Much as I would love to describe the job I have been doing for the past 14 years as a profession, I would suggest that Project Management is more a general management discipline and a toolset for "getting the job done".
I will be glad to take this one on! After serving as a construction project manager for nearly 25 years, I can whole heartedly say that it is a profession. As with any other profession that has emerged in the last 30 years, it has seen its share of ups, downs, regeneration and rejuvenation.
30 years ago a person called the "project manager" did not exist. You had the general contractor and the subs. How many metal formers are left in the US? Not many because that profession is a lost art. Same thing with Project Managers in reverse. It has expanded to not only a profession in and of itself, but sub-professions dealing with specific industries, such as IS Deployment, Construction, Product Development, Aircraft manufacturing, and software development.
The reason I say that it is more profession than a management discipline is that now, with the deliverables and competencies expected with Modern Project Management, a person can make a career of managing projects of any kind, with minimal knowledge of the subject being managed.
The same thing "can" be said for a general management discipline, but without a complete knowledge of project deliverables, project control issues, project budgeting, project accounting, etc., you are just a manager - not a PROJECT MANAGER.
I agree with your statement that it provides a toolset for getting the job done but it is more than a general discipline. It is a discipline that is on a higher plane than that of general management principles. Saving Changes...
Hello, I am new to this website and to Project managment in general. I am 24 years old and a recent Business Admin(marketing) graduate searching for a job in this tough economy. I've realized that many jobs require project management experience. How do I go about gaining project management experience, since I have none? I've also looked into getting PMP certified but they require at least 1500 hours of experience. I would really appreciate it for someone with experience in this field give me advice and how to get started. Thank you Saving Changes...
Greg,
I agree that Project Management is a relatively new discipline and I also agree that there are many capcbilities required to be a true Project Management.
However, my initial discussion is more around the qualifications required to be able to call oneself a "Professional". If you look at disciplines like engineering, again there are many different types of engineers. However, in order to call yourself an engineer you must be professionally qualified (to degree level)and a member of one of the engineering institutes (same applies for accountants).
While the PMI offer certification (cheekily named PM "Professional"), I wonder if there is a real gap out there where standard certification, across the globe not just US or Europe based, would lead to a real professional organisation.
I shold admit at this time that I am a member of the PMI (US) and IPMA (Europe) but you can simply buy membership to these organisations.
Is the "Profession" crying out for a more formal certification process? Saving Changes...
Isabelle BadinandAgile Delivery Manager| AvivaLondon, United Kingdom
Is Project Management as a profession mainly an Anglo Saxon trend? I am French but I work in the UK. However I get the impression that in France the Project Manager (?chef de projet?) is the equivalent of the technical lead (so in IT the most competent developers become project manager). I'd be curious to hear about the development of Project Management as a profession in other countries.
Isabelle Saving Changes...
John ZacharProduct Dev Manager| Association for Project Management (APM)Brackley,, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
It now sounds like I need to put my two pennyworth in!
Having been in and around PM for over a quarter of a century, in a number of disciplines, I do believe it is a profession. That said, I do think that there are a number of 'professional' organisations 'climbing on the bandwagon' (pay us money) of the profession's expansion - now that it seems to be more widely recognised by many if not most industries.
I am a full member of both the APM (UK) and PMI (US), I do take advantage of what they can offer me - which being perfectly honest, isn't too much.
I've been a PM consultant, managing pear-shaped projects, programmes, implementing PSOs / PMOs / etc., teaching and educating and all those activities for about 10 years now, capitalising on my previous PM experience. For both the PMI, and the APM it appears that my experience is too old (maybe ancient is a better word) to qualify for either of the more senior qualifications or certifications (if those are the right words).
I've managed projects in the military, ranging from new aircraft maintenance processes and programmes, construction projects, building and commissioning adult education facilities (not the bricks and mortar, but the teachers, lesson plans, presenters, library, etc.) as well as running an IT department for about a decade.
As a current PM consultant I've managed projects (or parts of projects and programmes) in financial institutions, government, retail, IT, etc. Some have been fairly small, like only several thousand Pounds, to a number that were more than multi-million Pounds.
It is for this reason that I believe PM is a profession. In a multi-disciplinary project, ranging across an entire or most of an organisation, the experience and knowledge that must be used is far more multi-dimensional that just the contents of PMI's or APM's BoK. It is far more than the application of PRINCE2, or some other methodology.
