Career Path of a Project Manager?

[jasper77]

Hello all,

I'm considering modifying my career to go into project management, and
I'd like to know more about what that decision might mean for my
future. I've spoken with one person who had successfully made the
transition from software engineer to project manager, and what she had
to say wasn't all encouraging. It may have been specific to the
culture in the company she worked for, or maybe it's more common... I
would like your thoughts on it. In any case she found once she had the
title "project manager" she got less respect because she was seen as
"non technical" and also since she had nobody reporting to her she
didn't feel effective because people kind of tolerated her and worked
around her instead of with her. She said she asked to have her title
changed to be a development manager and once she had that, and had
people reporting to her, she was doing many of the same things but got
a lot more respect and was more effective. She also said she saw
project management as a valuable but under-appreciated and dead-end
job. Thoughts? Comments?

Thanks,
- J

[ajit hatti]

Jeanne,

I have been a project manager for 5 years now, things are going pretty wel. But the thing is you can't make a transition to a project manager unless you feel you are meant for it. This is because it is very much to do with managing others expectations and servicing others to achieve your goals than just putting a plan and expecting your team to obey you, belive me it takes much more than that.

I would say, please ask ur self , few questions like , are u a people person? Do you take "no" from others? Do you command respect? Can you convince people?, Do you get affended when comment you? etc., and so forth. For these questions if you get satisfied answers then you are a Project Manager.

 

Hope this helps you,

Thanks

Ajit

jasper77 <jeanne.p...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Alexy online]

Jeanne,

I have been a project manager for ten years and I already informed my management that I want to change from project manager to department manager. I felt that once you are a project manager in my current organization you will stay as such. You will be responsible and accountable for many issues and when it comes to decision making management interfere and still keeps you responsible for the decision of others. I have seen my colleagues who worked as proejct managers for 15 years in my organization and they are still working in same environment. Not only this, for construction projects, you need to travel and relocate yourself whenever you are appointed on a new project.

In brief, I enjoyed being a project manager for 10years. I gained lot of experience. Now, I have a family and I need to settle and apply my knowledge and expertise to gain money. In other words, matter depends on you personally, the organization you work for, the type & size of project you will be managing, financial expectations, what do you like to see urself after gaining the PM experience.

 

Best of Luck in your decision,

Alex

 

[Manish Chadha]

That’s good input from Ajit.

But even if one does not get convincing answers to questions below but is desirous, things can be worked out. We are not born with every quality.

 

As per your mail Jeanne, the thoughts of your friend are not valid or true.

Development managers usually report to Project Managers. But then based upon type of organization (Strong Matrix, Weak Matrix, etc) there can be differences.

 

Thanks,

Manish

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[Mr KewL RyaN]

I would suggest if you go for a PM path but don't let
your technical skills behind.

What I mean by that is when you choose to become a PM
there is a big transition on your day to day
activities, most of the time planning, integration
meetings, project status reporting, dealing with
customers etc (I would say 80% are people
interaction).

The good advantage for you if you started as a
developer is that you know what's going on and that is
a big advantage for you to undertand what exactly the
development team are doing.. let say for example,
there is a new technology that assigned to you as a PM
of course if the developers are giving you sizing
that are too much then you can argue and negotiate why
they come out with a number of man hours.

Those are some of the scenarios that you will
encounter later on the PM path. Get PMP Certication
if you have the time. For me I did not regret it.

Goodluck!
Ryan

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[Dan DiBiase]

Jeanne, I'd suggest that the title isn't important but the work that is done. I have done Project Management in my company since 1998, and it is a very much valued skill - even though my title isn't PM, nor am I currently a certified PMP. However, I don't believe you can have credibility as a PM simply by changing to that title. You really need to have been doing that sort of work to be credible, regardless of the culture of your company. I work in a very heavily matrixed environment and must leverage many skills, including past relationships, to get buy-in from team members. However, I have found that most people WANT to be part of a team that is working on a project that either interests them or affects their work, so getting them to move along the desired path isn't always as difficult as it sounds.

