Broader or Deeper: How Should Your Development Grow?

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  

Like virtually all professions, project management has a foundation set of skills and knowledge that any practitioner is expected to possess. As they gain experience and seniority, practitioners are expected to expand and enhance those skills—and that may be evidenced through a certification (or a series of them).

But what happens once a PM is generally acknowledged to have achieved the “standard”—they have the most recognized and expected certification in their market, and they have demonstrated their ability to consistently apply their skills and knowledge? They can’t stand still and expect to continue advancing their career, but what type of growth should they seek to achieve?

The short answer I guess is “It depends”…and that’s fair. It does depend on the individual project manager’s career goals and ambitions; the expectations of their employer, industry and market; as well as the competition they face in their quest for growth. However, there are a few standard paths that can be considered—and given how frequently I am asked to provide guidance to project managers, I think it’s worth considering those options.

A new project management space
Let’s start by recognizing that project management has evolved and changed considerably over the last few years, and is likely to continue to …

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