Recognizing the Red Flags: Common Signs You've Hired the Wrong Project Manager

When hiring a project manager, the stakes are high. The wrong choice can lead to costly delays, team discord, and client dissatisfaction. Here, we outline the common signs that indicate you may have hired the wrong project manager. These indicators can help prevent project failures and ensure your team's success.

Language Barriers and Lack of Technical Understanding

The inability to understand or translate technical jargon into clear, non-technical language is a significant red flag. If a project manager cannot explain the technical aspects of a project in a way that stakeholders can understand, they are likely to struggle in their role.

Project Status Tracking and Communication

A project manager's role involves continuously tracking project status and providing updates. Frequent back-and-forth between green (on track) and red (off track) with no intermediate yellow (at risk) status is a clear sign of mismanagement. Additionally, generic responses to inquiries about project status, where detailed updates are delegated, indicate a lack of control and clear communication.

In meetings, a project manager should be providing updates and showing control. If they frequently question the team or act as a yes-person for the project sponsor, this can further indicate a lack of leadership and control.

Project Specification Confusion and Changing Deadlines

Confusion about project specifications or unannounced changes can lead to significant delays and misunderstandings. Effective project management requires clarity and transparency in all communication.

Sliding deadlines and frequent changes without proper notification can disrupt the project timeline, causing frustration and confusion among the team members. This can lead to productivity losses and a demotivated workforce.

Internal Conflicts and Team Friction

Internal conflicts and team friction can directly impact project outcomes. If a project manager is failing to address or communicate foreseeable problems, this can lead to disagreements and delays. Poor communication and lack of contingency planning are also red flags.

Add to this mix behaviors such as long lunch breaks or shortened workdays (e.g., early dismissal), and a negative attitude, which can further diminish team morale and productivity.

The Principal Functions of a Project Manager

Understanding the key functions of a project manager is crucial for identifying the right candidate. In the management consulting field, these functions include:

Planning the project, including determining tasks, deliverables, schedules, time estimates, staffing, budgets, and technical approaches. Organizing the project team. Leading the team to get the job done. Fitting the approach to the budget. Performing quality control, including reviewing deliverables. Supervising staff, being attentive to staff needs, helping team accomplish tasks, developing staff skills, and keeping staff billable. Performing technical and financial monitoring. Preparing progress reports. Maintaining good client relations. Contributing in a substantive way to accomplish the project.

When a project manager is not performing well, it can be evident in negative performance across one or more of these functions. For example, poor performance in tracking project costs and schedules can quickly escalate into increasing red flags.

Key Indicators of a Misfit Project Manager

Signals that you may have hired the wrong project manager include:

Incompetence in managing project costs and schedules. Frequent client dissatisfaction. Poor communication and lack of transparency. Unwillingness to address issues proactively. High turnover of team members due to dissatisfaction.

By recognizing these signs early, you can take corrective actions to address the issues and ensure a successful project outcome. The project manager plays a critical role in the success of any project, and identifying the right fit from the outset can save significant time and resources.