 

Dan D
Central NJ USA

[harish.k...@gmail.com]

I am a practising Project Manager. Let me tell you another part of the
PM story.

Project Management has a lot of politics in it. And Project Manager
has a lot of risk in a dynamic situation for no fault of his. PMs are
considered 'non critical resources' where as a developer or architect
or even a delivery manager is a critical resource in the
organization. There is another aspect of job dynamics currently going
on. Corporate Cost cutting drives are driving jobs offshore and PMs in
advanced countries are losing jobs to offshore competitors. There is
quite a lot of push and pull and leg pulling and hostility in the job
market. Be aware of all this. If you want to be a PM, all this is part
and parcel of PM career. There are too many work life balance issues
in todays global delivery work culture.

wish you best luck.

[Devans00]

Hello Jeanne,

I can confirm some of your friend's experiences. Specifically:

- people kind of tolerated her and worked around her
instead of with her.
- she saw project management as a valuable but under-
appreciated

I have first hand experience with both of these, plus more
discouraging situations. It's mind boggling that some co-workers will
put so much effort into avoiding cooperating even though your
proposals will save them much time and effort. I'm convinced that
it's impossible to succeed as a project manager without strong,
consistent senior management support and advocacy. It's needed to
overcome the "natural" resistance of your peers in other technology
disciplines.

Unfortunately, many companies use contract project managers as a stop
gap solution. Bringing them in to temporarily work on the symptoms of
deeper, systematic problems. Or bringing in consultants to work on
one off projects so there's no chance to get any momentum going or
build on past relationships. With so many people cycling through the
project management role, no wonder the development team sees them as
disposable and almost irrelevant.

I earned my PMP in 2004. Since then, it's been challenging to stay
employed. At least 95% of the jobs opportunities that come my way are
short term gigs, 3 months to 1 year, and/or outside of the area where
I live. I know it's not everyone's experience, but it's one more data
point for you to consider.

I hope this helps,
Debra

[Dr. Paul D. Giammalvo]

Hi Debra,

I think you have pretty much summed up the two problems many people and organizations have with project management-

1) Organizations- Many organizations are trying to "overlay" project management in a functional or matrixed environment, and as the Bible, Quran and Torah all agree, "(wo)man cannot serve two masters and serve them well".  So the first step in helping organizations become truly projectized is to end the matrix organization structure.

2) Individuals- Being a PMP, must know that by definition, a project is a "one time, unique event".  Therefore, if you are looking for a JOB, then you are surely going to be disappointed. If you are looking for a job, then I suggest you get out of project management, get an MBA and become "one of them".  A suit.  If you truly revel in being on a project, knowing full well that sooner or later it will end, and that what you are doing is essentially working yourself out of a job, then you will come to appreciate the freedom and potential that project management offers.  In effect, you have to become an entrepreneur (or at very least, intrapreneur) recognizing that when your project is done, you may or may not have another job.  Which means you have price out your services/negotiate your compensation package to account for this reality.

 

Bottom Line- Debra, Jeannie and the rest of those who are questioning project management- Read Tom Peter's "Re-Imagine", Tom Friedman's "Flat World" and Tom Osenton's "Death of Demand" to get an idea of what the future will look like, and then embrace project management not as it is (mis-practiced) now, but as it is quickly becoming.

 

BR,
Dr. PDG, Jakarta

 

Dr. Paul D. Giammalvo, CDT, CCE, MScPM

Senior Technical Advisor, PT Mitratata Citragraha, Jakarta/Singapore/Anchorage/Amsterdam www.getpmcertified.com

Adjunct Professor, Project/Program Management, Lille Graduate School of Management, Paris, FRANCE www.esc-lille.com

Curriculum Development Consultant/Adjunct Professor, Asset and Project Management, University of Western Australia, Perth, www.blendedlearning.ecm.uwa.edu.au

Board of Directors, Global Alliance for Project Performance Standards (GAPPS) Sydney, AUSTRALIA www.globalpmstandards.org

 

 

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: PM...@googlegroups.com [mailto:PM...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Devans00
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 3:26 AM
To: PMHUB - The largest PM group in Googlegroups!