Last time, I talked about my hardest project, the production of Understanding Project Management.

The work was hard, but so far feedback on the sneak preview has been good.

The whole process has also given me a new insight into the difficulties faced by our team members. If they are too personally invested into what they are producing, they may shy away from working on the difficult areas, the parts they are concerned about. This is particularly true if you are part of an organisation that has a low tolerance of failure among its staff.

As a project manager, you need to make sure that your oversight of the project let’s you spot these problems early, and that you make sure the project environment is one that supports the team – even if they do make the ocassional mistake.

Ultimately, any project will be better if the team members know they have the opportunity to try new ideas, and won’t be berated for failing. As I keep saying, all projects feature change of some sort, and all change involves some risk. Don’t be surprised if sometimes risks actually occur, just be prepared to help everyone fix it.