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means that the project manager was not entirely clear, and failed to communicate the
project priorities to everyone on the team. So when that mistake gets made, it’s still par-
tially the project manager’s fault.
Just as it is okay for team members to make mistakes as long as they learn from them and
corrective action is taken, it is okay for project managers to make mistakes as well. That’s
not to say that there are no consequences for mistakes—a serious mistake can lead to
delays, which could lead to reprimands and even failed projects. As a project manager, if
you find that one of your team members has made a mistake, it’s your job to figure out
what role you played in that mistake. And when you communicate that mistake up to
senior management, you should highlight your role in it and try to shield the individual
team members as much as possible.
This is very difficult to do. It’s human nature to blame others. But by taking the blame
yourself, you protect the team and keep them motivated, and help prepare them to
recover from the mistake. If you stick your neck out for the team, they will know it, and
they’ll be much more loyal to you. On the other hand, if you let the blame roll downhill,
the team will resent you and begin to work against you.
Some project managers don’t think this is fair. They feel that if someone makes a mistake,
it’s that person’s responsibility to take the blame for it. But the project manager is in a
position of authority, and just as other people are accountable for their individual respon-
sibilities, the project manager is accountable for everything he is responsible for. And he’s
responsible for the entire project.

Avoid lists
Some managers do little more than hand their team members lists of tasks or action items.
When a team member is handed a list of tasks, but has no understanding of the rationale
behind each action, he does what he can to complete the task. But without a real under-
standing of the needs that drive the project and the rationale behind each task, he will
often make basic mistakes that would be obvious if he were given the proper context.
There will always be decisions that a manager cannot predict and put on a list; without
context, a team member has little chance of making those decisions correctly.

It’s easy for a team to feel comfortable working from a list. It means that they are not respon-
sible for anything other than this list of tasks. They don’t have to think about overall project
goals or the bigger picture. Most importantly, they don’t have to make decisions. Accomplish-
ing everything on a list of tasks is gratifying—a team member can go home at night knowing
his job is 100% complete. But someone who feels responsible for the project, and not just his
own tasks, knows his job is not really complete until the software is delivered and accepted.
Sadly, once a team member understands the big picture, he feels like he’s never done.

Your job as a manager is to get everybody on the team to see the big picture. The vision
and scope document is a valuable tool for this, as are the rationale sections of the use cases
and requirements. These tools allow the team members to more fully understand the con-
text that surrounds the work that they are doing.

250 CHAPTER TEN