Hi I am wondering if anyone has some insight into how to proceed with the “dilemma” I am in. I have been with a consulting firm that hired me in March to work as a PM within their company. It’s been about 7 months now and I haven’t really gotten any contracted work. There is however a potential need for an internal PM and I have been working internally creating a dashboard to show planned vs. actual budget and resource utilization. My issue so to speak is that I feel like the initial interest of me doing this internal project was expeessed but as the weeks have gone on I feel from upper management that there is not much interest or lack of engagement as I develop the dashboard and ask for input/suggestions. My approach so far has been to stay mindful of management responsibilities within their own role when scheduling overview meetings or suggesting next steps in order to make the dashboard fully functional. However, given that I haven’t been contracted to a client as part of my original role and feeling under utilized with the value I could bring internally, I wonder if anyone had any tips for me. Should I continue on best I can with trying to establish value with what I can offer internally (which given that I’ve also been part of leading the integration project of the company with another company they acquired that started earlier this year) I’d like to continue moving toward the route of potentially being an internal PM for the company given they don’t have one and there seems to be a need. Additionally, how would I go about addressing engagement? Saving Changes...
I would suggest setting up a meeting with your manager to provide better role clarity and establish goals. 7 months is too long to be waiting in limbo. My rule-of-thumb is that within 3-4 months, you should be mostly over the learning curve and a strong asset to the team.
Perhaps they have a job for you on the horizon that they are waiting for. Perhaps there has been turnover in management and they are changing direction. Perhaps they don't know what they're doing. If you were assigned to a contract position and there was no clear scope, it would be your responsibility to clarify that also.
While you are being mindful of management roles and responsibilities, remember that it is also their job as leaders to support you as an employee. If they're not willing to do that, I would start considering your options. They're just being managers, not demonstrating leadership.
Being mostly idle for too long is bad for your career. When it comes time for performance reviews or the next career move, it is a huge help if you have accomplishments and you can't do that without something to accomplish. Maybe that's as an internal PM, but if they're not interested in listening to you now, either that needs to change, or how can you be effective in that role either? Saving Changes...
Thanks Keith. This was insightful. I’ll definitely work to try and schedule a meeting to get as much clarity as possible. Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Danyelle,
Keith's advice is good.
Have you looked for a career mentor, outside the company? If we are uncertain about situations and what we should do, it helps our own thinking to share our thoughts with an outsider.
Another thought, in a consulting company, the value of a PM is higher if they do client work for revenue. It is their business. As an internal PM, you might not get the visibility and credit (and money) you are looking for.
Somebody made the decision to hire you, you know who that was and what the intentions were? It must not be (probable is not) your current manager.
Consultant companies hire to staff client projects, or to build a competency for strategic targets, rather not for internal purposes. Do you know some of the guys that staff projects, often they are in charge of client relationships, sales, maybe have the title of partner. Those are your core stakeholders, they will ask for resources and they should know who you are and what you could do for them.
Thomas
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1 reply by Danyelle B
Oct 19, 2022 8:29 AM
Danyelle B
...
Hi Thomas
I have one person that I met through the PMI discussion that has been a great help and I’ll definitely reach out to her to hear her perspective. I suppose I like to hear other experiences and thoughts as I find those valuable. I had this question in another response in this discussion but I’ll place here as well. Personally I feel that there may be a lack in organization with some internal processes that could benefit from having an internal PM. Do you think company-wide recognition and creating internal standards are more important than generating revenue through a client?
My current manager did hire me for the intent of working on contracted client that work with our company however he does not make the decisions on who get what project that would be the Director of our PM department. Which the director was the one who asked me to do the dashboard and mentioned a potential need for an internal PM.
Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
Service companies try to keep bench time minimal for their employees. If you are not generating revenue for your company, you should be reducing costs. Have you tried to quantify the value of your current internal project? Given the dashboard is intended for management, it shouldn't take much savings on their time to cover your salary.
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1 reply by Danyelle B
Oct 19, 2022 8:20 AM
Danyelle B
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Hi Stephane, I haven’t even thought of quantifying the value. I know that the director of Our project management department asked me to do the dashboard because I created some working models that I shared with him in a meeting with him. He seemed impressed and that how I ended up working on a potential company wide tracking. The plan is for it to help not only with monitoring team performance on projects as far as resource utilization and budget but also help with future contracts when estimating budgets and hours. This could potentially lead to them having more accurate Estimates and less contract edits with projects going over budget or needing more hours. Personally I feel that there may be a lack in organization with some internal processes that could benefit from having an internal PM. Do you think company-wide recognition and creating internal standards are more important than generating revenue through a client?
Sounds like a really frustrating situation - I know how antsy I'd get if I was forced to come up with "busy work" while awaiting assignment.
It would be useful to understand how their projects are currently being led. If you can identify one or two key projects underway, you might approach your manager to find out if there's an opportunity for you to free up the current lead for those.
It would also be helpful to understand what they consider to be project work as that definition does vary by company.
Kiron
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1 reply by Danyelle B
Oct 19, 2022 8:38 AM
Danyelle B
...
Hi Kiron,
Projects vary there are some that have both PMs from my group on with SMEs and others where SMEs are more there own PM on projects, and some where a contract just needs a PM. I think because of the complexity, relationships, and historical involvement, it would be hard to step in for a the lead PM on projects that specifically use PMs from our department. I do shadow on to projects currently that do not have strict security guidelines for their projects. But I have been approached by both the CEO and director of PM to work on this project dashboard tracker and to create a client facing services overview presentation. I just feel that there was initial engagement and push and now weeks later it seems that the interest has fallen off. Even after trying to schedule meeting and through emails.
