Run Away! (And Other Helpful Advice For A Career in Project Management)
Run Away! by Cirofono via Flickr
I am passionate about project management in general, and helping people new to the field more specifically.
But let’s be honest. We’re all nuts.
Not Everyone Should Be a Project Manager
There is a specific form of gluttony for punishment that comes with the territory (some consider it a clinical condition). The decision to head down the project manager career path should not be taken lightly.
When I started out, there was a specific resonance I felt as I learned more about the role of a project manager. Everything I had really enjoyed about my previous positions seemed to be a part of this crazy thing called project management.
“You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya punk?” – Dirty Harry (1971)
Hmmmm….actually I’m going to ask 2 questions instead. And maybe some sub-questions…what the heck. Being a contrarian is just part of my personality… though, it’s not a “desired skill” for project managers. Especially not when you are contradicting a quote you picked yourself like I just did. See what project manager employment does to you after awhile? Koo Koo…Koo Koo
Do You Fit In?
Those shiny, flashy careers in project management may seem inviting, but do you really have a passion for this kind of work? Does your personality lend itself to the type of work?
Do you like working with people? I don’t mean like social work, (although I might have something there) I mean being able to relay technical concepts to business people and get geeks excited about what upper management wants. You need to understand “Projects are about humans,” as the Project Shrink says. The importance of communication in project management has become a cliché, but nonetheless, it’s true. You need to do it effectively and fearlessly.
Are you passionate about this stuff? I really enjoy the process of creating something that never existed before. Even if it is not a tangible, physical product it is very rewarding for me to be able to think about what we did as a team. I love process improvement and change. That’s one reason why out of the various project management careers out there (project manager, business analyst, project controller, program manager, etc.) I chose to be a project manager.
Do You Like Challenge? (Glutton for Punishment Helps)
One of the great things about project management is that at least once a week someone starts running around the place wildly yelling “My hair is on fire! My hair is on fire! My hair is on fire!”
Seriously though, I can’t even smell burnt hair anymore.
Do you like thinking about a project from every possible angle? Because that is what you will need to do in order to be effective. The customer, the team, the sponsor, external stakeholders…they all have to be happy. You need to be able to change shoes every 10 minutes or so. The nature of projects is changing requirements and approaches as you go, so there will always be situations where you are the hostage negotiator that has to make everyone come out alive and feeling happy.
Do you thrive on change? The idea that a project plan is finalized and then very little changes from there is a fantasy… a theoretical construct that only lives in the pages of your project management textbook.
This doesn’t mean you throw your hands up in the air and let chaos rule… but it does mean that effective change management needs to be a key strength. Uncertainty and change happen, and it is all in how you deal with it (and anticipate it) that makes the difference.
What other questions should someone ask themselves before jumping into the alligator pit?
Jun 24th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Wonderfully written, Josh!!
As a life long project manager, (45+ years) this is still “what I want to be when I grow up”.
Not sure if you are aware, but I’ve been working with Dr. Dan Harrison, and John Suermondt, from Harrison Assessments http://www.harrisonassessments.com and we have developed a BEHAVIORAL profile of SUCCESSFUL project managers.
If anyone is interested, email me privately, pauldgphd@gmail.com and I will send you the results…..
(Ya, I know Josh, I should post them here as an article…..) Maybe over the weekend…
BR,
Dr. PDG, Jakarta
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Josh Nankivel Reply:
June 25th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Thanks! I’ve been working on my writing skills lately, so hopefully my posts will start getting progressively better.
I bet everyone would be very keen to see a post from you about the behavioral profile!
Could you send it my way? JoshNankivel@pmStudent.com
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Jun 25th, 2009 at 1:49 am
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Jun 25th, 2009 at 1:50 am
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Jun 25th, 2009 at 2:03 am
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Jun 25th, 2009 at 2:54 am
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Jun 25th, 2009 at 2:55 am
Good post! I would say that a key requirement is being comfortable working in a changing environment with uncertain information. This is one of the biggest barries to people who move from a technicians role into project management in my opinion.
