Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Joshua, I was an accidental Project Manager. My background is in Structural Engineering, I worked a few years in Design and Engineering for Construction Projects and then I got interested in Project Management because it's dymanic, non-routine, challenging and you get to interact with so many people unlike design where you're sitting infront of the computer doing, more or less, routine tasks so I started shifting to project management and here I am 20 years later!
My experience is very similar to Rami's including the structural background. I started out in aircraft mechanical design and found that in many engineering jobs, the work never changes which bored me to death. Few people wanted to work the new special projects which were more mentally challenging and things were always changing, so I had the opportunities to take on those jobs. After being an individual contributor on cross-functional teams for a while I became a technical lead where I gained more exposure to schedule planning and financials.
As the projects got bigger, I had to give up most of the technical oversight due to the sheer volume of work and focus more on the PM side. Working more on the leadership side, I realized that I have more opportunity to make people's lives better, both with respect to the project outcomes, and also the mental health of the others on my project teams who may be less comfortable with change and uncertainty than myself. Saving Changes...
I started in systems management and worked in that domain (internally and as a consultant) for a few years before a manager suggested I take a PM soft skills course to expose me to the leadership aspects of the profession and I was hooked!
I first took project management as a course during my Bachelor's degree in business. Ironically, I failed the course, but retaking it and relearning everything sparked my interest. I found it fascinating how project management principles can also be applied to my personal life by staying organized, keeping to a budget, and meeting deadlines. In my previous job, I got a chance to work on a few small projects where I could apply what I learned in a real-world situation. It all worked out well, and I'm happy to say that I enjoy project management! Saving Changes...
George FreemanThought Leader | Author | Architect| Florida, United States
Hi Joshua,
I started in software engineering four decades ago and had project management responsibilities put on me in my early years before I was prepared to handle them properly. So, the experience was a wake-up call and a call to action to learn formal methodologies and master (at least in my mind) the art of tailoring.
Nowadays, my focus is on project management and enterprise architecture (IT and business), spending time on this platform, writing content, and advancing the profession. Saving Changes...
William M Hayden JrAdjunct Assistant Professor| University at Buffalo, School of Management, Operations Management & StrategyBuffalo, Ny, United States
Hi Joshua.
In 1978 I was in Houston, Texas, as the VP of Land Development for a consulting engineering firm.
We were quite busy due to the rapid population growth due to the "Price of oil."
So, the challenges of leading, managing, and developing young engineers in the projects made me think:
Q. Why don't I start a group dedicated to learning more about the management of projects?
A. Learned that PMI was started just 9 years earlier!
Immediately joined and as they say, the rest is history.
Cheers,
Bill Saving Changes...
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