I am angling for an interview as a PM for local government. The department is large and well funded and the people I know there are great. I'm currently working as a PM for a software vendor. Can anyone highlight some of the differences that I might encounter working in the government sector as opposed to the commercial sector? These can be based on methodology, politics, culture etc. Saving Changes...
In my experience you generally have a LOT of stakeholders and working groups as compared to private sector, which can mean experiencing long periods of waiting for things to be approved, and an increase in the amount of project reporting required.
Secondly - there is much less emphasis on making a profit, so the cost/benefit analyses are not quite as important. They tend to prefere a neutral position. (Not all the time I know!).
Things can get de-railed from some obscure corner, e.g. minister puts his/her two cents worth in, and all can change, especially priorities, meaning your project is canned, set aside, resources are required elsewhere etc. Although you can usually plan some contingency for these things, and argue against the change through using impact analysis, increased costs etc, it can come down to a change in politics.
From my personal experience of having a private sector background, then working for two govt. departments, I can honestly say that the whole mind set is completely different, and takes some getting use to.
"Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining."
