The first is knowledge of project management principles and practices The second is understanding of a particular area to apply that knowledge to You might have been able to get by with being a “general purpose project manager” with a solid knowledge of project management principles and practices alone
If project managers demonstrate their expertise to improve predictability, manage scope, improve communication, resolve issues, and manage the budget, then a project manager’s value is well understood and appreciated.
Organizations turn to project management to deliver results consistently, reduce costs, increase efficiencies and improve customer and stakeholder satisfaction. Strong, organization-wide commitment to project management yields long-term business value and competitive advantage.
The value proposition for project management starts with the proposition that it takes time and effort to proactively manage a project. This cost is more than made up for over the life of the project by: Completing projects more quickly and cheaply. One of the biggest benefits of using a common methodology is the value of reuse.
It may have been sufficient for a project manager to be successful by delivering a set of defined requirements within a given cost and schedule budget
The primary focus of any project manager should be on delivering business results and just a knowledge of project management skills is often not enough to do that
There have always been two primary aspects of being a good project manager, in my opinion: The first is knowledge of project management principles and practices. The second is understanding of a particular area to apply that knowledge to. You might have been able to get by with being a “general purpose project manager” with a solid knowledge ...
The existing PMI certifications are a good foundation but they don’t go far enough at this time. Effective project management provides several forms of value-added including: Clearer focus on achieving important project goals. Better risk management and higher probability of success. More effective use of resources.
In addition, the role of an Agile Project Manager is still not well-defined and PMI-ACP is only a test of general Agile and Lean knowledge and does not prepare you for a specific role. The result is that: Both of these certifications have value as a foundation, but.
Most project managers will probably need to upgrade their skills to continue to grow and thrive in this new environment. Any project manager who is in “denial” and insists on doing project management the same way it has been done for years may have limited success. PMI is still catching up with these changes.
Many universities that offer academic training in project management still base their curriculum heavily or exclusively on a traditional plan-driven approach to project management and have not fully-integrated an Agile approach into their curriculum
As the practice of project management matures—from the portfolio level on down to individual projects—the connections between organizational project management and business value become clearer. And the more involved the executive team is, the better the results.
Having executive support and sponsorship for a strong project management discipline is directly linked to better project results, according to a May 2010 Economist Intelligence Unit report on project management in industrial manufacturing industries.iv
Harnessing the potential of project management doesn’t happen over night, and it cannot be confined to the project team . Organizations must actively work to shape mature project management practices and integrate it across all levels of the organization. Here are some tips from the trenches:
An advantage of professional project management and itsadministration by the project organization is that it is easier tomeasure performance. In its rawest form, the project is eithersuccessful or it isn’t. In less clear situations, it is straightfor-ward to evaluate the observable and measurable applicationof best practices by the project manager. The result is thatpeople can be promoted on the basis of performance.Implementation of a project organization that measuresproject manager performance and makes promotions accord-ingly eliminates a problem associated with the functionallystructured organization. Although the functionally structuredorganization is highly efficient, one criticism is that it is oftendifficult to measure the performance of individuals. Forexample, how does one identify the best accountant in adepartment of a thousand accountants? Or how does onedetermine who is the best engineer in a group of a thousandengineers? The response of critics is that the process is diffi-cult. They say that sometimes people are promoted on thebasis of other qualities (e.g., networking, personality, etc.)rather than performance. For example, one survey askedrespondents “Have you ever worked for or with a managerthat you felt was incompetent?” “Yes” answers were receivedfrom approximately 90% of respondents. When the researcherdelved farther it was often determined that the individual inquestion was in a job where performance measurements wereunclear. The survey pointed out the need for performancebased measurements such as used in project management,when making promotion decisions.
Project management is a growing discipline practiced in achallenging, competitive marketplace. It is “one of a fewcritically enabling strategies for strengthening a competitivemarketplace posture” (Bounds 1998, 41). The issue of sellingproject management to executives is significant as successfulproject management involves senior management support,both financially and in managerial terms, and achievingsupport for the discipline enables firms to improve theircompetitive advantage (Pinto and Slevin 1987; Shenhar et al1997; Belassi and Tukel 1996). Although project managementis perceived to have value towards improving operationalefficiency and contributing to a firm’s competitive advantage,the perceptions of its organizational benefits are not alwaysaligned between executives who may buy or invest in theservices, practitioners who apply the discipline, and consult-ants involved in selling it. Executives focus on business goals,results, and outcomes from projects, while practitioners andconsultants tend to focus on the tactics of tools and tech-niques. The emphasis on different values of project manage-ment that the other party may not uphold, supports earlierwork that suggests there are substantial language bafflers inproject management, and considerable difficulty in develop-ing a shared understanding and appreciation (Thomas 2000).Research from marketing reflects a common theme. Suc-cessful sellers present the service/product in a practical man-ner that speaks to the issues of the purchaser. The literatureprovides basic tenets of marketing that includes: developingrapport, meeting with the decision-makers, and having cred-ibility (Gardner et al 1996; Gardner and Bistritz 1998; Heinrichs2000; King 1994; King 1996; Marchetti 1997; On Target 1999;Weitz and Bradford 1999; Price 1999). Few have related theseconcepts specifically to project management (Thomas et al2001b; Thomas et al 2001a; Block 1991; Block 1992). In addition,the strategy development literature does not address projectmanagement per se. Current literature on the valuation ofproject management indicates that it is measured in efficiencyterms (time, cost, scope) and financial terms that are generallylimited to the project as opposed to broader valuation practicesthat extend to the organization (Belassi and Tukel 1996; Clarke1999; Kerzner 1987; Munns and Bjeirmi 1996; Shenhar et al1997). This supports the premise that project management’svalue is generally perceived to be at the operational level andthat project management’s value is that of a tactical construct.In contrast, executives generally focus on corporate issues andthose related to business results (Dutton et al 2000; Barney2001). This is part of the conundrum within project manage-ment. How do we get executives on side with respect to projectmanagement, when the perception is that it is a tactical con-struct?