It is the application of PM's tools, techniques and the project management domain expertise that permits good, successful project managers deliver that success. I accept that domain knowledge is important, as no PM wants to have the wool pulled over their eyes; however knowing about PM rather than engineering, construction, IT, education or any other professional discipline is what makes a professional PM, a professional PM.
Passing an examination (PMI - and soon to be APM) does not make a professional. Predictable success, time after time, providing success and value to the organisation regardless of 'gongs' or letters following one's name is what makes a professional a professional.
Let me ask one question. Which would you rather have manage the construction of an extension to your home? A recent graduate qualified engineer, quantity surveyor, or building manger, or the fellow around the corner, who has been building houses and extensions for the past 30 - 35 years; never had one fall down, and never had a building inspector make him re-do any work? I rest my case.
Thank you for permitting me to spend some time on _my_ soapbox. I have lots of further comments, but will not impose them on you at this time.
JZ Saving Changes...
I can't agree more with the comments of JZ (most recent post). PM is not about qualifications or letters after your name. Professionalism can only come when you are in a position to perform at a level which is seen as well beyond mediocre.
However, excluding word of mouth (the builder around the corner analogy), isn?t the area of project management crying out for some way of differentiating the good from the bad. Systems, such as those employed by the PMI and APM, are not sufficient. In many cases these seem to be more about economics than about promoting the ?profession?. For companies that are trying to recruit ?professionals?, shouldn?t there be a consistent checking process, maybe even a professional practicing license?
I know a lot of project managers (some qualified and some not) but I can?t see how people not involved in the trade (or profession!) can tell the wood from the trees. Saving Changes...
Like you I recognise that the emerging discipline of project management involves skills that I have used in a number of different organisations and situations over more years than I care to share.
But dispensing with the concept of PM Professionalisation may be throwing the baby out with the bathwater, to coin a phrase.
The trouble is there are many people out there claiming to be PM's and many of them wear pearl handled pistols in their cowboy suit. The challenge is to tell the professionals from the cowwboys and amateurs. Professional standards, as awkward as they may be, are an excellent way of doing this at a macro level.
In Australia, PM professional standards are strongly aligned to PMBOK standards so training and professional assessment is based on a framework that is identical to a best practice organisational methodology. The benefit is obvious - organisations have individual professional standards that directly link with their organisational practice and process standards.
Again, the benefit of supporting professionalisation and professional standards is the inherent visibility that this has, and the capacity of an organisation to plan and implement professional development programs that ultimately support its longer term project portfolio. Could they achieve this without professional standards - very doubtful - this is the 'grey zone' from which many good project organisations have emerged.
Like you I recognise that the emerging discipline of project management involves skills that I have used in a number of different organisations and situations over more years than I care to share.
But dispensing with the concept of PM Professionalisation may be throwing the baby out with the bathwater, to coin a phrase.
The trouble is there are many people out there claiming to be PM's and many of them wear pearl handled pistols in their cowboy suit. The challenge is to tell the professionals from the cowboys and amateurs. Professional standards, as awkward as they may be, are an excellent (relatively objective) of achieving this at a macro or organisational level.
In Australia, PM professional standards are strongly aligned to PMBOK standards so training and professional assessment is based on a framework that is identical to a best practice organisational methodology. The benefit is obvious - organisations have individual professional standards that directly link with their organisational practice and process standards.
Again, the benefit of supporting professionalisation and professional standards is the inherent visibility that this has, and the capacity of an organisation to plan and implement professional development programs that ultimately support its longer term project portfolio. Could they achieve this without professional standards - very doubtful - this is the 'grey zone' from which many good project organisations have emerged.
David Hudson
Saving Changes...
Andrew CotterellTransformation Manager| World Intellectual Property OrganisationGeneva, Switzerland
I believe with great conviction that project management is a profession and that it is in everyone's interests to treat it as such.
I also, however, agree with you, Don, that the current forms of certification are not sufficient. I have spent far more time than I would have liked in the company of people who were very well "qualified" or certified but who seemed unable to actually do the job.
Anyone care to join me in attempting to define a new form of professional assessment for project managers? Saving Changes...
Andrew,
Where would you start? Have the momentum of the PMI and APM, etc, meant that any attempt to define a new method will be seen as "same as except" or an attempt to jump on the same bandwagon (am I appearing as bitter and twisted?).
I would love to find a definitive system of sorting the good from the bad and ugly! Saving Changes...
