Currently I am in the process of project preparation where:
- I will be a PM on customer side, managing Business team
- I am to assess whether PM proposed by vendor for implementation team will be a good PM for our project
Do you know any method which I could use to assess whether this person would successfully fulfil a role of PM for my project?
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Dear lukasz
Interesting your question
Thanks for sharing
- What skills should this person possess? (technical, behavioral)
- What experience should this person have? (years of experience managing similar projects)
This way you can draw the desired profile for your assessment.
It is also important to know the references (previous projects and people)
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1 reply by Lukasz Pawelec
Dec 17, 2019 9:29 AM
Lukasz Pawelec
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Up to now I was thinking more in terms of collective profile of PM who should deliver the Project in good style, but I will follow your advice and write down the criteria which would matter most for this project and them assess PM against them
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Jen Jee ChanManaging Director| DotProjects Pte LtdSingapore, Singapore
Hi Lukasz,
I would walk this person through a very simple project, from planning to closing.. see if there are elements of the PMBOK or evidence of basic planning, implementing, adjusting etc in the way he thinks..
I would also assess his ability to manage stakeholders by providing 1-2 scenarios on difficult stakeholders to assess his approach - is he approachable, can he bend the rules if needed, can he empathise etc.
I typically use the above 2 methods for most of the interviews I do when we plan to hire or assess suitability of a person for a PM role for clients.. similar to your situation now..
Hope this helps.. cheers
JJ
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2 replies by Jen Jee Chan and Lukasz Pawelec
Dec 17, 2019 9:43 AM
Lukasz Pawelec
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Hi Jen,
The idea of challenging a PM through a particular scenario is really encouraging. Could you share any example you tried?
Dec 17, 2019 10:04 AM
Jen Jee Chan
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Hi Lukasz,
One particular scenario comes to mind, as a PM, he or she will need to manage conflicts between project team members, hence a useful way to assess if the potential PM has the ability to do so, would be to put him or her into a situation where 2 project team members reporting to him or her are in a massive conflict, and the conflict is due to a difference in technical opinion. Let him or her outline how and what approach would he or her take to manage or resolve this. It gets harder when the conflict is just due to a technical opinion difference.. for e.g. if 2 similarly qualified engineers decide that a structure is safe vs not safe.. how do we deal with that?
There is no right or wrong answer, but hearing the person out enables you to assess if he or she has the grit, tenacity and the right principles to manage the conflict and by extension be the right PM for the job..
I'd suggest it is crucial that you are able to develop a positive working relationship with this individual based on mutual trust & respect so while the technical skills and past experience are important, what you pick up regarding attitude and personality will be equally important.
I'd suggest also raising some common scenarios such as specific types of issues which may occur on the project to get the vendor PM's feedback on how they have addressed that in the past.
Finally, as Luis and others have said, testimonials from past clients would be key but that may not help you understand how well they support their own team members (on the vendor side). If they are a "driver", they might keep customers happy while demoralizing their team...
Kiron
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1 reply by Lukasz Pawelec
Dec 17, 2019 9:47 AM
Lukasz Pawelec
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Thank you Kiron, I will browse whether some good scenarios are already available in net or create one on my own..
Do you recommend any particular scenario?
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Lonnie PacelliAuthor & President| ProjectManagementAdvisor.comBellevue, Wa, United States
Have a panel of three people who will need to work with the PM interview him/her and give an assessment of fit. The PM will need to fit into the culture and work and be a contributor to team, not a detractor.
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1 reply by Lukasz Pawelec
Dec 17, 2019 9:51 AM
Lukasz Pawelec
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Hi Lonnie,
right, the person should fit into the organization culture but here I would need to trust the Feeling. I will invite 1 or 2 colleagues so that I am not alone in my judgement..
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Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
My approach is simple: I ask her/him: please tell me about your approach to define, execute, control, monitoring and close a project. I map all her/him answers to the current situation or the future situation where that person will be work mainly taking Tom Peter´s Seven S model as a guide.
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1 reply by Lukasz Pawelec
Dec 17, 2019 9:53 AM
Lukasz Pawelec
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Thanks for sharing the info about seven S model - I will have a look at this
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WENDY BLOMQUISTEPMO Project Manager| CenCal HealthVentura, Ca, United States
Unless I am misinterpreting your post...
"PM proposed by vendor for implementation team"...what this says to me is that the implementation team has a third party software/application vendor who has their own staff. The said PM is probably an Implementation Project Manager who is skilled in driving the vendor related tasks that need to be delivered. If your company is not using and internal project manager to ensure your team is meeting their dates for their assigned tasks then the vendor PM would manage those tasks also. If the project is date driven and your team is not meeting dates then the PM is limited in their ability to ensure dates are met because it's a fine line when trying to be a project manager and maintain the client relationship. I think the signed contract is more critical then the assigned PM, implementation project manager's have repetitive tasks and templates to follow. I don't think a vendor from a credible company would hire a PM that isn't a skilled project manager who would be interfacing with their paying client. Reputation is everything and the PM is on the front lines.
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2 replies by Lukasz Pawelec and Stéphane Parent
Dec 17, 2019 9:59 AM
Stéphane Parent
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I absolutely agree with Wendy: the vendor is the best placed to choose an implementation project manager. What your organization may want to do is have your own project manager to manage the vendor and other stakeholder relationships.
Dec 17, 2019 10:07 AM
Lukasz Pawelec
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Hi Wendy,
Maybe I was unclear in my post. The whole Implementation team is on the Vendor side so the PM as a rule should be part of Vendor staff. Only as a backup when the Vendor does not have good PM plan we may consider PM from 3rd party.
Very interesting, basic but fundamental question. Yes, there are methods to judge a person PM capabilities. You have to first define criteria and expectations and accordingly check the person. You can always check the knowledge on IPECC methodology, Team Management, Risk, Communication and Vendor Management.
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1 reply by Lukasz Pawelec
Dec 17, 2019 10:17 AM
Lukasz Pawelec
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Hi Ashutosh, .. right it is very basic and fundamental but unfortunately I had bad experience on the last project and not I try to do everything just to avoid the same mistake..
