Taking Charge

Take your title – Project Manager – seriously. It is up to you to manage the many elements of your e-discovery projects. That means you have to take charge.

Taking charge is not always easy. You stand at the center of a group of individuals who have their own talents, responsibilities, pressures, and opinions. If the project is to have a successful outcome, someone has to coordinate their efforts. It doesn’t happen automatically.

You may have to command your colleagues or you may have to coax them. A project manager sometimes has to be a psychologist to determine what works, but one way or the other, it’s your job to see that every member of the team delivers.

Besides orchestrating the efforts of the CLS team, you also have to manage your client’s expectations. It’s only natural for clients to want what they want when they want it. You have to understand where they’re coming from, but remember that they need you to be their reality check. What we do isn’t magic. It takes time and it takes work. Your clients need to know the hard facts about what we can deliver and when. Conveying that message is your responsibility.