the issue.

Experiences like that have reinforced something I have come to believe strongly: simply doing what you are told is not enough.

There are tasks that may seem simple enough that anyone should be able to do them in the same way. Yet in reality, the way people approach even those tasks can be completely different.

That is why I try to keep asking myself what would be best for the client and what the work should really achieve—and to keep thinking as I move forward.

That is the mindset I value most in my work. (End)