The Professional Project Manager

Professional training is an important investment made by organisations to enhance their staff's level of competence and ultimately performance. But like all investments, it requires careful planning, clear objectives, and robust assessment processes to ensure it works and achieve its goals – otherwise it’s just an exercise in attendance.

It helps if you start to look at investing in training as you would any other investment you could make. This means that you take a look at the costs of the investment and clearly outline the expected returns from it. This is useful to help you even choose the type of training that you should be sending people on. You should have a really clear idea of what sort of training you want people to go on for example will it be assessed or is it simply a matter of attending a course. Will it require practical demonstration of skills, will it result in a professional certification or qualification. Each of these provides different levels of training and teaching and as such different levels of competence development. So carefully consider the business case for each investment in training and have clear expectations about what you need the

Next, when looking at different types of training look carefully about how the training has been put together. Is it a simple mishmash of opinions of a particular subject matter expert or has it been put together using something like blooms taxonomy which will clearly indicate what the level of teaching or training is aimed at and what the expected outcomes from participating and completing in the training will be. This is definitely a question that you should be asking any training provider so that you can move away from training that does not have defined learning outcomes.

Once people have been on the training and completed it you then need a way to determine whether it was worthwhile and whether you achieved the expected results from it. I'm always surprised at this point that a lot of people simply assume that attendance at training will lead to the expected and desired uplift and competence. But this isn't always the case and you will need to have in place some way of measuring an uplift in competence and a change in performance. My personal preference is to use Kirkpatrick's Four-Level Training Evaluation Model, which provides a framework to assess training efficacy at different levels:

• Level 1: Reaction - How did the participants feel about the training? We often refer to this as the happy sheet completed at the end of the training which asks people how did you feel about the content, the facilities, the trainer, and even the catering. You can see that simply getting level 1 doesn't really give you any insights into the application in your skills.
• Level 2: Learning - What did the participants learn? Completing this level of training efficacy will mean that you have some sort of test that you will put people through to see if they have learned something from the training. Obviously some forms of training particularly those based on awarding credentials or qualifications will have this built into them. You will probably want to know what the pass mark is, how the pass mark was determined, how the questions were written (for example were they written in accordance with ISO 17,000 and 24) in order to determine how valid the testing actually is.
• Level 3: Behavior - How did participants apply the knowledge? This level will require you to either ask the participants how they have managed to apply the knowledge they have gained, or for you to observe them applying the knowledge.
• Level 4: Results - What tangible results emerged from the training? The top level of this model requires not just an assessment of an increase in knowledge and a demonstration of applying the new knowledge or skills, but also and assessment of actual improvements in performance for the individual and the organization as a result of the investment in the training.

Using this model, organizations can evaluate the immediate and long-term impact of training on both the individual and organizational levels get a really clear picture of whether or not the training has had the desired impact or not.

Every organization, and indeed every individual, has unique needs. Training programs need to be tailored to address these specific needs to be effective. A well-thought-out training program, developed with clear objectives in mind, ensures that it addresses these needs.

Professional training is not just about conducting sessions and workshops. It's about ensuring that these sessions lead to desired outcomes, transforming both individuals and organizations. Using tools like Blooms Taxonomy for defining objectives and Kirkpatrick's model for assessment ensures that training is both comprehensive and effective. Remember, training without thoughtful planning and assessment is an exercise in futility. Invest wisely!

(For those keen on diving deeper, Blooms Taxonomy and the Kirkpatrick model have been extensively discussed in academic and professional literature. A quick search can provide numerous resources for further reading.)

I often get asked by junior or novice project managers for any tips I can give them as they begin their careers in project management. I don’t always have time to think things through on the spot so I have taken the time to note my top 8 tips. I would love to hear what tips you would also give.