Service companies try to keep bench time minimal for their employees. If you are not generating revenue for your company, you should be reducing costs. Have you tried to quantify the value of your current internal project? Given the dashboard is intended for management, it shouldn't take much savings on their time to cover your salary.
Hi Stephane, I haven’t even thought of quantifying the value. I know that the director of Our project management department asked me to do the dashboard because I created some working models that I shared with him in a meeting with him. He seemed impressed and that how I ended up working on a potential company wide tracking. The plan is for it to help not only with monitoring team performance on projects as far as resource utilization and budget but also help with future contracts when estimating budgets and hours. This could potentially lead to them having more accurate Estimates and less contract edits with projects going over budget or needing more hours. Personally I feel that there may be a lack in organization with some internal processes that could benefit from having an internal PM. Do you think company-wide recognition and creating internal standards are more important than generating revenue through a client?
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1 reply by Stéphane Parent
Oct 19, 2022 6:35 PM
Stéphane Parent
...
"Do you think company-wide recognition and creating internal standards are more important than generating revenue through a client?"
It depends on the value you create. If you save multiple times your contract rate, then you are creating more value than if you were contracted out.
From a purely career development point of view, getting in your senior management's good grace is better than getting in a client's good grace.
Have you looked for a career mentor, outside the company? If we are uncertain about situations and what we should do, it helps our own thinking to share our thoughts with an outsider.
Another thought, in a consulting company, the value of a PM is higher if they do client work for revenue. It is their business. As an internal PM, you might not get the visibility and credit (and money) you are looking for.
Somebody made the decision to hire you, you know who that was and what the intentions were? It must not be (probable is not) your current manager.
Consultant companies hire to staff client projects, or to build a competency for strategic targets, rather not for internal purposes. Do you know some of the guys that staff projects, often they are in charge of client relationships, sales, maybe have the title of partner. Those are your core stakeholders, they will ask for resources and they should know who you are and what you could do for them.
Thomas
Hi Thomas
I have one person that I met through the PMI discussion that has been a great help and I’ll definitely reach out to her to hear her perspective. I suppose I like to hear other experiences and thoughts as I find those valuable. I had this question in another response in this discussion but I’ll place here as well. Personally I feel that there may be a lack in organization with some internal processes that could benefit from having an internal PM. Do you think company-wide recognition and creating internal standards are more important than generating revenue through a client?
My current manager did hire me for the intent of working on contracted client that work with our company however he does not make the decisions on who get what project that would be the Director of our PM department. Which the director was the one who asked me to do the dashboard and mentioned a potential need for an internal PM.
...
1 reply by Thomas Walenta
Oct 19, 2022 8:59 AM
Thomas Walenta
...
Danyella,
you ask about importance and I think it depends on whom you ask, as they have different targets. A manager paid for signings or revenues will try exactly to make them. A manager paid for looking after processes will look after them (and I wonder how he is paid).
The PM director seems to call the shots, who gets which project as PM and he is interested in dashboard/visibility. Which in my view is kind of PMO work.
In any case, working on stakeholder engagement for both (and maybe more, up the hierarchy) is a good idea. Learn about them in social media, meet them for non-task talk (coffee, lunch), understand their pains and think about ways to help them.
Sounds like a really frustrating situation - I know how antsy I'd get if I was forced to come up with "busy work" while awaiting assignment.
It would be useful to understand how their projects are currently being led. If you can identify one or two key projects underway, you might approach your manager to find out if there's an opportunity for you to free up the current lead for those.
It would also be helpful to understand what they consider to be project work as that definition does vary by company.
Kiron
Hi Kiron,
Projects vary there are some that have both PMs from my group on with SMEs and others where SMEs are more there own PM on projects, and some where a contract just needs a PM. I think because of the complexity, relationships, and historical involvement, it would be hard to step in for a the lead PM on projects that specifically use PMs from our department. I do shadow on to projects currently that do not have strict security guidelines for their projects. But I have been approached by both the CEO and director of PM to work on this project dashboard tracker and to create a client facing services overview presentation. I just feel that there was initial engagement and push and now weeks later it seems that the interest has fallen off. Even after trying to schedule meeting and through emails. Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Oct 19, 2022 8:29 AM
Replying to Danyelle B
...
Hi Thomas
I have one person that I met through the PMI discussion that has been a great help and I’ll definitely reach out to her to hear her perspective. I suppose I like to hear other experiences and thoughts as I find those valuable. I had this question in another response in this discussion but I’ll place here as well. Personally I feel that there may be a lack in organization with some internal processes that could benefit from having an internal PM. Do you think company-wide recognition and creating internal standards are more important than generating revenue through a client?
My current manager did hire me for the intent of working on contracted client that work with our company however he does not make the decisions on who get what project that would be the Director of our PM department. Which the director was the one who asked me to do the dashboard and mentioned a potential need for an internal PM.
Danyella,
you ask about importance and I think it depends on whom you ask, as they have different targets. A manager paid for signings or revenues will try exactly to make them. A manager paid for looking after processes will look after them (and I wonder how he is paid).
The PM director seems to call the shots, who gets which project as PM and he is interested in dashboard/visibility. Which in my view is kind of PMO work.
In any case, working on stakeholder engagement for both (and maybe more, up the hierarchy) is a good idea. Learn about them in social media, meet them for non-task talk (coffee, lunch), understand their pains and think about ways to help them.
...
1 reply by Danyelle B
Oct 19, 2022 7:13 PM
Danyelle B
...
Thank you Thomas. I agree with your points and will definitely be working with trying to understand how I can navigate the benefits the company could see with having an internal PM.
