5 Soft Skills To Manage Projects In Tech For The First Time.

There's been a wave of folks getting into tech with the massive FAANG hiring and evaporation of non-tech jobs... and I want to make your - and your more experienced tech veteran's life a lot easier with these 5 seasoned tips so I can stop eye rolling into the back of my head.

But I was naive once too...the reality of how to get things done in a professional business setting was a lot different than what I had learned working as a stock boy and cashier in my teens. Fortunately, some kind people give me some advice about how to get stuff done...

1) Seriously - Google it.

Take 15 minutes and google a few details about your project so you know what you are talking about. You might get a pass as the new kid on the block, but if you are still asking dumb questions a month in to a project folks will get tired of hand holding.

2) Repeat the Context of Your Ask a Bajillion Times.

In every organization, everybody has their own tasks, goals, fires to put out... When you ask someone to do something explain why you need it and why you need your victim to stop what they're doing and prioritize your task over their own task. Remember... you are not the center of the universe, and you only have limited amounts of "URGENT, I need this done right away" favors to call in. But if someone understands the problem you are trying to solve they'll probably squeeze it into their schedules.

3) Be Humble.

Put trust in the experience of your seniors. It's not their first rodeo... Sure they're jaded, but they know more than you and they can be your allies. Ask them to help you understand... (after googling the basics)... They'er probably passionate and don't get to truly share their vision for a project too often.

4) Suggest a Bad Idea.

Sometimes you'll be in a meeting trying to figure out next steps for a project and the conversation gets kind of stuck. Or maybe you're in a room of smart people but they're not really brainstorming well. Go ahead and Start suggesting random crazy ideas, but wrap your suggestion within a question: "What if we....spend a million dollars on free puppy therapy for our best customers ... Would that work?" If you have the right people in the room, they'll jump in and explain why it's a terrible idea: "No no no, we can't do that! We need XYZ to get that done... we should hire a low cost brainwasher to mind control an army of brand ambassadors instead" Boom...you've got your next step... assign it to somebody and set a deadline and you're good to go.

5) Resist Your Urge To Control Everything

You will feel like you should me micromanaging every little thing in the project, but most CEO's or upper management don't care about the details. That said, you'll need to discuss a base level expectation from the stakeholders participating in your project. Remind them that you'll bug them if the standards are not met and that they won't be able to meet their own goals if the project drags on and never gets completed. As long as you can show progress you'll be fine. Worst case scenario, the project fails and the folks who caused it to fail will get fired. Of course you'll have detailed notes about why the project failed right? RIGHT?

There you have it! I just advanced your experience by ten years. If you're reading this at the bottom of the article, that means you are super motivated to improve your soft skills. Don't get offended when people push back against you. Learn when to compromise, when to volunteer for a responsibility, when to ignore something... the list goes on.