4) Never forget to play

Believe it or not kangaroos have actually been seen body surfing at a beach near Sydney Australia – it’s true! When is the last time you had fun with your team? A good laugh is always great for the soul. Project management is a serious topic – but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun along the way! Tell jokes (clean ones of course), poke fun of one another on occasion, try playing a game (like Catch Phrase or “Two Truths and a Lie ) for 5 minutes during your next team meeting, or bring a food item (bagels, brownies, etc.) at the next team meeting to lighten the mood. People spend way too much time at work to not have fun along the way.

5) Know where you are hopping

As you drive into Canberra from the north (Canberra is the nation’s capitol located three hours south of Sydney via car) – you almost always see one kangaroo that has been hit by a car. Moral of the story? Be careful where you hop – you just might become road kill! Sorry for the gruesome analogy but it’s so true. If you don’t understand the political “waves” of the environment you work in you will be “roadkill” For instance, is it ok for your project to go from a green status (healthy) one week to red (a critical problem has surfaced) the next? Is there an unspoken rule that first you must let your sponsor know the colour of your project is changing before the report is distributed and it’s rarely ok to jump from green to red? You get the idea. If you’re new to an organisation, a consultant working on a new account or you’re simply now working with a division in a large company that you have not worked with in the past – you probably would be best suited to find someone who understands the political culture in your area and take that person out to lunch so they can guide you through some of the political no-no’s to prevent yourself from becoming the next road kill victim unnecessarily.

6) Create and “hang with” your team

When driving into Canberra the other day, I noticed a huge group (well over 100) of kangaroos jumping through a large area. It was an amazing sight to see them all together working their way across several farms. They definitely had a vision of where they were going as they were moving in unison together. We all know that our project team is successful because we are a TEAM. We must work together to solve problems, generate great ideas and overcome the challenges that become a part of managing complex projects. As the leader for the team, the project manager is responsible for instilling the team spirit and guiding the team members to success with a very clear vision.

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