Denis
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Josh Nankivel Reply:
June 25th, 2009 at 10:20 am
An excellent point Denis! You caused me to go back into the part about change and specifically call out uncertainty. Risk Management and dealing with uncertainty is a key component to what we do as project managers!
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Jun 25th, 2009 at 3:05 am
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Jun 25th, 2009 at 3:32 am
Salute to Dr. Paul D. Giammalvo!!!
I am Nyoman M Jaya, originally comes from Bali. Currently studying research in the UK. I read your profile in the pmstudent site created by Josh (success for Josh!!). My understanding that as your life long project manager has widely experienced in project management areas in both academics and practices.
Your article about activity based costing ‘ABC’ in construction is very interested and in line with my idea to study research on application of ABC in Indonesia Construction Industry. Do you suggest that sophisticated ABC could be adopted and fitted or critics into Indonesian standards of construction project estimating system. Would you mind to update me with books and articles in journals were published best for referencing? My hopes in yours. I thank you very much in advance for your assists.
Best Wishes,
Nyoman.
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Josh Nankivel Reply:
June 25th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Nyoman, activity based costing has been written about on this site before, by Dr. PDG, Travis Anderson, and others.
Here’s a link to some search results for pmStudent.com, check out the first few posts for sure.
Activity Based Costing on pmStudent.com
Thanks!
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Nyoman M Jaya Reply:
June 30th, 2009 at 1:51 am
Josh,
I have found some ABC resources very useful to read in PMSTUDENT site.
Thank you!
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Travis Anderson Reply:
June 27th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Nyoman,
*Activity Based Costing (ABC) – Discussion
It is important to note that in traditional costing the assumption is that products consume resources. ABC contrasts traditional costing by assuming that products consume activities and activities consume resources. Once the product or service activities are identified, costs are allocated to the product or service according to the amount incurred by those activities. This method of allocating costs provides a benefit for making decisions regarding different types of profitability and project accounting (Awasthi, 1994, pp 9-10).
There are two sets of costs related to the accuracy of ABC cost information, 1) cost of measurement and 2) cost of decision error. As the accuracy of measurement goes down the cost of decision error goes up. Detail is an important factor in the success of an ABC system, but the detail must be value add. It is important to control changes brought on by environmental factors (competition, volatility, profit margins, etc…) while still allowing for diversity throughout the life cycle of the product or service (Awasthi, 1994, p 11). So how can one ensure accuracy in measurements for better decision making? The key is to identify and analyze the most optimal cost drivers that trace the costs of the activities back to the product or service.
Ref:
Awasthi, V. (1994, July). ABC’s of activity-based costing. Industrial Management, 36(4), 8. Retrieved January 24, 2009, from EBSCO MegaFILE database.
*Seven Principles of an EVMS
- Plan all work scope for the program to completion
- Break down the program work scope into finite pieces that can be assigned to a responsible person or organization for control of technical, schedule, and cost objectives
- Integrate program work scope, schedule, and cost objectives into a performance measurement baseline plan against which accomplishments may be measured. Control changes to the baseline
- Use actual cost incurred and recorded in accomplishing the work performed
- Objectively assess accomplishments at the work performance level
- Analyze significant variances from the plan, forecast impacts, and prepare an Estimate at Completion (EAC) based on performance-to-date and work-to-be-performed
- Use EVMS information in the company’s management processes
Ref:
ANSI/EIA-748-A-1998 (R2002), EVMS Standard
ABC/EVMS Conclusion
To quote Dale Gilliam, an EVMS industry expert, “EVMS is not a separate, unique way of doing things, but rather a system that encompasses and builds upon proven project and risk management techniques that are already being used on your program to some extent.” ABC is absolutely applicable in the context of project management as a best practice and technique for integrating program management. Tracing cost to the product/service/project element gives managers an advantage to make informed decision for process improvement. This is at the very heart of what an EVMS tries to accomplishes.
