All I Want for Christmas: IT Project Manager Edition

Dear Santa, 

It’s me, your favorite IT Project Manager. I’ve been mostly good this year, unless you count politely smirking smiling when someone said, “This should just be a quick request.”

For Christmas, I don’t need anything fancy. No new custom keyboard or CPU for my home lab. No noise-canceling headphones (though… tempting in this office). What I really want is a little peace, a little predictability, and maybe a project (or two) next year that goes from start to finish the way it was planned.  

So to make it simple, I wrote you a little list of all the things I need next year to make my projects better:  

1) Projects that start with an actual scope

Not “we’ll figure it out as we go” wrapped in a shiny bow. Not a rough idea, and definitely not something that lives only in someone’s head. A real scope. Written down and confirmed with the client. 

2) A kickoff call where everyone shows up

Especially the person who approved the budget and timeline. (And there’s extra cookies next year in it for you if they stay the whole time.) 

3) One clear end date

Not a target. Not a vibe. Not “sometime next quarter.” Just one date we all agree on and don’t move unless something truly impactful happens. Bonus points if we can easily forecast this without a lot of calculations.  

4) Fewer “quick installs” that secretly take 60 hours

If it takes a bunch of tickets and multiple days, it is a project. Even if it’s small. Especially if Sales said it was “simple.” Give me back my sanity with some templates for managing the quick work. 

5) Projects that finish on time

Or are at least only late for new reasons outside of our team’s control, and not the same problems every time. No more ‘whoops, I forgot to do that ticket from our overworked engineering team’. Make it easy for me to see where we’re behind and find places we can catch up. 

6) A project margin that survives delivery

Next year, I’d love to stop discovering that a project lost money halfway through, or worse after it’s already delivered. A project margin that survives the general realities of project execution would be a true holiday miracle. 

7) Change requests that don’t start with “can we just…”

I mean, can we do something about scope creep for us PMs already? Specifically, I’d like change requests that don’t start with “Can we just…” Yes, we can. No, it’s not free. I’ll happily accept a little paperwork in exchange for my sanity. 

8) A resource plan that isn’t a feelings-based exercise

I’d love a resource plan that isn’t based on gut feelings and crossed fingers and outdated calendar exports. Knowing who’s available and when would really help me avoid my annual Q1 burnout.  

9) Some visibility before things go off the rails

Not the day after the deadline passes. Not when the delivery date is two weeks behind. A nice little glowing indicator, just like your pal Rudolph’s nose, would really make it easy for me to spot problematic tickets in our process. 

10) Historical project data that helps me estimate

Instead of “what we did last time” (which we all know went badly), I’d love to know how the actual work has gotten done on similar past projects and make my future plans based on that. 

Anyways, I know this may seem like a lot to ask, but I figured I’d give it a shot. If anyone can help me with this, it is you, big guy!

I’ll be here, sipping eggnog, updating our project templates, and praying all the new project work kicking off in January is kinder than this past year.  

Thanks for listening Santa,  

An MSP Project Manager Who’s Been Very Good (Despite the Project Chaos)  

P.S. Santa, if you’re short on the sleigh space, I’ll settle for smarter project planning and fewer surprises. I hear Moovila does that pretty well, if you can just drop the hint to my boss 😉