Mastering Project Management: Nine Key Traits

We break down nine essential traits of successful project managers and provide practical tips for developing these skills to advance your career in the ICT industry.

• Leadership qualities including leading by example and making decisions under pressure
• Organizational skills for tracking projects and maintaining documentation
• Assuming authority appropriately in meetings and client interactions
• Focusing on key issues and prioritizing effectively amid distractions
• Client relations strategies including setting expectations and communicating without jargon
• Communication techniques for clear, brief, and direct messaging
• Flexibility to adapt to changing schedules and project requirements
• Personal accountability by owning mistakes and keeping promises
• Interpersonal skills to build loyalty and encourage collaboration

Share this episode with someone who wants to become a project manager or with a current project manager looking to improve their skills. Let's continue the conversation about project management by sharing resources and experiences with each other.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Live After Hours
• 8:20 Nine Essential Project Management Traits
• 12:43 Leadership Qualities for Project Managers
• 19:40 Organizational & Communication Skills
• 29:05 Client Relations & Flexibility
• 34:40 Personal Accountability & Interpersonal Skills

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Wednesday night 6 pm, eastern Standard Time. You know that can only mean one thing Live after hours with Chuck Bowser, rcdd, your favorite favorite RCDD. Go ahead and tell. Just be honest with me now. Just say yes, chuck, you're my favorite RCDD. Welcome to let's Talk Cabling, your gateway to the world of ICT. Get ready to dive deep into knowledge and power. So welcome to Live After Hours.

Speaker 1: 0:47

Tonight's a kind of a special show. I am not doing Q&As tonight. No, not doing Q&As tonight. I'm doing a show on nine important traits of project management. So if you want to become a project manager and you want to, uh, become a project manager there's nine traits you want to work on. If you are our project manager now and you want to be the best of the best project manager, then I've got tonight's shows for you. So turn it down just a tiny little bit there. Hello, way too loud. So so, yeah, project management is the thing today. So that's what we're going to be talking about.

Speaker 1: 1:28

But if we get too much further along, you know I start off every single wednesday, not live stream, with what are you drinking tonight? Chuck is drinking cola zevia, cola zevia. You know zevia is the drink of choice for chuck because it's a zero, uh, zero sweetener, zero coloring, zero caffeine, zero, blah, blah, blah, blah. I just like it because I'm really weird. You're probably gonna think i'm'm weird. So when I actually pour my drink into my cup, right, and so I pour in about that much Zevia, I fill it with ice, Put in that much Zevia, and then the rest is water and I mix it I like my sodas with not too much fizz, not too much fizz. And hey, did you know that Chuck has chuck?

Speaker 1: 2:27

Let's talk gaming podcast has get this challenge coins, yes, challenge coins. Yes, on the back, knowledge is power. Got 25 of them, all individually numbered. So keep an eye out for those, man, keep an eye for those. I've got an opportunity for people to get some here shortly. But yeah, oh hey, did you catch the episode this week? Did you catch the episode this week, yes or no? Tell me, let me know. This is why I'm wearing my tkw shirt today, not wearing a let's talk cabling shirt, because the uh, they're jesus is in the house, hello, jesus. And here's why I'm wearing this shirt, because it's because of that episode. And, um, the thing is text giving is happening in october, october 17th, something like that. Everything.

Speaker 1: 3:22

They're coming together and they're doing a uh, something like that. They're coming together and they're doing a putting in a voice and data security access control system for the Sojourner House in Providence, rhode Island, and they're looking for people, volunteers, to volunteer their skills, their expertise, to come help them do this. The Sojourner House is a house for battered women and stuff and great mission, and so a lot of people come together to try to do this. There's going to be a lot of great people that are doing it. They need people who can pull cable. They need people who know how to terminate cable, test cable, anything, even. If you don't know how to, why don't you just show up and maybe help them? Because it's for a great, great, great cause, great cause.

