How to Be a Good Project Manager

layout: cover kicker: A field guide for getting things shipped title: How to be a good project manager subtitle: The craft of delivering outcomes through other people.

{ topic: What the job really is, desc: "outcomes, not status updates" }
{ topic: The core skills, desc: "communication · prioritization · risk" }
{ topic: Running the work, desc: "plan · execute · track · change" }
{ topic: Leading people, desc: "influence without authority · stakeholders" }
{ topic: Pitfalls & habits, desc: "failure modes & what great PMs do weekly" }

layout: section index: "01" kicker: Part one title: What the job really is subtitle: Most people get this wrong on day one.

layout: statement kicker: The reframe title: "A PM doesn't do the work. A PM makes sure the right work gets done — and clears everything in its way."

layout: vs kicker: Two kinds of PM title: The taskmaster vs the multiplier left: title: Tracks status items: - Chases updates in standups - Owns the spreadsheet - Reports problems upward - Measures activity right: title: Drives outcomes items: - Removes blockers before they bite - Owns the result - Brings solutions, not just news - Measures progress that ships label: vs

layout: define kicker: The core promise term: What is a project manager? definition: The person accountable for the outcome — who turns a fuzzy goal into a shipped result. points:

"Owns the what, the when, and the why — not the how of every task"
"Reduces uncertainty — surfaces risk early, decides on incomplete info"
"Multiplies the team — the work goes faster because you're there"

layout: stats kicker: Why the craft matters title: Most projects don't go to plan foot: "Directional — PMI · Standish CHAOS · Flyvbjerg" stats:

{ value: 70, unit: "%", label: of orgs had a failed project last year, tone: bad, icon: "lucide:trending-down" }
{ value: 35, unit: "%", label: finish on time, on budget, in scope, tone: warn, icon: "lucide:target" }
{ value: 17, unit: "%", label: of big projects run >200% over, tone: bad, icon: "lucide:flame" }

layout: section index: "02" kicker: Part two title: The core skills subtitle: Fewer than you think — but you must be great at them.

layout: feature kicker: The toolkit title: Six skills that carry the job columns: 3 features:

{ icon: "lucide:message-circle", title: Communication, desc: "the job is mostly this" }
{ icon: "lucide:list-checks", title: Prioritization, desc: "decide what not to do" }
{ icon: "lucide:shield-alert", title: Risk management, desc: "see it before it bites" }
{ icon: "lucide:calendar-clock", title: Planning, desc: "a map, not a promise" }
{ icon: "lucide:users", title: Stakeholders, desc: "align competing interests" }
{ icon: "lucide:git-fork", title: Decisions, desc: "with incomplete info" }

layout: metric kicker: The skill that dominates value: "90" unit: "%" ghost: "%" label: of a project manager's time is spent communicating — PMI.

layout: panels kicker: Communicate well title: What good communication looks like panels:

{ icon: "lucide:crosshair", title: Clear, items: ["one message per update", "the ask is obvious"] }
{ icon: "lucide:repeat", title: Repeated, items: ["say it more than once", "across more than one channel"] }
{ icon: "lucide:user-check", title: Tailored, items: ["execs want the headline", "engineers want the detail"] }
{ icon: "lucide:pen-line", title: Written down, items: ["decisions in writing", "no 'I thought you said'"] }

layout: reference kicker: Decide what matters title: Prioritization, three lenses groups:

title: Frameworks items:
- { term: Impact × effort, desc: "high-impact, low-effort first" }
- { term: MoSCoW, desc: "Must · Should · Could · Won't" }
- { term: RICE, desc: "Reach · Impact · Confidence · Effort" }
title: The real test items:
- { term: "The one thing", desc: "if only one ships, which?" }
- { term: Say no, desc: "yes to everything is no to the deadline" }
- { term: Sequence, desc: "order beats overload" }

layout: section index: "03" kicker: Part three title: Running the work subtitle: From a fuzzy goal to a shipped thing.

