Is the Future of our Profession in Safe Hands?

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

  Career Development   Leadership  

I am aware that this article has the potential to make me sound like a grumpy old man bemoaning the fact that “things aren’t like they used to be”. Well, I’m not that old, and trust me, there is a lot more about the way things used to be that I dislike than there is stuff that I yearn for the return of. I am also extremely upbeat about the future of our profession; I think that this is an exciting time for project management and new project managers. However, it’s not all wine and roses, and that’s what I want to address here--hopefully with a practical approach for making things even better.

The role of education
Let’s start at the beginning, with schools. In the last decade or so, there has been a huge expansion in the number of higher education institutions who are offering some form of undergraduate or graduate program in project management or related disciplines. There has also been the inclusion of project management courses in a number of other programs, plus of course many of those institutions also offer continuing education programs for individuals who are already in the workplace. Those programs are obviously a response to consumer demand and are evidence of the increased importance of project management in the workplace. That importance isn’t just for dedicated project management functions, but also for other …

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