Speaker 1: 4:09

So tonight, oh, tonight's acronym challenge. Acronym challenge for tonight PMI, pmi. That's the acronym challenge for tonight. Put it in the chat box if you know what it means. Pmi. Well, I'll give you a few seconds to do that while I take a sip of my Cola Zevia. That's good stuff, Good stuff, good stuff, yes, so nobody's going to even try to guess that. Huh. Pmi, project Management Institute. Yes, daryl, the RCDD yes, he got it, he got it. You know, daryl, if I make it back to DC. You and I got to meet up for coffee or something, man, we just do. We just do so. Yes, project Management Institute. Here's a trivia question for you. Put the answer in the chat box. What year was Project Management Institute created? What year was Project Management Institute created? What year was Project Management Institute created? Put your guess in the chat box.

Speaker 1: 5:10

I had to look it up. Today I did a post on my Lunchbox Learnables on LinkedIn. I do it every Wednesday at noon and so I did a Lunchbox Learnable about the work breakdown structure. What is it? Why is it important? All that kind of fun stuff. And Bowman Vision Media was kind of harassing me and they said oh, you're not using PMI terms, chuck. Well, I was using work breakdown structure before I even knew about PMI. So I went and looked it up. I went and looked it up 1969,. Yes, kalen, you got it. My friend, did you look it up? Did you look it up 1969.? So they've been around for a while.

Speaker 1: 5:54

So tonight's show is like I said it's about leveling up. It's about building your skill set to become a great project manager, to improve your skills as a project manager, whatever it might take. Let me ask you a question. Let me ask you a question have you ever been on a job site where everything just seemed to click? The material showed up on time, the crews were synced, they knew what they were doing and maybe even the client smiled during the walkthrough? Chances are that, if that did happen, you had a great project manager behind the scenes making all that happen. But here's the real question Could that project manager be you? Yes, it can be you, right? Whether you're just pulling cable in the ceiling or just running crews on a hospital bed, or even if you just thought, hey, I could run this job better, then you're in the right place for tonight's show.

Speaker 1: 6:46

Like I said, I'm going to go through nine traits to help you become a great project manager, or to make you become a good project manager, if you're coming out of the field right, we're going to go through step-by-step on these nine traits. I'm even going to give you nine resources nine. I put some, I put some thought into that show for you. That's, that's what I kind of. I'm not doing the usual Q and a. So I've got even nine resources for you, cause you know what I want to. I want you to be the best project manager that can be. I want you to be, you know, I want you to be able to do the time on budget and customer happy, because it's just what I wanted to happen for you, well. So so, grab your notepad, geez, keep up. Uh, this is gonna be. This is gonna be a lightning fast thing, because I I have a feeling I'm not gonna be able to get this done in 30 minutes, but we'll just figure it out as we go. So all right.

Speaker 1: 7:37

So first, the first skill set is leadership qualities and skills leadership quality and skills. So I've got five. I've got five things here for you, right? Number one lead by example. Lead by example be the first one on the job site, be the last one to leave the job site and be willing to do the hard tasks first. Right, I did a project in Tulsa, oklahoma, gosh, two decades ago For MCI WorldCom and we were doing some cables and some cable trading. That was up really high I mean really high, like 22, 23 feet, and I was the first one on the scissor lift to get up there to do it. I didn't stay up there the whole entire time, because that's what I've cruised for, but I was the first one to do it. So that way they saw hey, chuck is willing to go above and beyond, right?

Speaker 1: 8:37

So another thing too is learn how to make decisions under pressure and stand by them. And one of the ways that you can kind of help with that is think about all the risks ahead of time. That's going to help you, because sometimes it's really hard to kind of make these decisions and make the right decision, because a lot of people get caught in oh, what's that term called Analysis, paralysis? And well, they will just analyze and analyze, and analyze, and analyze and analyze and never execute, never execute, right. So there you go. I'm in that situation right now. I have to drive to a job and see what's ready before I even get displacing. Exactly, exactly. So it tells me you already got the skill sets.

Speaker 1: 9:23

And also learn how to another one for leadership. Learn how to motivate your crew with clarity and positivity. See a lot of people. They manage out of fear. You got to do it. I'm going to fire you. You know that wouldn't motivate me at all. Not at all, because you know what I would quit in a heartbeat, quit in a heartbeat. I don't stand for that kind of crap I just don't Never have. But you know what does motivate me? Give me a situation, let me figure out how to solve it and let me run with it Right. So, yeah.

