How to Be an Excellent Executive Project Manager
The Chief of Staff’s strong suit
A great Chief of Staff is an excellent Executive Project Manager.
As a leader’s right hand, a Chief of Staff (CoS) helps guide the strategic focus of a leader and works with broader teams in cadence with those goals. With literally hundreds of priorities, both big and small, a CoS is responsible for determining what is the most important task at any given time. Further, we’re typically the frontline when it comes to making decisions on how to proceed or pivot on a high-stakes project.
So, what does excellent project management look like when working in the C-Suite? For a CoS, it includes:
Scheduling time to to learn and review your leader's biggest initiatives
Being prepared for priorities to change often
Having a great PM tool or tracking document to stay organized
Establishing processes to ensure your leader receives status updates as needed
Personally leading one or more of a leader’s initiatives
Removing distractions from workflows and redirecting distracted leaders
Of course, the specifics of project management vary widely by project, goal, leader, and company. But the stuff of a great Executive PM is the core skill set of a highly engaged and highly organized Chief of Staff.
Do you want to sharpen your Executive PM skills? Here are some a few tips we regularly share with our Nova Chief of Staff Certification students:
Set up the meeting. Get ahead of the curve and get it on the calendar!
Record the conversation. It never hurts to have something to look back on.
Take great notes. Even though you’re recording, you should still take notes on any ideas, connections, or reflections you come across in meetings.
Ask good questions. Be inquisitive about the entire process and make sure to ask for clarity when needed.
Come prepared with a PM template. Use the tools that are out there to stay organized! You can access a free one in Nova’s resource library!)
Get organized. An organization system is part and parcel to PM work. You’ll also find some tools to stay on top of the project in the Nova resource library.
Ask: What can you own? What part of the project would you be most competent in leading? Think strategically about delegating tasks versus which ones are under your full purview.
Build processes. Create systems that work, document them, and adapt as needed to keep things moving along.
Keep people focused. Like a coach, one of the most crucial aspects of good project management is maintaining your team’s eye on the ball and focused on the collective goal.
Review consistently. As you step forward, make sure to look back to review work and identify gaps and areas for improvement.
Project management can already be a challenging part of any job, but the Chief of Staff has additional responsibilities as a PM that requires skills that can take a bit of time to finely tune. But good news: there are lots of helpful resources to help smooth PM processes and keep you organized no matter the project you’re taking on. The Nova resource library offers complimentary templates designed for proposals, presentations, PM tracking, and more. If you’re looking for hands-on practice in Executive Project Management before the stakes are high, check out our Chief of Staff Certification course, an online course where you can hone these skills using relevant examples and digital tools from the real CoS experience at your own pace.
