Tag Archives: Marketing the Profession

The Future of Everything is Project Management

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A couple of years ago, I wrote a post about the project manager as a generalist or a specialist. I am most definitely a specialist.  Every project I undertake is to implement or extend human capital management systems, including payroll, timekeeping, recruiting, and employee benefits administration systems.  I’ve been working almost exclusively in this domain since 1989, and in addition to my PMP credential, I have professional level credentials in both human resources and benefits administration.  Most of my customers are global firms, and my ability to talk about the details of their business practices and legal compliance challenges has given me a lot of credibility with their subject matter experts.  It’s a big chunk of my personal value proposition.

I was in Seattle this week, attending a review course prior to taking the Global Professional in Human Resources exam.  I’ve held the Senior Professional in Human Resources credential for nine years now, and decided in January that an upgrade would be worth the time and money.  It was quite an experience, sitting in a room for three days with a mix of twenty-four very senior HR people from industry, universities, and NGO’s.  We were all Boomers and Generation X; this is not an entry-level topic.   Several of the attendees hold PhD’s.  About a third of them were from other countries, as was the instructor, Lisbeth Claus.  By the end of day three, we were all exhausted, but I probably doubled the value of my address book with the contacts I made.

But the money shot, as it were, happened on the morning of the second day.  Lisbeth is essentially the founder of the Global Professional program within the Society for Human Resource Management.  In addition to teaching at the Willamette University MBA program, she has held executive HR positions with two global firms.  She is one of the dozen or so primary thought leaders in the field of human capital management.  In the midst of reviewing business issues in outsourcing, Lisbeth stopped and said, “Eighty percent of the things you are doing today in the HR department are going to be gone in five years.  They will be outsourced to specialists.  You need to prepare for what you will be doing with the rest of your time, five years from now.  Do you know what that will be?”  She paused for effect.  “Project management.”

We use the term “accidental project manager” to describe someone whose primary job function is something else, but somehow ended up managing a project in their domain.  Many of these folks have had little or no preparation for leading a project, and receive little guidance from experienced project managers.  Most flail, some fail outright.  But some of them develop a taste for it, and find other projects to manage.  These folks are going to be the professional development models for most organizations over the next few years.  Develop competency in some functional area, and then develop project management skills.  And as Lisbeth warned: if you don’t, expect to be doing the low value-added, transaction processing jobs.  And expect to be paid a lot less than the people driving change.

The future of everything, at least in management, is project management.  But don’t feel too comfortable about that idea, because if you’re not already competing for project management jobs with domain specialists, you soon will be.  And if enough of these domain specialists take Lisbeth’s advice, there soon won’t be anything accidental about them.

International Project Management Day

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International Project Management Day will be held on November 3 this year.  Initiated and organized by well-known educator and consultant Frank P. Saladis, the annual celebration of project management has grown from eight participating organizations in 2005 to twenty-five organizations and twenty-nine events in 2010.  Organizations planning an event for 2011 are being encouraged to get involved with a Sister City, and request their government issue an IPM Day proclamation.

The vision for IPM Day is of an international community, “Acknowledged for their contributions to the business, government, and nonprofit environments.”  Frank describes the mission of the OPM Day community as:

  • Provide opportunities for project based organizations to express their appreciation for the leadership and commitment demonstrated by project managers who make significant contributions toward organizational success.
  • Create connections between project management organizations to share ideas, foster professional relationships, and appreciate the value of cultural diversity in the global project environment.
  • Enhance the awareness of the value of project management.
  • Communicate the contributions and importance of project management and project managers to business leaders at all levels and across all industries.

Over the last few years, I’ve come to appreciate the value of marketing the practice of professional project management as beneficial to both project managers and the organizations they work for.  PMI’s new slogan, “Making project management indispensable for business results,” is as much about driving perception among decision makers as it is about adding value.  And that is one of the principle value-adds of a professional organization – presenting a voice for the community to our customers, employers, and other critical stakeholders.  IPM Day is one more channel for both networking within the professional community and communicating the value we bring to the organizations we serve.

Is the Value of the PMP Credential Being Diluted?

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Lately, LinkedIn and the blogosphere are awash with anecdotes about inexperienced or just plain lousy project managers with the PMP credential.  Patrick Richard, of The Hard-Nosed Project Manager, posted several specific examples  just the other day.  “We are not talking here of a lack of familiarity with specific tools but rather with basic project management concepts.”

As a long-time PMP credential holder, I don’t want to see marginally skilled or largely inexperienced project managers with the PMP.  Obviously, if PMI is credentialing people who don’t have the necessary experience to sit for the exam, then they should consider requiring independent verification, or at least increase their application audit sample rate.  Those looking to “break in to project management” should be encouraged to pursue the CAPM.  Perhaps PMI should improve their pitch on who should apply for which credential, possibly adjust pricing to make CAPM more attractive, and work to improve industry acceptance of CAPM as an entry-level certification.

As a hiring manager, I value the PMP credential as a filter.  Over the years, I’ve seen quite a few self-described “expert project managers” who weren’t.   Same thing with bad programmers, bad drivers, bad cooks, and bad parents.  Professional society credentials are at least an objective indicator (if not a guarantee) of some level of mastery.  However, managers shouldn’t make hiring decisions based entirely on a resume.  They should do extensive reference checks, along with multiple in-person interviews, and possibly proficiency tests or situational assessments for those claiming specific skills. And those managers who still make a bad hire, despite the filters and rigorous selection process, need to figure it out quickly and take appropriate action, because that’s what good managers do.

Those of us who are in leadership positions have to take some responsibility for development of those who will eventually replace us.  Used wisely, the PMI standards and credentials are useful tools for professional development.  But they aren’t the whole picture, and we shouldn’t curse a yardstick for being a poor micrometer.