Speaker 1: 10:02

So learn how to make those decisions under pressure, stand by them, give the crew that clarity, give them the I know we work in the communications industry but communicate with them, let them kind of know what is the goal and make sure you know we are really good at telling technicians ah, you did this wrong. How about making a concerted effort to have at least five positive interactions for every one negative interaction with a crew? Right, we'll also learn how to delegate without dumping responsibility. You know, as a project manager you will seem. I just got a message yesterday I don't want to say who the name of the guy is because I don't have his permission to use his name, but he DMed me on Facebook asking me about the situation he's in. He's a project manager and he's feeling like he's being dumped on. So learn how to delegate, learn who you can delegate it to, because you might not want to delegate the fiber portion of something to a guy who's never done fiber before.

Speaker 1: 11:09

And then also, and this is probably the biggest one of all give credit when credit is due and coach through the mistakes. Okay, coach through the mistakes. You know, I consider one of my mentors. My first hour working for him, he wasn't like that. You made a mistake. I mean, a vein would literally pop out in his forehead and he would just he would lash you, he got better, he got better. He became one of my, one of the people who I consider as a mentor, although he doesn't know it. But yeah, coach through those mistakes. People are more receptive to change if you coach them through it instead of you get drunk.

Speaker 1: 11:52

You want some more information on great leadership under pressure. Look up the book Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink If you want to learn more about leadership. Next one organizational skills. We are in this. It's horrible, horrible at promoting project managers from the field who are good at pulling cable, terminating cable, testing cable, making a customer happy, but they suck at organizational skills. Hey, I'm one of them. I am absolutely one of them. Matter of fact, here's my organizational skills right here, boom, right here in this book. So in this book I've got all the stuff I need to do All the interviews I've got set up for the podcast All the advertisers. By the way, if you want to advertise on the podcast, get in touch with me. Advertisement of the show. Even my day job stuff is in here too.

Speaker 1: 12:47

So if I'm scheduling classes and stuff, did I book the hotel room? Did I book the flight? Just learn how to be organized. Of course I'm a boomer, late boomer, but you know what I know. There's ways you can do it online, but sometimes I just like to be able to sit on the couch with my wife, have the computer put away and I can still do it on this and not be staring at a screen. So the R Calendar app and my wife and I do use a calendar because we balance my day job, my classes and my travel, the podcast interviews and travel, her job and travels and farm life. So we've got lots of different stuff going on. So we've got to kind of go through and it's on Google Calendar and we have to kind of go through that when we want to make arrangements and stuff. But there are other ones out there, right? So keep a punch list and updated data.

Speaker 1: 13:36

I mentioned I've got that documentation, the thing for classes. Let me see if I can't find it real quick. So I can easily take a glance at it and I can tell you just by looking at it. Okay, um, looking at it. Okay, exactly what process here it is, right here, there it is, see. So I can easily take a quick look at that and say, okay, I, uh, I have booked the car, I have booked the overnight rooms. I've reached out to do contracts for the rooms, but they haven't been solidified yet. All at a glance, all at a glance, right. So make sure that you label everything.

Speaker 1: 14:14

Question what would happen if you stood in a particle accelerator with an opposing object? Yeah, what's that? Have to do with low voltage cabling and project management? Nothing, so I have no idea. Maintain clear and logical layout documentation and make sure that you do all your paperwork. Project managers are horrible at doing their paperwork, and that includes, you know, requests for information, submittals, as-builts, stuff that you know has to be done. It has to be done to close out that project, and you don't have to wait to the end of the project to do that. You don't? You don't, matter of fact. There's a lot of great. There's another resource for you great Google Sheet, templates for daily logs and job tracking, and I think in an episode not too many episodes ago, I actually showed you the green construction logbook. So that's a good one too.

Speaker 1: 15:10

Number three the ability to assume authority right. Learn how to speak confidently and walk through. You don't want to be the bull in the room, but you don't want to be the weak one in the room either. Don't be afraid to speak your mind and also just learn to be respectful when you do it right and learn when to say no. Hey, what's happening, mr? Oh, who's? I don't have my glasses on. Oh, hey, what's going on, brother man? Learn to speak confidently in meetings and walkthroughs. Learn how to make decisions when needed.