Project manager performance is based upon the application ofspecific best practices and competencies. All of these areclearly defined, observable and measurable. As a result it iseasier to measure and compare performance of project man-agers. In situations where the project outcome is unclear orthe project manager takes over the project in trouble, theability to measure competence is much broader and morerealistic. Use of best practices as measurement metrics lets theperformance of project managers be evaluated over time andin varying environmental settings.
key output of best practice project organizations is theimplementation of a standardized project management meth-odology. The methodology includes specific best practices,procedures and templates that are appropriate for the broadvariety of large projects. The methodologies represent astructured and predictable approach yet are broad-based andflexible. The most simple methodology appropriate to theproject is applied.
The project organization serves as an incubator to nurture andretain aspiring managers who possess the scarce entrepre-neurial seeds that grow into future executives and organiza-tional leaders. A growing body of research supports theconclusion that the best practices and skills needed to leadand manage an entrepreneurial company are essentially thesame as those required to lead and manage the multi-func-tional project. Organizational representatives in thebenchmarking forum acknowledge the similarities and com-ment that their organizations seek project managers withentrepreneurial characteristics as potential future executives.Some have also voiced the opinion that the entrepreneur isthe type person that formerly was inclined to leave large organi-zations and start businesses of their own. Project managementserves as a means to motivate and retain the entrepreneurialresources.
This General Base Selling Model explores how project man-agement is sold to executives regardless of level of successreported. This gives us a general picture of the most commonapproaches used, which we can compare to those reportingextreme levels of success or failure.
The PMP exam tests the applicants on tasks out of five performance domains
These include the cost of PM training sessions, preparatory books, sample questions etc. Considering all these, one needs to spend at least 750 USD to gain this certification. Yet, almost all the experts agree that this cost is nothing compared to the career growth that one can have through this certification.
A recent PMI survey states that the average median salary for a project manager with certification is $ 1,08,000. In contrast, the median income for a non-certified project manager is only $91,000.
During these meetings, one can get to know about any new job opportunities that are shared by people who value this certification. PM I meetings allot specific time to advertise such jobs. And there are other online and offline communities through which PMPs interact with each other. These communities help in building professional networks. Further, this certification allows a person to mentor the other PMI PMP aspirants.
There are several professional certifications that you can pursue throughout your career. But, among all of those, PMP certification is the most valuable certificate programme. Interviewers looking to fill in a position of a project manager understand this. Hence, they tend to prioritize profiles with PMP certification over those which do not have such certification.
Further, it helps you build essential skills required to excel in your career.
But, most people agree that's not all. You need to read up several other guides, attend preparatory sessions (if you join any) and write sample tests as part of your preparation. All these activities do take up considerable time. Since most aspirants are people who are currently employed, they feel even more crunched for time.
With the popularity of Agile, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), and Scrum, organizations are asked to justify the project manager’s role on a project. Scrum purists reject the idea of adding a project manager to the team as the team should be able to solve all the problems with the help of the product owner and scrum master. I’ve had clients ask, “Why do we need project managers in the portfolio since we’re supposed to be Agile?”.
Staffing a project manager to improve communication, identify risks, and manage outstanding issues and help keep the project on schedule, adds value, and improves predictability. A project manager can integrate those sprints and releases into a more extensive project schedule that identifies both IT and business-specific tasks.
The backlash against staffing project managers is based on project managers being administrative overhead. Projects don’t need purely administrative project managers. Project managers need to be doers! I’ve seen the project management role reduced to scheduling meetings, taking meeting minutes, and updating a project schedule. Projects can’t afford to staff a purely administrative project manager.
Agile approaches will help organize the team around a product backlog, increase feedback, and improve incremental delivery. However, don’t throw out the project management role just yet.
Agile techniques will continue to transform the way teams work, but I don’t recommend eliminating the project manager role on your Agile team. Organizations still struggle with adopting Agile completely as groups report they are following “Scrummer-fall” or are “Wagile” in their system development implementations. Until the Agile team can support all these project management functions, the project management role remains critical to project success.
The value proposition for project management starts with the proposition that it takes time and effort to proactively manage a project.
One of the more sophisticated aspects of project management is that it provides guidance to make it easier to collect metrics (measurements). Metrics give you information that helps you determine how effectively and efficiently your team is performing and the level of the quality of your deliverables.
Don't confuse knowledge areas with processes. A knowledge area is a group of knowledge, processes, and deliverables required in a certain specialty.
A constraint: A constraint, in project management, is any restriction that defines a project's limitations; the scope, for example, is the limit of what the project is expected to accomplish.
Senior managers think that project management is a tool. When you discuss project management with some managers, they initially think you are trying to implement a tool that allows you to be a better project manager. Actually, if it were a tool, you might have more luck convincing them of the value.
For example, an organization may have ten people who can perform the role of project manager, although traditionally each project only has one project manager at any one time; and a fperson who is able to perform the role of project manager may also be able to perform the role of business analyst and tester.
In some cases, a critical path can terminate on a particular schedule milestone that does not come at the conclusion of the project. In these cases, typically, the schedule milestone in question will have a finish that comes at a time no later than that of the imposed date schedule restraint in question.