1. The first job you take may be the one that takes you to the job you want. I always see people entering the profession complain when they see job advertisements asking for a minimum of 3-5 years experience. There is a reason for this. You need to get some experience under your belt. You may have just come out of university with a project management degree or got an entry level certification but this doesn’t translate well to actual on the job in the real-world experience. Go and get that experience by taking a job as a project administrator. Then see point number 4 for quicker way to get the job you really want.
2. Always be honest. There may be times where you are pressured to bend the truth a little. Don’t do this. This may mean standing up to senior practitioners or demanding clients. If you are honest you will never need to remember what you said previously. Also, your personal and professional reputation depends on honesty. If you find yourself working for or with people who expect a little dishonesty you may be better off elsewhere.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. This actually applies all through your career not just at the beginning. If you don’t know something, then ask someone who does. Mistakes, both small and large, happen because someone thought they would look stupid by asking a question. In fact, the opposite is true. We generally think that people who ask questions are smarter. So, go ahead and ask those questions.
4. The deep end is where the action happens. Don’t be afraid to put yourself forward for things that seem complex and out of your comfort zone. If you are as smart as you think you are you will rise to the challenge. If you don’t succeed, then take an optimistic view of it and realise that failure is a great teacher. Either way you will learn fast.
5. Keep gathering experience and qualifications. Don’t think that learning stops once you get your first job. You must always keep your knowledge up to date or you will get left behind in a fast-changing world. Keep up the professional development units, get that next credential, attend that conference (even better, present at the conference) and keep learning in order to get the most from your career.
6. Share your experiences. There will always be someone with less experience than you so don’t be afraid to mentor them. Don’t be afraid to share your experience with more senior people too. It may be the case that you have a unique viewpoint and experience that they don’t. Value yourself and your experience (just don’t over value it – see point 1).
7. Put in place good work habits. Good work habits are things like turning up on time to work and to meetings, acting professionally and respectfully at all times, being honest (see point 2) and expecting to get out of your career what you put in. Do these things on day one of your career and every day after and you will soon have them locked in place.
8. Start getting to know people. You can call it networking if you want but that word is probably better suited to describing how computers are linked together, not people. Introduce yourself to people and listen to what they have to say. If they ask about you then share a little about yourself. Follow up occasionally with an email or a coffee invitation. Over the years these relationships will be extremely valuable to you on a personal and professional level.

So that’s what I think are 8 important tips for novice or junior project managers. What did I miss?

Should a project manager should have technical skills in the area of the project work? This is a  question I am asked frequently. Should someone running an IT project come from an IT background? Should a project manager managing a construction project have a construction or engineering background? Some people say they definitely should and some people say they shouldn’t.

The answer is actually quite simple - it all depends on the size and complexity of the project.

To begin with I need to clarify that technical work, whether its hardware, software, construction, or infrastructure related, is very different from project management work. Technical work requires a technical background, training and expertise about a particular field and using this experience to make technical decisions, often associated with the product of the project. Project management work, on the other hand is about managing the project. It involves the initiation work, the planning work, the executing work, monitoring and controlling work and the closing work. It is the developed of plans, monitoring of progress, controlling change and delivering a project to name but a few areas.

 If the project is small, then it may be that the person charged with being a project manager may also be completing some technical work on the project and as such it’s a balancing act. At times they will do technical work and at other times they will do project management work. The project is simply neither big enough nor complex enough to warrant having specialist technical and project management staff.

If the project is large and complex then, without doubt, the person acting as project manager needs to be focussed totally on one thing and one thing only, the management of the project. I’ve often said that the easiest way to understand what a project manager is, is to replace reword the title to General Manager of  a project. We all know what a General Manager does and if they are a General Manager of a large organisation they come from a management background not necessarily a technical background. Or if they have come from a technical background the best general managers have made a conscious decision at some point in their careers to leave behind their technical background and embrace a new career as a manager. This is exactly the same as being a project manager. For larger projects the project manager must be focussed on managing the project and everything that entails, and not be distracted by the technical requirements  of the work to be done. On a larger project the team should be big enough that there are other people charged with being technical experts.

The biggest problem a project manager with a technical skill can have is the inability to let go of their technical background and move onto managing the project. At some point in their careers, to be successful, they must make the decision to become full time project managers and leave behind their technical background. If they don’t they will do neither job well. A complex project requires a full time project manager. Additionally, the skilled teams responsible for the technical work don’t need someone undermining and second guessing them.

This leads us to the emergence of a new breed of project managers who are entering the profession as professional project managers with degrees and diplomas in project manager and not the typical technical background. The entry of these people into the market will change the way we view the profession. We will begin to look for people with project management credentials and experience to lead projects.

There will always be a demand for both sorts of project manger though. We will always have a career path for technical experts to become part or full time project managers, and there will be a growing awareness and value placed upon those professional project managers whether they come from tertiary education, or have made the decision at some point in their careers to be a professional project manager.