Over years of coaching project managers it’s bcome clear to me that no matter how organized you are, no matter how well you know the tools and the technology and no matter how well your projects perform, project management will still make you miserable if it doesn’t meet your needs.

Do you like a lot of acknowledgement? Not so much the big gestures, but a ready flow of ‘thank yous’, ‘well dones’, and other pats on the back? If you do, you’ll be disappointed in project management. The recognition you get is usually only at the end of a project, and then only if it goes well. Something like Support work where you get that constant positive feedback might be a better choice.

Do you like predictability in your work? Want to know the basics of what you’re doing each day won’t change even if the tools and difficulty change? No two days in the work of a project manager are the same, nor is the work (or the difficulties) predictable. Programming or QA might be more comfortable where the nature of the tasks, if not the tasks themselves, are consistent.

Do you live for drama? Like to be in the middle of it? You might find yourself escalating problems you should be solving as a project manager. On the other hand, if you like dealing with drama, calming folks down and finding the way through you’ll probably be a happy camper.

Do you run from drama and want to avoid confrontation of any sort? You’ll be stressed out all the time as a project manager.

Do you love seeing your name on the door, your title on an org chart, and do you crave title recognition and the ability to direct people? Project management is all about responsibility with no authority. If positional authority is important to you, you might want to look in another direction.

Is it important to you that people do their jobs (and keep their eyes on their own paper) and leave you to do yours? Do you hate it when people just don’t do what they’re supposed to do? If so, project management will drive you crazy – half the job is nagging people.

So what kind of satisfaction will you get from project management?

• If you love to see a plan come together, this is the job for you
• If you like the challenge of figuring people out, understanding what motivates them to get things done with minimal conflict or confrontation there’s lots of that
• The external pats on the back are usually few and far between (although you do get to shoulder the blame – that’s part of the package), but if what you care about is that you feel that you’ve done a good job then you’ll like this work. There are opportunities for success a dozen times a day.
• If you like variety in your work with a soupcon of unpredictability you’ll be in hog heaven.Project managers have no idea what the day will throw at them.If being nimble makes you happy you will flourish.
• If you like bringing order from chaos (sometimes several times a day) you will thrive as a project manager.
• If you like to break things down but still see the big picture (like putting together a puzzle with the box in front of you) you’ll get both as a project manager.

So think carefully about what you like and what makes you want to go to work in the morning. There are no wrong answers to what motivates you, but there sure can be a bad fit – and that’s not good for anyone.