Francisco de Borja Jalón Aymerich
LLB, BBA, PMP, M. Ec.
He has lead projects in several fields like real state, manufacturing and pharmaceutical in Europe and USA.
Ha liderado proyectos en campos como el inmobiliario, manufacturero o farmacéutico en Europa y Estados Unidos
La dirección de proyectos es una profesión en continua evolución adaptándose a las necesidades empresariales de los proyectos. Por ello, la figura del Project Manager ha ido pasando de una concepción más técnica a otra más orientada a la gerencia de proyectos. Este breve artículo pone de relieve los desafíos y evolución que nosotros, los profesionales en la dirección de proyectos, hemos tenido que afrontar.
PM (Project Manager) is the one who is able to deliver the project outcomes according to the requirements within constrains. Therefore, ask who is the perfect PM is the same than ask which the features and a skills a PM has to have to make a project being successful.
The PMBOK Guide understands there are three required proficiencies to manage successful projects: technical skills in the specific industry of the project, managerial skills and project management skills. As the profession evolves, more and more is demand to the PMs.
Project management is in continuous evolution and the vision of the PMs too. The vision of PMs has passed from being an experienced technician who manages teams, to being more involved in business thinking. And now companies are demanding a wide collection of skills.
Today we understand project management as a multidisciplinary profession in which many skills and knowledge combine together: business, general management, project management, technology, psychology, etc., are only some of them. Because of the sum of skills, project management means the ability to work with teams. Companies understand this and they are taking competitive advantages from adopting project management principles. Companies are encouraging its executives to learn project management and sometimes companies ask for help to specialized cosultories on project management.
The number of PMOs (Project Management Offices) is increasing and a relatively new figure called CPO (Chief Project Officers) has cropped up. CPO is in charge of the PMO and it is, most of the time, at the level of high executives in the company. CPOs deal with governance and strategy. Now project management is more involve in the strategy of the company than never before. It means a change on how project management is perceived. Project Management is formally part of the company.
New methodologies like Agile, Scrum, etc. centered on adaptability, interaction and leadership are making the role of PMs more and more dynamic creating new challenges for our profession. Frequently, I see the question in several forums about if it is or not necessary a certification on project management and what a certification add to a PM.
There are several organizations today with their own standards to certify professionals on project management. All of these are based on good practices and provide an ethic code. The most accepted and more international are the PMI´s certifications. In addition, the ISO 21500, an effort to harmonizing project management terminology, seems to be perfectly compatible with the PMI´s standard. Many project managers have experience and they are leading successful projects without any certification. However there are some advantages of holding a certification. If you are a certified PMP for example, you know the PMI´s standard, which include tools and techniques as well as processes which are based in good practices that are proved to work. The company you are working with may have a tailored standard created according to its needs. Most of the times, this tailored standards will be an adaptation of the PMI´s ones or be based on. If you work in an IT company which deliver software and hardware solutions, for example, the company will probably have a pre-contractual phase which will finish with the acceptation of the proposal by an external client. But if you work in a pharmaceutical company for example, client can be internal and quality is the most important constraint. Probably, projects will be divided into phases and phases will have a key milestone consisting on the approbation for one functional department as a necessary step to pass to the next phase. Anyway, if you know a standard as the PMI one, you can understand others easily and you have a good standard as a referent.
In addition, but not less important, you have accepted a code of ethics. Ethic is part of the business today. Maybe it is because society demands. An example is the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) that is getting more and more important in every company. The code of ethic means security for stakeholders. Companies can assume a certified professional will conduct his work in a fair manner.
Moreover, PMI has a policy to maintain the certification by the way of getting PDUs (Professional Development Units). This means a great opportunity to keep in contact with the profession and improve knowledge. Project management is alive. It is a very dynamic field continuously changing to adapt and improve effectiveness. The PMI is the leader net in project management what means more opportunities to keep in contact with latest improvements.
The PMI Salary Survey shows that certified PM earn an average of US$10,000 more a year than those who are not certified. It means that market understands the benefits of certification.
Typically, a technician who works as team member in some projects, becomes after a while PM in charge of other technicians. In fact, most of the PMs I know have a technical profile. Companies appreciate the technical skills as one of the most important values a PM must have. The question that technical skills are a must or not for a PM is widely discussed over several forums. Some project managers say yes and others say not but everybody agree that they are helpful skills. If a PM has technical knowledge, the communication with team members who are technical staff will be easier and more effective. Furthermore, a PM has to understand the business he or she is running and most of projects are in technical fields. Thus having technical knowledge can be helpful. However, PM has to avoid the temptation to become another technical team member by involving in all the technical work or trying to control every small technical detail. This is known as micromangement. A PM must be a generalist and have to achieve the deliverables through others who can be technicians. He or she must be a leader of technicians but not one of them. I made this mistake in the past because I felt I could do part of the work faster and better than my team. Now I know it was a mistake. The PM has to delegate. Team members must be the real experts in their fields and they must be able to solve technical problems.
