The greatest responsibility of a project manager

I've shipped tons of creative projects, both on my own and as part of a team. Working with others is always more rewarding and always much more of a challenge. You have to make trade-offs when you work on a team. You have to be accountable to others on the team. As a project manager, you have to manage the contributions and expectations of team members, customers and partners. Amidst all these jobs of a project manager, you have one that stands on its own as the most critical.

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Showing everyone progress is the best thing you can do. Why? As humans, we are fueled by a chemical, dopamine, that rewards when we get things done. Biologically, it served as a way of motivating us when we needed to hunt, track or gather things for long periods of time. The chemical is released every time a milestone is reached. If you've ever run a marathon before, then you know how good those water stations feel every mile after mile 20.

Dopamine is also very addictive. This is why teenagers can spend hours playing video games and adults can spend thousands at casinos. It feels great and it is expected in our workplace. Psychologist and Harvard Business School professor, Teresa Amabile, even wrote a book on this. Her "progress principle" points out that absent any sign of progress, people will lose motivation. It's not about how many bonuses they can get or how many free lunches you buy them. People need to know their efforts are going to something that is going to be shipped.

The next time you are thinking of how to motivate your team, think about what evidence you are providing them their energy is going toward something bigger than themselves. Absent any progress, people will quit on you in a heartbeat.