Good luck with your studies. Please post some of your findings on the PM Student as I am very interested to read your research. As you can tell, I am an ABC, EVM, and PM enthusiast.
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Nyoman M Jaya Reply:
June 30th, 2009 at 2:07 am
Dear Travis,
Thank you very much for your constructive support to my study plan. It will have been keeping in touch with the PMStudent site.
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Nyoman M Jaya Reply:
June 30th, 2009 at 3:54 am
Travis,
Thank you very much for constructive support to my study plan. I just start. It was been found in PMStudent site a valuable resource and reading materials to improve my understand in PM especially ABC in construction industry.
I will be keeping in touch with this site, so new update from you will enrich my knowledge.
Regards,
Nyoman
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Dr. Paul D. Giammalvo Reply:
August 20th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Hi Travis (and Pak Nyoman) if you have yet to do so, be sure to pick up Gary Cokin’s “Activity Based Management- An Executives Guide”. I have at least 20 books on ABC/ABM in my library and Cokins is the one I turn to and find answers almost every time.
My second choice of references is Activity Based Management, by Barry Brinker, Editor and published by Warren, Gorham and Lamont.
The nice part about the latter is it comes not from the project management/cost engineering community of practice, but from the Institute of Management Accountants, which really helps me when trying to sell this concept to management.
BR,
Dr. PDG, Jakarta
http://www.getpmcertified.com
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Jun 25th, 2009 at 6:42 am
Hi Nyoman,
Rest easy…… Activity Based Costing is alive and well in Indonesia. Two weeks ago I made a 2 hour presentation to some 40 leading business(wo)men and government officials in Jakarta on exactly that topic, and I have been invited to expand it into a 2 day seminar.
Email me privately pauldgphd@gmail.com and I will provide you with a recommended reading list.
BR,
Dr. PDG, Jakarta
http://www.getpmcertified.com
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Nyoman M Jaya Reply:
June 30th, 2009 at 3:03 am
Dr. Paul DG.
Jakarta.
I highly appreciate for receiving valuable information of ABC and guidance from direct experts and resources. Congratulation for your presentations and invitation in ABC seminar. I hope ABC application will have been grown up popular in Indonesia.
Best Wishes,
Nyoman
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Jun 25th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Interesting post, Josh. Here are some more questions to a PM-wannabe to reflect on:
Do you own your teams failures and give credit to your team when you succeed?
Can you function effectively under chaos and stress?
Can you play politics and when you do, do you know which side to take?
Do you build relationships easily and are able to keep it professional at all times?
and last but not least, Can you be Dirty Harry when you want to be?
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Josh Nankivel Reply:
June 25th, 2009 at 10:24 am
Awesome points Raj! I especially like the part about being Dirty Harry when you want to be!
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Jun 27th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Josh,
I would like to hear from Dr. Paul and others on their perceptions of these two different PM dichotomies.
1)Are you a contractor/PM or employee/PM?
2)Do you understand the contextual differences of the two environments?
3) Which one best fits your PM ambition?
Often the customer does not necessarily know exactly what they want. As a contractor/project manager, it is your job to educate the customer on what it is they really want. I believe you and Dr. Paul fits this category. The same is true for internal projects except now the employee/project manager has to solicit the other core functions of the organization. As a contractor, the PM can use legal buffers, such as FAR, contract mods, and a dedicated team to help the project progress. Depending on the organizational project structure (functional, weak matrix, strong matrix, projectized, etc) the internal project manager may have to fight tooth and nail to progress the project by soliciting resources from all facets depending on the organizations support of the discipline of project management as a practice.
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Dr_Paul Reply:
June 28th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Hi Travis,
Actually, I characterise those two sets of actors slightly differently than you do.
I split those two categories of “project manager” into people who make money (PROFIT) from planning, executing, controlling and closing projects (contractors or sellers) from those for whom project management is an EXPENSE- a cash outflow. (Owners or buyers) For that category of project managers, doing a project is an INVESTMENT and that category of project manager is not so interested in the project itself, but in the PRODUCT of the project. The end result.