Speaker 1: 15:45

Again, we talked about that earlier Analysis, paralysis, it's. You know, sometimes just buckle up buttercup, make a decision and go with it, even if it's not the right decision or it may not be perfect. It's better to make a decision than to stop the momentum on a project. Know your scope inside and out, to the point where you can defend it or even challenge it with change orders, because customers are going to say, yeah, but that's in the scope of work. If you don't, if you haven't read your scope of work, how are you going to be able to challenge it. No, that's a change order, right, so know it inside out, forward and backwards. And as a project manager, I'm going to tell you right now you rarely rarely, nolan, could probably attest to this rarely will you ever be project managing one project at a time. Usually it's going to be three, four, five projects. Right, he's working late tonight. Just took off, just took down a network with a LAN IP change, waiting for it to come back online, gotcha. So you're hanging out with us tonight, right, nolan? Good job.

Speaker 1: 16:48

Also, learn to step in when others hesitate. That's an opportunity, even if you've never done it before. It's an opportunity to learn a new skill to do something and here's probably the best one for assuming authority is a project management skill. Learn to back up your team in front of a customer right In front of your customer right. Multiple projects at the same time, always Exactly right. Exactly right. Even if they're doing something wrong, you still back up your team. Coach them later, coach them afterwards. Some great resources here Bixie's PM 102 course. It teaches the decision-making and team authority in the ICT project. So look them up.

Speaker 1: 17:40

Bullet number four the ability to focus on key issues. I suffer at this. I've got ADHD, like a big dog, big dog. Sometimes I have a hard time focusing. I truly do. I truly do. So. Learn how to prioritize your fire drills right and how they affect your schedule right. That's going to be a key one too. So your team is your responsibility. You own all of their mistakes.

Speaker 1: 17:58

Exactly right, nelson, Nolan, why did I call you Nelson? There you go, learn how to ignore distractions and even minor complaints. Everybody knows. If you've ever seen me, you know I've got a pair of Shox headphones and I usually have them on. And I'll have them on and I'll be out there working. I will be jamming out the music while I'm working because I'm tuning out everything around me. That's one of the ways I kind of do that. It helps me do that.

Speaker 1: 18:25

Right, you may want to use, but you know it's not just you. You've want to use, but you know it's not just you. You've got to worry about your team, right, you've got to help them, make sure they have the ability to focus too. So maybe, do daily huddles with them and help them reset their focus. You can, in today's environment, you can do virtual meetings. You don't have to go to a project site every day? You should, but you know, if you're a project manager running three, four, five projects, do you really have the time to go to every project once a day? No, so at least try to go to every project once a week Simple phone call, right and then learn how to track goals versus what is busy work. Is this actually moving the project forward? Are we just doing this busy work because the painters are in the telecom room and we can't do anything in there yet? Right, yeah, there you go. A good resource for this is called the Eisenhower Matrix. The painters are in the telecom room and we can't do anything in there yet. Right, yeah, there you go. A good resource for this is called the Eisenhower Matrix. Right, there's an app for it. It's a great way for identifying what is urgent and what is important. So look it up, the Eisenhower Matrix.

Speaker 1: 19:26

Number five client relations skills. All righty. So clients, customers probably the biggest thing I could tell you. Set the expectation early and follow through. Okay, give them what your goal is, but make sure you give them a goal that you're going to be able to achieve. I always like I don't know where I heard this but under promise and over deliver, right, I always like I don't know where I heard this but under-promise and over-deliver, right. So if you think you're going to be done by Wednesday, say yeah, we'll be done by Friday. That way, you kind of still set that expectation, and when you finish early, that just makes you the hero in the customer's eyes, doesn't it? Also in client relation skills, our industry is horrible at this.

Speaker 1: 20:12

Communicate clearly without using jargon. Oh, that's us With our acronyms. People will look down on you in this industry if you don't use the right acronym, and we have acronyms that have multiple definitions and multiple meanings and have been changed several times. If the customer wants to call their telecom room an IDF, then you call it an IDF. You know what a TR is. Why make the customer Some customers? You tell them no, that's not an IDF, that's a TR. You can really good for running problems with that right.

