Mired Down in Detail

Hi,
have you listened to the following?

• project management one on ones
• project management updates
• the project management drumbeat

while they may be aimed at PMs, they would have a lot of useful guidance for a manager of PMs too.
Kind regards
kevin
 

Kevin is exactly right about those casts being a great place to start. When you say "getting mired down in detail and not having time" I think that the problem isn't that you aren't doing the things in those casts, i think it's that your PMs aren't. Push this info down to them and have them start using these tools to get better at their jobs. Once you do that I'm betting that a lot less of your time will be down in the details and a lot more of their projects will be green.
Canyon R

Hello Joeuii,
I have also faced this challenge, specifically when taking over a new team.   First, ask your self: Are you getting mired down in detail becuase you are a control freak who has to be involved with everything (my guess is not becuase your are an MT follower)? Or, is it becuase your people are not yet competent to do thier job without your involvment in the details?  If it is the latter, here is what I have done:
1 - Coach, do one on ones,  and provide feedback.   This is very time consuming and at times you need to fight the urge to just do it yourself becuase you will do it better and faster.   The time you invest now, will free you up later.  Continue coaching and providing feedback as they learn.   Understand that at first, you will be able to do things better than your directs.  However, after time their skills will increase and if you have done your job right, they are better than you.  I will tell you, there is no greater feeling than having a direct surpass your skills in an area!
2 - Group training.  In order to speed up the learning process and add efficiency, look for areas that more than one direct needs training or coaching in.  Then do group training on these tasks.
3 - Some directs will still try to delegate their work back to you.  This usually happens when they have run into a problem.  When they come into your office with the "I have a problem", ask them what they have done so far about the problem and what they think some possible solutions are.  If they have done neither, ask them to go and think about it and them come back.  It is not important if they are right, you want them to start thinking independently.  In time they will still come to you with problems, but also with thier ideas of solutions.
4 - Drop some of the small stuff or delegate it.  Look at everything you do and determine what is essential (you get fired if it does not happen), and what are the small things that don't really matter.   Stop doing the small stuff all together, or delegate it.   Everyjob has a report or task that is done, "becuase it was always done this way" that if you stop doing no one notices.  Trust me, I have litterally stopped submitting reports that I was told were improtant.  Either no one notices, or it is so long before they notice that it is clear to everyone that it was not critical.
5 - Lastly, celebrate the small successes.  You need to build up your people and inspire them to keep growing.  Think how good it feels to hear from your boss on how great of a job you are doing.  Especially, when they respect the boss and know you can do the job to a level of excellence. Know that is leadership.
I am sure you feel overwhelmed now, but in time you will rise above the details and your team will be running like a well oiled machine.  Then your people get promoted and you start over again! 
Best Regards,

Thanks to both of you. I'll definitely listen to the podcasts.
There is something to the PMs coming to me 'too frequently' but I think I'm the heart of the matter. I need to focus on what the job requires, not what I want it to require. And learn what to push down, what to keep down, and what just doesn't need to be done.
I'll post again when I've had a chance to check out those podcasts.
And thanks again,
Joe U.

One thing that may not be obvious as a step to take is this:
Tell your people that they're *allowed* to make decisions on their own.
Tell your people they're *allowed* to handle certain details without telling you about them.
Depending on how their previous managers have been with them, they may think they're required to tell you certain things. I've had that happen on teams I've been on, where we told our managers where we were going when we were heading for a meeting. We got a new manager in and after a couple times of this he looked at us and said 'you don't have to tell me that. I trust you; you're professionals; I know if you're not here you're probably at a meeting if it's not your usual lunchtime.'
That seems like a small thing, and you'd be surprised at how much it can mean. You can't assume they *know* they're allowed to do certain things, or that they *believe* they're allowed to do certain things, without consulting you. And the idea that you trust them to be professional (assuming you do, of course) can be an astonishing message that makes them want to live up to that trust.