The real working dogs of project management

Or...Dog with a Blog: A love letter to the real working dogs of the creative world

Let’s start with the myth: Project managers are paper-pushers. They make timelines. They book meetings. They take notes and politely follow up.

If you’re lucky, they might even update your Trello board for you. (Cue sarcastic applause.)

Now let’s talk about reality, because we all know that ain't it. Or do we?

Here's my take: Project managers hold the center when the rest of the project unravels. We’re translators, peacekeepers, expectation managers, human shields, and—when it really matters—strategic partners who know how to make work work.

And yet, we’re still wildly misunderstood. So I made something fun to help fix that.

Why dogs?

Because dogs get things done. They’re loyal. Hardworking. Emotionally attuned.
Some herd. Some guard. Some just sit by your side and make the hard stuff feel a little less awful.

Sound familiar?

It hit me one day that PMs aren’t the clipboard-wielding hall monitors people think we are. We’re the working dogs of creative teams: Keeping the chaos moving, the team motivated, and the project on track, without needing much praise or visibility.

So I made a carousel for Linkedin as a little visual tribute to what people think we do vs. what we actually do… with the help of some very good boys and girls.

I'm no designer, but it was fun to make!

What we’re really doing

PMs are not “just” managing schedules. We’re calming panicked clients at 4:59 p.m., rewriting Slack messages to be chill but clear, and decoding vague feedback like a treasure map written by a squirrel.

And all of that invisible labor? It’s what helps teams move forward. It’s what gets the work out the door. It’s what keeps teams together when things get hard (which is… most of the time lately).

If you’re a PM, you already know this.

If you work with a PM who makes the impossible feel possible, you’re lucky. Buy them a coffee. Tag them in the Linkedin post. Give them their well-earned gold star.

Or at the very least, stop treating them like a rescue dog, carrying a barrel full of whiskey that you and the clients get to drink without them.

TL;DR

Project managers aren’t just managing timelines—they’re managing everything else you don’t want to. They’re calm in the chaos. Translators in the tension.
And yes, sometimes, they’re the rescue dog in a cape, saving the day behind the scenes.

If that’s you, I see you. I made this for you, and honestly, I had a blast doing it. 🐾