Speaker 1: 20:55

Also, learn about documenting verbal approvals or getting changes in writing. It's called a confirming email. Whenever you have a conversation with a customer, then they're changing anything. Get back to the office. Acronym shaming why, exactly right? So when you get back to the office, make sure you send them an email. Right? Make sure you send them an email, dear customer per our walkthrough on the job site today, I want to confirm that I have our I understand it correctly Documented confirming email.

Speaker 1: 21:28

Ask for a response. Ask for a response. Okay, that email. Ask for a response. Ask for a response. Okay, that's going to, that's going to be key thing. And then also, when you run into projects on a job site and you will run into projects on a job site, keeping that customer current on that stuff Don't just go to me. Yeah well, we got a problem, we got a problem. Bring them a solution to bring them a solution. Don't go to them until you have the solution figured out. Never blindside, never blindside a client, ever. Okay, good resource for you. Go to LinkedIn Learning. Look up client communications for project managers, linkedin Learning client communications for project managers Change orders should always have a reference number, date and time with supporting evidence. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. Number six we're going to go on faster than I thought I would.

Speaker 1: 22:22

All righty, communication skills. Learn to be clear, learn to be brief and be direct in your emails and your daily logs. I do this with my boss, like, for example, I just shot him a uh, I know he's on vacation this week, but I shot him a message because he I know he checks his emails even on vacation. And I shot him a message, uh and, and knew he's going to need some explaining. But so what I did was the very first sentence in the email was the ask, and then I gave him a paragraph or two behind that so that way he can read it, understand what it's about. If he wanted to go see the additional information, then it was there for him, so that way he didn't have to reach out and ask, maybe even potential to slow things down. And then also, with communication skills and I'm bad at this, let me know. If you're bad at this too, tell me in the chat box. If you're horrible at this, right, learn to listen more than you speak. If you're speaking, you can't be listening and listen to hear. That's actually good. Marriage advice too, right. If your wife is speaking, learn to listen for that, right. Anthony, thank you for answering my Facebook question on Friday. It was much appreciated, my pleasure, my pleasure. And then also use pictures to explain complex issues, right, you know, that's why we do. That's why we have drawings, right? Drawings helps you look at them, because sometimes it's easier and faster to pick up on a complex subject if it's in a drawing or visual form, right. So a good resource here for you is a book called Crucial Conversations Crucial Conversations by Carrie Patterson. Good resource for you on that one.

Speaker 1: 24:05

Number seven flexibility. As a project manager, you better be flexible. You better learn how to adjust your manpower or your timeline based on the general contractor updating your schedule, because, trust me, they will update their schedule, right. So how are you going to be able to shift from working on the third floor to the fifth floor or the east side to the west side? How's it going to be? Again, this goes with your, with your thinking ahead of all the potential things that go wrong. If you think about it in advance, there's a better chance that you will have. You'll be able to shift and move so your project doesn't get affected. Also, be ready for material substitutions and design tweaks. As an estimator and a project manager, I'm telling you, every project has material substitutions and design tweaks. So, as a project manager, just be willing and ready for that. And a good company is going to have a kickoff meeting between the estimator and the project manager as they go through, right. So also learn how to step into roles outside your job description we get.

Speaker 1: 25:17

We get so wrapped up in our titles I'm a project manager. I don't do whatever. You know what, when I was a project manager, it wasn't unusual for me to pick up a broom and sweep a floor. It wasn't unusual for me to go out and help the guys terminate jacks, okay. But there's a balance there. It's okay to do that stuff, but not to the point to where it's going to delay the expectations and the functions of your job as a project manager. So just make sure that you do that. Also, stay calm during inspections. So QA inspectors, cable guys in the house, there we go, qa inspectors. They're going to come out, they're going to look at you. Just remember it is their job to find things wrong and they will find things wrong. That's okay. Just, you know, use it as a learning process.

Speaker 1: 26:12

Learn how to pivot. That's kind of weird. My wife and I are binge-watching right now. We want to do the Great Loop. It's a 6,000-mile journey on a boat that goes up the East Coast, through the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi River and then down the panel of Florida. It's on our bucket list, something we want to do and we're following a channel right now and the name of the boat is called the Pivot. Yes, because they learned to be adaptable.