Obviously enough, these two sets of stakeholders have very different needs, wants and expectations.
Having been in project management a long time (40+ years) traditionally, Owners tend not to be very good at project management. They make their money from operations- i.e. manufacturing; oil or gas processing; mining; telecommunications; Which is why Construction Management, Design Build and a host of other contract types has evolved to address the fact that operational type organizations are generally not good at project management.
On the other hand, contractors (sellers) MUST be good at project management, otherwise, they are soon out of business. The major difference being, as contractors, rarely are we very much concerned with the PRODUCT of the project. We are VERY concerned about time, cost and quality, and managing risks, but in the end, if the project does or does not meet the needs it was undertaken in the first place is of relatively little relevance to us. (Unless of course it was a design-build, CM or incentive type of contract)
This aspect is not a topic that is explored in much detail. If you want, maybe we can collaborate on putting together an article that highlights the differences in perspective between the two categories of project manager? And better yet, how to structure contracts in a way that aligns their objectives?
BR,
Dr. PDG, Jakarta
http://www.getpmcertified.com
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Josh Nankivel Reply:
June 28th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
I REALLY like your answer to this. I wrote an email to someone from the pmStudent community today that reflected this type of dichotomy… I was recommending the person go seek out one of those companies that make their living doing projects, because they will inevitably be good at it if they’ve been at it for any length of time.
I would really like to see you and Travis collaborate on something like you spoke about. (Google documents are great for collaboration, you can share a document and even actively edit it together, see what the other person is typing live, etc.)
-Josh
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Dr_Paul Reply:
June 28th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Actually, I’ve written quite a lot about this dichotomy informally.
One of my concerns with much of the research (i.e. Standish’s Chaos Report) was that it failed to differentiate between contractors and owners.
On that same note, one of the reasons “Design-Build”, “EPCC” (Engineer, Procure, Construct and Commission) and Construction Management have evolved is BECAUSE owners are often inherently poor at managing projects.
For quite some time, I have been predicting that IT, Telecommunications and some of the other sectors that have embraced project management will soon come to realize the same thing that the construction, oil, gas and mining sectors long ago recognized and addressed- that OUTSOURCING of project management to those who specialize in it is often the wisest way to go.
And in the past 2 years or so, I am beginning to see evidence of this happening.
For those interested in learning more, take a look at the Construction Management Association of America. http://www.cmaanet.org . They have all the contractual documents necessary to outsource project management as a professional service. Also AIA has similar sets of documents.
Very easy to adapt these documents from construction to other applications….
BR,
Dr. PDG, Jakarta
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Josh Nankivel Reply:
June 28th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Very cool. I’ve had my own problems with the Chaos report as well, but I’ve never thought about this particular distinction and how they deal (or don’t deal) with it.
I can’t recall for sure if PMI’s Value of Project Management study did anything to differentiate these, but I seem to think that it did. I’ll have to check it out again.
Thanks for the great comments and resources!
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Dr_Paul Reply:
June 28th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Try these……
http://www.aia.org/contractdocs/AIAS076696
http://www.aia.org/contractdocs/AIAS076698
http://www.aia.org/contractdocs/AIAS076699
http://www.agc.org/cs/contracts
http://www.cmaanet.org/cmaa-bookstore
These should help you get a feel for what we in construction have and are doing and see if you can adapt/adopt for use in IT/Telecoms etc.
Ciao!!!
BR,
Dr. PDG, Jakarta
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Jun 28th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Josh and Travis,
This discussion also relates back to my upcoming article on the behavioral profiles of “successful” project managers.
My original pilot study did NOT differentiate between owners or contractors project managers. It was a mix between the two.
One of the more advanced studies I would like to do is do a separate study on owners PM’s and contractors PM’s to see if the attributes or traits are the same and are they in the same order.
So many intersting topics and so little time or money!!!
BR,
PDG, Jakarta
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