Why is Managing Project Managers So Hard?
You hire experienced professionals, give them clear targets, and yet… something’s off. Deadlines slide. Communication falters. Results vary. If you’ve ever found yourself wondering, “Why isn’t this team performing like it should?” – you’re not alone.
The truth is, managing project managers requires a different kind of leadership. These aren’t just professionals executing tasks – they’re navigating complexity, leading cross-functional teams, and translating strategic goals into day-to-day reality. And if they’re not getting the right support from above, even the most skilled project managers can struggle.
Let’s explore the essential leadership skills and cultural conditions needed to manage project managers successfully – and help your organization deliver better results across the board.
What Makes Managing Project Managers So Unique?
Managing project managers isn’t about micromanagement – it’s about creating the conditions for high performance. These are not entry-level employees waiting to be told what to do. Project managers are strategic operators. They manage risks, navigate ambiguity, and influence stakeholders across departments. And unlike functional team leads, they work cross-functionally, meaning they’re constantly negotiating priorities in a dynamic environment.
Their success doesn’t rest solely on how well they follow process – it also depends on how clearly they understand the big picture and how well they’re supported by leadership. If they’re left isolated, under-coached, or buried in conflicting expectations, even your most experienced project managers will underperform.
Common challenges leaders face when managing project managers:
Not understanding the nuances between delivery and leadership. It’s easy to assume that hitting deadlines is the same as leading well – but it’s not. Great project managers can deliver the wrong thing if they’re not aligned with strategic goals.
Lack of visibility into how projects are progressing until it’s too late. Without proper status reporting structures or trusting communication, leaders often miss early warning signs of trouble.
Assuming all project managers are trained the same way or work from the same playbook. In reality, every project manager brings a unique background. Some are strong in process; others are stronger in stakeholder management. One-size-fits-all oversight rarely works.
Misalignment between organizational goals and project execution. When project managers don’t have a clear line of sight into the company’s strategic objectives – or when priorities shift without clarity – projects lose focus, and delivery suffers.
Related: Managing Project Team Members with Bad Attitudes – because how you lead people matters more than how you control outcomes.
What Skills Do You Need to Lead Project Managers Successfully?
Leading project managers is less about telling and more about enabling. It’s about having the judgment to know when to lean in – and when to get out of the way. Your role isn’t to run the project for them, but to create an environment where high-performing project managers can thrive.
Strategic Oversight, Not Tactical Interference
When leaders get too deep into the tactical weeds – reviewing task lists, reassigning minor deliverables, or sitting in every status meeting – they disempower their project managers and slow the entire operation down. Strategic oversight means stepping back to focus on alignment, outcomes, and long-range planning.
Set clear expectations about priorities, escalation paths, and decision-making authority. Then, trust your project managers to execute. Intervene when things veer off course, but avoid solving problems that should be within their scope. As Harvard Business Review notes, leaders who empower rather than micromanage see better results and greater employee engagement across the board.
Ask yourself: Are you leading your project managers, or are you just managing around them?
Coaching, Not Commanding
Project managers don’t need a boss – they need a partner in growth. When leaders show up as coaches, they help project managers build confidence, stretch into new responsibilities, and make better decisions on their own.
This starts with regular one-on-one conversations that go beyond project status. Talk about where they’re stuck. Ask what support they need. Explore how they’re developing stakeholder relationships or managing cross-functional friction.
Forbes highlights that coaching cultures foster innovation, initiative, and stronger team performance. And for project managers, that support can be the difference between surviving and thriving under pressure.
Want to ensure you set your project teams up for success? Explore our corporate project management training programs.
Fluency in Project Metrics
As a leader, you don’t need to build the dashboards – but you do need to interpret them. That means understanding what schedule variance means, how to identify scope creep, and why a budget overrun might be a symptom rather than the root issue.
When you can speak the language of project health – earned value, risk exposure, stakeholder satisfaction – you’re better equipped to make fast, informed decisions. You also model the kind of business acumen your project managers need to develop.
Bonus tip: Create a regular cadence of executive reviews where project managers present project insights, not just updates. This builds confidence and raises their strategic thinking.
Aligning Strategy With Execution
Even the best-managed project will fail if it’s solving the wrong problem. That’s why it’s your job to connect the dots between project-level goals and enterprise-level outcomes.
In practice, this means ensuring that your project managers understand the ‘why’ behind the work – not just the deliverables. Help them connect KPIs to real business value. Bring them into planning conversations early, so they can flag risks or recommend more efficient approaches before the scope and priorities are locked down.
When your project managers have that line of sight, they make better decisions, manage stakeholders more effectively, and adjust course faster when things change.
How Can You Spot a Struggling Project Manager Early?
By the time a project fails, it’s too late to course correct. Missed deadlines, stakeholder complaints, and budget blowouts are all symptoms – but they rarely appear out of nowhere. The signs are usually there… if you know what to look for.
Great leaders don’t wait for a crisis – they learn to spot early signals and take action with empathy and precision.
Subtle warning signs that a project manager is struggling:
Communication patterns shift: Your project manager becomes reactive instead of proactive. Updates are delayed or overly vague. You stop hearing about potential risks – until they explode.
Escalation behavior becomes inconsistent: Either nothing is being escalated and you find out too late, or everything is being escalated, which suggests the project manager is overwhelmed or unsure of their authority.
Stakeholder confidence drops: You start getting direct emails or side conversations from sponsors or cross-functional leaders who seem confused, frustrated, or out of the loop.