Speaker 1: 26:41

What was it? That movie with Clint Eastwood? No, yeah, clint Eastwood. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. He was a Marine. What the heck was it? Adapt, overcome when he was a Marine. Adapt and overcome. Be ready, because things are going to happen. People are going to call in sick, people are going to quit. Material shortages, general contractors moving schedules around, other trades getting in your way, your boss dropping another project on you. You know, just learn how to keep a focus on that. Okay, all right. So a good resource here is ProCourse Field Productivity Module. There's actually a free demo available. If you're actually interested in that, just do a Google search on it and you'll find it.

Speaker 1: 27:20

Number eight personal accountability. I love this one Personal accountability as a project manager. Own your own mistakes and learn from them. Okay, never become that project manager who makes a mistake and they try to sweep it underneath the rug and hope nobody sees it. If you make a mistake, that was me. I made that mistake. I made that mistake, okay, because people will lose respect for you as a project manager if you deny and try to cover up stuff. Everybody makes mistakes Everybody. Do you know how to tell if somebody makes a mistake in the low voltage industry? They get up in the morning. Everybody makes mistakes, right. So just learn from them and move on and don't let them drag you down, don't oh, my God, it's my fault. This, that and the other. Okay, it was a mistake. Here's the best way to fix it and then move on. That's the best thing is personal accountability.

Speaker 1: 28:20

As a project manager, show up prepared and expect the same from your team. You can expect your team to show up on time with the tools that they're supposed to have, with a good attitude. If you're not doing that yourself as a project manager, okay, I am sorry. You got to lead by example. Never blame the crew, never blame the general contractor, I guess, especially when it's your mistake. Just kind of figure out when you do it. So just be willing to admit when you're wrong and learn how to correct it fast and keep your promises.

Speaker 1: 28:50

This is a bad one for me. I tend to overpromise sometimes I just do. I got so much on my plate and somebody reach out to me and say hey, chuck, can you do a show on such and such? That's a great idea, yes, and then I save it somewhere and then I forget. Keep your promises. If you say you're going to get it done, get it done and follow through. Okay, if you start doing that, you will gain respect as a project manager.

Speaker 1: 29:21

A good resource here. A good resource here is called is the the seven habits of highly effective people, written by Stephen Covey. Go ahead and read that one too. And the ninth and finals uh, bullet for tonight. Interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills, right, no, get to know your crew personally. It builds loyalty. It builds loyalty because you can have two technicians working for you.

Speaker 1: 29:48

One might be motivated by money, another one might be motivated by title. Right? One might be single and going out every weekend and partying. The other one might be a family person. Everybody's. Get to know them. Get to understand what's going on in their lives, because you know what I know. People say to always separate your personal life from your business life. But you know what I don't know. Anybody can do that. I just don't, as a project manager, learn. Learn that you know, if you don't know, that that person has a brand new baby and they're colicky and they're not getting any sleep and they come in with bags under their eyes and they're dragging and they're making mistakes because they only had two hours of sleep last night. Are you going to go fire them because you don't know that they've got a colicky baby at home that's two weeks old, because you don't Know your people? Know your people.

Speaker 1: 30:42

Learn how to read the room Okay, especially, especially during tense meetings. There's a lot of great resources here. You know there's a lot of YouTube videos out there on how to read body language, and also there's a podcast called uh coaching for leaders by Dave I know I'm gonna mess his name up Stackawick by Dave I know I'm going to mess his name up Stachowicz S-T-A-C-H-O-W-I-A-K. Stachowicz great resource for you, right, learn how to read that room. Learn body language.

Speaker 1: 31:18

Learn how to handle conflict calmly and without your ego. Your ego has no place in a meeting room as a project manager because but for the grace of god, there goes. You, because you know what I guarantee you. You you probably have or probably will at some point have made the same mistake. Just learned that always used to say the best lesson learned is the one from you. Learn from somebody else's mistakes. So learn how to learn how to handle that conflict and encourage.

