Work With Us

What I Wish I Knew as a Project Manager

Jun 29, 2025

My goal was to be a strong PM.
Communicate clearly. Hit deadlines. Keep things moving.

And for a long time, I thought I was doing everything right.
In theory, I was.

But once I stepped into leadership, I saw the impact of the small daily decisions I used to overlook:

  • Hours squeezed to fit the budget

  • Blockers that repeated but never escalated

  • Scopes that looked fine while the team was exhausted

  • Logged hours that cleaned up the story, but hid the truth

At the time, I didn’t understand the cost.
Not just to me, but to the business.

That margin funds raises, benefits, growth.
It’s how you take care of your team.
And all those little moments that felt inconsequential in the day-to-day?
They quietly shaped outcomes in ways I couldn’t see until I was on the other side.

But back then, I wasn’t thinking about systems or margins. I was just trying to find my footing.

I ended up in agency life after a corporate layoff. I was uncertain, a little bruised, and determined to get it right.
So I followed the process. Tracked time. Hit deadlines. Kept clients happy.
And most of all, I tried to keep leadership happy.

If a project was running hot, I pushed to deliver.
If we logged a few hours light, what did it matter?
If the team skipped a retro or ignored a blocker, it made things easier.
At least in the moment.

But none of that friction ever made it back into the system.
It didn’t inform the next scope.
It didn’t change the estimate.
It just disappeared.
And so the same problems repeated.

The signal I wish I had paid more attention to was utilization.
Not just the dashboard number.
The real version.
The one that shows where time is leaking.
Where the work doesn’t line up with the plan.
Where good people are quietly stretched too thin.

Better utilization isn’t just better math.
It’s better visibility.
Better decisions.
And more control over time, direction, and the business itself.

That shift changed how I lead.
And it’s what we help others do now.
Bring to clarity actually happening before the margin disappears and the team burns out.

-Kate