One of the worst ways to undermine project manager job is to incorrectly address a problem that the company may be facing. Such inaccuracy can yield a number of unfortunate ripple effects. The most obvious would be the fact that the underlying problem is not addressed. That alone can lead to a disaster scenario where things in the office become worse as opposed to getting better. Another issue inherent with incorrectly addressing the wrong problem is that resources will be allocated improperly. After all, you will be sending people to deal with a problem that really is not a problem. Again, that can prove quite problematic for a company that needs to deal with serious issues that may be dragging performance down. The purpose of a project manager job is to identify problems correctly. Inaccuracies in problem identification will often not be overlooked. This is just too serious an issue for an employer to ignore.
Why are problems diagnosed incorrectly by projects managers? Are they looking for means of undermining their own project manager employment opportunities? No, there is nothing conspiratorial behind the problem. Mainly, what occurs is that the project manager rushes to solve the problem without properly assessing it. A lack of decent research into the problem yields the incorrect assumption. This means the wrong approach will be taken since the approach will rely on ''fixing'' something that is not a problem. Again, this is not the right way to go about things. However, it is also a fixable problem since there is nothing stopping the project manager from noticing the error and reallocating resources or providing new recommendations as per the requirement of the actual problem. And, no matter what the scenario, the project manager must never try to ''cover up'' such a mistake. To do so would simply make the project manager look dishonest and fall out of favor with the current employer. Clearly, that would be a situation best avoided.
Problems and mistakes occur. This is true of all businesses. Managers cannot be expected to make the right decisions or put forth the right opinion all the time. But, it is necessary to always take the steps required to reduce instances of such errors. Proper planning will certainly help reduce ascertaining wrong problems when accurate diagnoses would be much better.
Learning from past mistakes is also quite helpful in terms of the ability to reduce repeating such mistakes in the future. The key to this approach is to avoid justifying any errors in judgment you may have made in the past. It can take a little bit of courage to admit to oneself that an error in judgment has occurred. Yet, a great deal of professional growth can occur when one does.
Those looking for a career in project management employment need to be accurate and identify problems correctly. If they do not, well, further problems can ensue although the end result may be fixable.