With small projects, technical skills can be the key point for a PM but for large projects in which many technicians from different fields and with lots of stakeholders a PM does not have time to solve technical issues by himself or herself.
Nobody can be two people with two different roles at the same time. There are several differences between a technical role and a PM role. Technical staff is by definition discipline oriented, use analytical approach and is detailed oriented. While PM is a generalist, uses system approach and uses synthesis to get the big picture of the project.
My opinion is that PM need to have a general knowledge of the industry or technology but not necessary a high level of expertise. Furthermore, as bigger and more complex a project is, as more important communication and organization skills are.
If a PM does not have good communication skills, it does not matter how expert he or she is at a technical level, he or she is not a good election for being the PM.
In large projects, team members can be expert in different fields and it is impossible for the PM being an expert in all this fields. However, it is clear for me than even when the PM do not need to be a technical expert, he or she should have technical understanding.
Now PMs are required to have more business approach. No only portfolio and program managers are asked to understand financial criteria. PMs are asked too.
In most of the companies, strategy is defining by high executives and, program managers and portfolio managers are the link between the corporation strategy and the project level. The strategy is “transcript” to the project in the business case. However, companies now are demanding PMs with a business approach to project management and with the ability to align projects to the company strategy. As project management is getting more consideration in companies, PMs are moving from a technical level to an executive level. It means companies are asking PMs with more business orientation. The crisis has make companies to focus on save costs and the demand of PM with a strategic thinking and an economic vision of the project is increasing. People who decide which projects will start and which others will not do, are business people how demand economic outcomes aligned with the company strategy. The financial and economic approach to projects is increasing in demand. Companies look for ROIs.
Interpersonal skills are more important everyday. Globalization brought new challenges as deal with multicultural virtual teams in different countries with different timetables and even languages. Lack of face-to-face contact makes communication more difficult and challenging. All of this makes interpersonal skills some of the most important abilities for a PM. Studies about cross-cultural emotional intelligence is now enriching project management. PM need to know how the team members think and how to get the best of them. New methods as Agile or Scrum, in fashion in IT companies specially, require high interpersonal skills. With all of this, interpersonal skills are one of the most important features companies look for in a PM. The 90% of the time of a PM is spent in communication. It means he or she must be an expert communicator. Remember: a PM can and must delegate many things but he or she can never delegate communication. PM is the center of information for all stakeholders. PM is the main communicator in her or his project.
Psychology is very important, the reason is very simple: you need to understand what you are working with. If you are a mechanic, you work with machines; therefore you need to understand the principles of mechanics. For the same reason, if you are a PM, you work with people, as a result, you need to know how people minds work. A PM need to understand the principles of psychology. Motivating is getting collaboration for the project. You, as a PM, need to know which the motivators of each team member are individually. To motivate others you need to know what your team members feel and what they expect. You have to detect the level of motivation by understanding signs as behaviour or body language.
The Attitude and personality of the PM are important too. They are difficult to detect in a Résumé but they are maybe the core characteristics of an effective PM as a leader. Even when team members do not choose the PM, they can choose follow the PM or not. To get things done, which is the goal of the PM, you need others who collaborate with you in the project. People like to follow people who is honest, reliable, energetic, entrepreneurship, imaginative, optimistic, and who is able to transmit security and safety. A positive attitude is one of the most productive tools you can use in all your projects. No team-member will follow an unmotivated PM. Thus motivation starts with the PM attitude.
I do not think there is a unique answer to the question “Who is the perfect PM?”. Although I believe each project has its own characteristics which require different PMs. Each PM has many skills but each PM has a different balance between them. For example, for a small technical project, maybe the most suitable PM is one with strong technical skills while for a large project with lots of stakeholders and technicians in different fields, a great communicator is better or if the project is a strategic or cost focus project, the best PM maybe one with good business knowledge.
The best solution is, in my opinion, that PMOs decide what kind of PM is required for each project and later select suitable PM for this project.
AS A CONCLUSION:
- Project management is a multidisciplinary profession in continuousevolution.
- New methodologies are making project management more dynamic than in the past.
- Certification adds value to the profession and companies recognize this value.
- PMs need to have a general knowledge of the industry or technology they are working in but not necessary a high level of expertise, but PMs must avoid micromanagement and they have to delegate on team.
- The most important function of a PM is leading the team participation to make project success.
- Everyday more knowledge and skills are required to PMs: business orientation, strong interpersonal skills, etc.
- Personality and attitude are important features of a PM to be a successful PM.
- Each project is different and it can require a specific kind of PM with a different combination and balance of skills.