Managing People Effectively when You're a Project Management Contractor

Contractors are usually not given the same induction a permanent people manager would be, and are expected to hit the ground running.

Your project staff will be a combination of direct reports and people who report to someone else in their day job. Project Management courses are light on the intricacies of line management, but it’s a big part of the job.

Here are some tips to help you be effective:

Always keep up to date:

• Keep up with Human Resources legislation and case law

• Look for books about line management techniques by people you respect

• Encourage other people managers tell you their staff problems and how they’re dealing with them

When you first come into an organisation:

• Meet with your Sponsor and Business Owner to re-confirm you project scope, outcomes, priorities, and budget

• Know your host organisations policies and procedures, and how they will affect your people

• Meet with all project staff individually during your first week. What’s their workstyle, what are they working on, how is that work going, any immediate issues to raise?

• Take advantage of any internal people management courses that may be available to contractors

While managing people:

• Think twice, act once

• Don’t micromanage, it reduces productivity and increases turnover.

• If someone isn’t performing sit down and listen to them. They might not be clear about what is expected of them when, or they might not have productivity tools that they are used to working with

• Meet the Human Resources Manager (or consultant) before you need them

While managing through other managers:

• Keep in touch with your teams’ actual managers, especially about other things that affect their workload and mental health (e.g. upcoming restructure, long holiday) as these will affect your project productivity

• Don’t assume a manager will assign a certain person to your project. It’s up to them to allocate staff with the right skills and available time

• Always go through the line manager when assigning new tasks to an existing person. You don’t want the embarrassing situation where a person says yes and starts working, only to be told to stop