Team morale wavers: When a project manager is struggling, the ripple effect hits the project team. You may notice higher turnover, disengagement, or friction between departments.
They stop asking for help: A confident project manager will raise flags and ask for input. A struggling PM may retreat, convinced that seeking help will be seen as failure.
These red flags don’t mean your project manager isn’t capable. More often, they point to someone who’s under-supported, overloaded, or unclear on expectations.
What to do when you notice the signs:
Start with curiosity, not criticism. Book a one-on-one conversation framed around partnership. Use open-ended questions like, “What’s been most challenging this month?” or “Where are you feeling stuck right now?”
Reinforce trust. Let them know you’re there to help, not to take over. Clarify that raising issues early is a sign of strength – not weakness.
Offer targeted support. Do they need help with a difficult stakeholder? A sounding board on scope negotiation? Access to a better reporting tool? The right help at the right time can turn things around fast.
A small, well-timed intervention from a senior leader can shift a project manager’s trajectory from burnout to breakthrough.
What Frameworks Help You Manage Project Manager Performance More Effectively?
Many organizations think they have a project management framework because they’ve got templates or software in place. But tools alone don’t build consistency. If every project manager is using their own approach, performance becomes impossible to measure – and even harder to manage.
Strong leadership means giving project managers a consistent structure to work within. Not to box them in, but to free them up from reinventing the wheel on every project. That structure should be simple, scalable, and repeatable – something that supports project success from kickoff to closeout.
A structured framework – like the one taught in our SLAY Project Management Corporate Program – helps teams align around a clear, standardized approach. When everyone is using the same foundational process, it reduces confusion, speeds up delivery, and leads to more reliable outcomes.
Use a common project approach across all teams
Efficiency comes from alignment. When project managers follow a shared framework, it eliminates guesswork, reduces rework, and speeds up delivery. Everyone knows the expectations, the language, and the sequence – which makes it easier to spot where someone is off track or needs support.
Be clear about roles and responsibilities
One of the biggest contributors to poor project manager performance is role confusion. If responsibilities are unclear – or worse, if they’re shifting depending on who’s asking – your project managers spend more time managing politics than projects. Establishing clarity early prevents issues later and empowers project managers to lead decisively.
Align senior leadership to avoid mixed messages
If different executives are sending different signals about project priorities, it undermines both accountability and morale. Senior leaders need to be on the same page – not just saying project management matters, but demonstrating it in how they allocate resources, follow up, and support delivery teams. When leadership is aligned, project managers have the authority and clarity they need to perform.
Make risk planning a non-negotiable
Unmanaged risks are one of the fastest ways a project can go off the rails – and inconsistent risk planning leads to inconsistent performance. High-performing organizations don’t skip this step. They bake it into every stage of the project and expect their project managers to flag and plan for risks early and often.
Reinforce learning and improvement
If lessons learned aren’t captured – or worse, if they’re captured and ignored – the same mistakes get repeated. Building in time for structured after-action reviews, and using those insights to inform the next project, is a key marker of a mature, efficient project environment. And it’s one of the most effective ways to improve project manager performance across the board.
How Can You Develop a Stronger Project Management Culture in Your Organization?
High-performing project managers don’t just appear – they’re developed. And the environment they work in plays a big role in how effectively they lead. If your organization treats project management as a necessary administrative function instead of a strategic advantage, your culture is holding your project managers back.
Creating a strong project management culture doesn’t require sweeping change. It starts with consistent leadership habits and clear expectations that reinforce the value of project-based work.
Set the standard early
If project managers don’t know what great looks like in your organization, you can’t expect consistent results. Define the behaviors, decision-making, and communication standards you want to see – and model them yourself. When expectations are vague, culture becomes reactive. When expectations are clear, culture becomes intentional.
Standardize the “how,” not the “what”
Project management is about structure, but that doesn’t mean it has to be rigid. The most effective organizations standardize their project delivery approach – how projects get scoped, executed, and closed – while leaving room for flexibility where it matters. This balance gives project managers the tools to be efficient while still allowing for smart adaptation based on project needs.
Encourage peer-to-peer learning
Top-down training is valuable, but some of the best knowledge transfer happens horizontally. Give your project managers a space to share lessons learned, talk through challenges, and trade real-world strategies. Whether it’s through monthly forums, learning lunches, or informal meetups, these shared experiences build trust and create internal alignment.
Recognize the right things
Too often, project managers are only recognized when something goes wrong – or when they deliver a win under extreme pressure. Shift the narrative. Celebrate strong planning, proactive risk management, stakeholder alignment, and knowledge sharing. Recognizing the right behaviors reinforces the culture you’re trying to build.
Want to build a stronger project culture? Explore our process improvement services.
Some Final Thoughts on Managing Project Managers
Managing project managers isn’t just a leadership challenge – it’s a strategic opportunity. When you create clarity, set consistent expectations, and support your project managers with the right structure and mindset, you unlock better outcomes across every project.
It doesn’t take a complete overhaul. It takes focus. The organizations that get it right are the ones that commit to standardizing how projects are managed, align leadership messaging, and treat project managers like the strategic drivers they are.
When you get that right, the ripple effect is huge: fewer delays, better resource use, improved team morale, and results you can count on.
The right training can transform your team’s project delivery
Discover how the SLAY Project Management Corporate Program can give your organization a competitive edge.
Train Your Team to Manage Projects: SLAY sharpens project management skills, boosts efficiency, and builds strategic thinking to help teams overcome workloads, meet deadlines, and lead with confidence.
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