Starting this week and continuing into next week I will share with you the top 20 things I have learned about being a project manager. Here are Nos. 20 - 11;

#20 - It's not your project. Yes we want to take ownership and accountability but it is the company's project and you need to act that way.

#19 - The customer is not always right. The stakeholders may want a lot but your job is to deliver what they need, not what they want.

#18 - Project teams are made up of experts so you don't have to be. Leverage each team members expertise and knoweldge during the project.

#17 - Being under budget significantly is just as bad as being overbudget. Over estimating may keep other projects from getting funded.

#16 - Weekends are not contigency time. Always build contigency into the schedule. Weekends are for emergency work only.

#15 - There is no such thing as a "nice to have" requirement. A requirement is either needed or not needed.

#14 - A project manager's job is not done when the project is delivered. The close out phase is just as important as any other phase.

#13 - Status reports are less about status and more about getting support and action from the project stakeholders.

#12 - There is a point on a project where bringing in additional resources will have little positive impact and could have a negative impact

#11 - Per my favorite PM, Risks are issues waiting to happen. Address risks early and continually to prevent them from becoming issues.