{ title: Define, desc: "the goal, scope & 'done'", icon: "lucide:flag" }
{ title: Plan, desc: "the path, owners, dates", icon: "lucide:map" }
{ title: Execute, desc: "unblock, don't micromanage", icon: "lucide:play" }
{ title: Track, desc: "progress, not activity", icon: "lucide:activity" }
{ title: Close, desc: "ship, learn, retro", icon: "lucide:flag-triangle-right" }

layout: default kicker: The paper trail title: Artifacts a good PM keeps

These are how you stay out of everyone's way while staying in control.

If it isn't written down, it didn't happen — and you'll relitigate it next week.

layout: quote quote: Plans are worthless, but planning is everything. author: Dwight D. Eisenhower

layout: columns kicker: The iron triangle title: Scope, time, cost — pick what flexes columns:

{ title: Scope, items: ["what you'll build", "cut features, not corners"] }
{ title: Time, items: ["the deadline", "move it, or move scope"] }
{ title: Cost, items: ["people & money", "rarely the easy lever"] }

layout: statement kicker: The law of the triangle title: Fix any two and the third must move. Pretending otherwise is how projects die.

layout: default kicker: Who does what title: Kill ambiguity with a RACI

layout: statement kicker: How to track title: 'Status is not progress. "On track" for weeks, then a miss, means you measured the wrong thing.'

{ icon: "lucide:eye", title: Make it visible, items: ["a new ask is a trade-off", "show what it pushes out"] }
{ icon: "lucide:scale", title: Force the choice, items: ["add scope OR move a date", "the team can't absorb both"] }
{ icon: "lucide:file-text", title: Write it down, items: ["a change is a decision", "log it, don't absorb it"] }

layout: section index: "04" kicker: Part four title: Leading people subtitle: You'll lead people who don't report to you.

layout: statement kicker: The hard part title: You carry the responsibility without the authority. Influence — not control — is the whole game.

layout: panels kicker: Earn the right to lead title: How you actually get influence panels:

{ icon: "lucide:shield-check", title: Be reliable, items: ["do what you said", "every single time"] }
{ icon: "lucide:hand-helping", title: Be useful, items: ["remove their blockers", "make their day easier"] }
{ icon: "lucide:ear", title: Listen first, items: ["understand before deciding", "people back what they shaped"] }
{ icon: "lucide:umbrella", title: Take the heat, items: ["shield the team downward", "hand them the credit upward"] }

layout: vs kicker: Two audiences, two modes title: Managing up vs leading the team left: title: Up & out items: - Headlines, not details - Risks early, with a plan - No surprises, ever - Ask for decisions, not rescue right: title: Down & in items: - Context, so they decide well - Few priorities, made clear - Air cover when it's hard - Credit when it goes right label: vs

layout: define kicker: Keep everyone aligned term: Stakeholder management definition: Knowing who cares about what — and keeping each of them informed before they have to ask. points:

"Map them — who has power, who has interest"
"The angriest stakeholder is usually the surprised one"
"Over-communicate to the skeptics, early"

layout: section index: "05" kicker: Part five title: Pitfalls & habits subtitle: What sinks PMs — and what the great ones do.

layout: panels kicker: The usual ways it goes wrong title: Four ways PMs sink the ship panels:

{ icon: "lucide:hand", title: Micromanaging, items: ["owning the how", "the team stops thinking"] }
{ icon: "lucide:drama", title: Status theater, items: ["green dashboards", "red reality"] }
{ icon: "lucide:user", title: Hero mode, items: ["doing the work yourself", "you become the bottleneck"] }
{ icon: "lucide:shuffle", title: No priorities, items: ["everything is P0", "so nothing is"] }

layout: diagram kicker: The operating rhythm title: The weekly loop note: A good PM runs this every week — small, boring, relentless.

flowchart LR
  P[Plan the week] --> E[Unblock & execute]
  E --> R[Review what shipped]
  R --> A[Adjust priorities]
  A --> P

layout: reference kicker: Build the habits title: What great PMs do without being asked items:

{ term: Write the update, desc: "before anyone asks for it" }
{ term: Surface risk early, desc: "bad news travels best fast" }
{ term: Decide, desc: "70% info now beats 100% too late" }
{ term: Protect focus, desc: "say no so the team can say yes" }
{ term: Close the loop, desc: "every ask gets an answer" }
{ term: Run a retro, desc: "learn in public, blame no one" }