Speaker 1: 31:43

Here's one before you. Encourage a culture of respect and collaboration. Okay, if your crew will be willing to go above and beyond for you, if you treat them like human beings, if you treat them like people, if you treat them just as a number, as a resource, trust me, that's only going to go so far. That's only going to go so far. You need to understand that your greatest asset as a project manager is the crews that are working for you, and you better treat them as such. Treat them as such.

Speaker 1: 32:25

The smartest person in the room is the one who listens and holds their speech. Yes, absolutely, matthew. I just said that earlier, just a few minutes ago. Learn how to listen more than you talk. Actually, and here is probably the best piece of advice I could give you as a project manager. It's going to serve you the best. It's going to help you build those relationships with the customer, with the GC, with your crews, with distribution, with your boss.

Speaker 1: 32:55

You ready for this? Get your pen and piece of paper. Learn to say thank you and say it often. Learn to say thank you and say it often. Learn to say thank you and say it often. Okay, I'm just telling you. It's just going to tell people that you know what this guy is authentic and it makes them want to help you with your goals. So there you go.

Speaker 1: 33:18

So we covered the nine core traits that you need as a project manager. Which one are you the strongest at? Tell me in the chat box We've got an extra minute or two here which one of you is the strongest at and which one do you say you need the most work? Because you know what Project managers they're made. They're not born. I don't know anybody. The funny thing is, you know, I've raised six kids. I never recall Halloween time seeing Halloween costumes for low voltage project managers. We are made, not born Right, and so you need to.

Speaker 1: 33:50

You need, you need to start acting like a project manager before you become a project manager. Ok. Also, make sure that you start small. Learn how to team. You don't have to wait to become a project manager to practice some of these skills that we talked about today. Learn how to do a team huddle. Learn how to coordinate deliveries. Learn how to handle a schedule.

Speaker 1: 34:10

What does a schedule look like? One small piece at a time. You know it's like I tell people all the time. You know, if you know me, you know, I've got a hobby farm, a hobby farm, and at any given point we have ducks, chickens, geese, goats, pigs, aquaponics, garden beds. I didn't learn all that stuff overnight. We just picked one skill at a time and worked our way there. So same thing with project management. First, again, use these nine traits that I went through, use the nine resources that I gave you and just make a timeline on how to you know what I'll do In the show notes.

Speaker 1: 34:46

When this gets posted to YouTube, I will put a checklist for this and you can go and you can download that checklist. There you go. There are some great resources out there for you. Bixie has some great projects the Project Management Methodology book I've got that Also. They've got classes as well. The podcast and the books I listed above.

Speaker 1: 35:08

And then also, if you know somebody who's a project manager or a program manager right now and they are knocking it out of the ballpark, why don't you ask them to mentor you ballpark? Why don't you ask them to mentor you? Why don't you ask them to mentor you, right, mentor? I love the mentoring model. I truly do. It helps both the mentor and the mentee, right. So here's my call to action for you If you hung around for this far right. Share this episode with somebody who you think wants to become a project manager. Share this episode with a project manager who wants to become a better project manager.

Speaker 1: 35:46

And also there's a lot of great resources out there. I know that I haven't covered all of them, so make sure you either comment a resource that you use for project management or leadership, or maybe even DM it to me, and then let's keep this project management conversation going. So make sure that you subscribe and level up and stuff like that. So there we go, even DM it to me, and then let's keep this project management conversation going Right. So make sure that you, hey, you subscribe and level up and stuff like that. So there we go. Let's flip over to the comments. There's a good training for project managers. I know LinkedIn learning has, and good, and Google was wondering my thoughts. I had not. I can't give you my thoughts on it Cause I haven't taken it.

Speaker 1: 36:19

One is the next startup for next class, for the RCDD. I'm working on some new stuff for the RCD program where I'm going to be doing modules and stuff like that. Chuck, have you ever done virtual meetings for project management help and resources. Oh, I'm taking a screen snapshot of that. That's a great idea, anthony. Great idea. I'm going to put some thought into that and maybe get that done. So there you go, everybody. That concludes tonight's live stream for Wednesday night. I hope you enjoyed it, so remember until next time. Knowledge is power pride in the world of ICT. Let's ride this tide. Thank you for joining us on let's talk cabling. Stay tuned for more episodes filled with innovation. Keep connecting, keep achieving. Until next time.