I have always been a part of teams in both my social and professional life but I have never been the leader of a team at work until this week. For the first time in my life I had to take all the years of leadership training and put it to use. 

First things first, I did not go into this week thinking I was going to run a team but when the leader started to flounder, I had to step up in a big way and I learned a lot on the fly. 

Project management not only is about knowing your team and their strengths, but knowing your own capabilities. I learned how to ask for help and how to multi-task throughout my day. I became a quick problem solver and learned how to stay calm when everyone else was panicking. 

The biggest thing was staying organized and knowing the end goal. In preparation, I wrote down a list of everything that needed to get done. I handed out tasks I thought each person was capable of handling. 

In the middle of the week, I quickly realized one member of the team was running off and not doing the tasks assigned, so I had to bring on someone else I knew could handle the work. This new person not only handled it, but thrived with it. I had the fortunate pleasure of being surrounded by not only colleagues, but friends that felt comfortable enough to communicate their needs with me when they arrived. In the end it helped things run well and kept everyone happy.  

So what I learned this week was to stay calm, because even though it seems like the end of the world, the show must go on. I also learned to listen and adjust when necessary. When someone on my team said we needed to keep one channel of communication, I made everyone switch to walkie talkies and I obtained walkies for the people who didn’t have it, which put everyone on the same page and kept us off our phones and more aware. Overall, I gained the perspective of delegating tasks. When someone on my team was given a task they felt useful and ended up working more because they stayed engaged and excited.

I know this kind of project management is different from the corporate world, but project management is like playing a team sport. You have to try to play to everyone’s strengths, listen to everyone’s needs, and communicate clear goals so everyone is on the same page.