"Baby PM" lessons I learned the hard way

When I was a baby PM, I thought a project was successful if it was delivered on time. Delivering on time is not the ONLY thing that matters. I spent all my energy tracking tasks and deadlines, but I forgot the people impacted by the change. Project changes are inevitable. I used to panic whenever requirements changed or had to change, because now I see that change requests as information, not failure. So when I was a baby PM, I thought that I needed to attend every single meeting. Now I ask myself one question: "Does this meeting help move the work forward?" Because if it doesn't, I'm not attending the meeting. I also used to make these massive color-coded trackers that only I could understand. Trust me, simplicity is going to be your best friend. I thought my job was to have all the answers. But now I slow down, I ask questions first, I understand the impact, I bring the right people into the conversation before changing any plans. And if you're new to project management, give yourself some grace. Every experienced PM was once a baby PM before.