Meet your stakeholders

If you are now a Project Manager, then you may well have a large number of stakeholders, starting with the people who are performing the seven fundamental roles on your software project.

Although your relationship with them will be more transactional in nature, compared to a direct team you manage, when you take the time to formally and purposefully introduce yourself, your working relationship will get off to a better start.

It's not such a nice experience for a project team member to find out they have a new Project Manager through someone else, or at a functional meeting when a stranger presents themselves as the new Project Manager.

A little human touch to introduce yourself before jumping straight into task allocation and delivery goes a long way to earn some professional and mutual respect for each other's time and work.

Formally introducing yourself to a key stakeholder such as your Project Sponsor is vital to establish your own credibility and reputation, because those are the currencies that you will rely on to request for approvals and additional resources.

If you are located at the same office, I strongly recommend that you try to meet in person. Keep it brief and light. It doesn't have to be in a meeting room, but make sure that it's an appropriate and convenient time for them to pause whatever they're doing.

I was once introduced to a colleague at the entrance turnstiles of a large company office, and it happened to be at a busy lunch time! So, it was a disastrous first introduction, which the colleague who attempted to make the introduction and I still laugh about. Luckily, the person I was trying to meet didn't actually work on my project!