I currently "manage" what would have to be classified as very small software developement projects. 1 analyst, usually me, 1 or 2 developers a tester and working very closely with analysts and end users at client sites. I track the progress on baselined project plans, liase constantly with customers, monitor requirements, design solutions, lead small team meetings and so on.
The company I work for is paying quite a bit of attention to process improvement and project management, however due to some substantial structural changes in the company, merges etc, I do not have a formal job description as yet. This is because I originally worked at a very small company where "we all did everything" and we were taken over by the current company. I am seeing this as a good thing and grabbing opportunities to learn new things and new ways.
Should my career not work out at this company however I would be very hesitant to put myself on the market as a project manager because I have no formal acknowledgement that this is my role and lack confidence that what I am doing would be seen by other prospetive employers as fully fledged PM.
What sort of things should I be doing to ensure that my claim to have PM experience is in fact true, and that experience is worthwhile? Saving Changes...
Frank WintersPhotographer and ConservationistSandwich, Ma, United States
Be honest. It sounds like you are completely justified in calling yourself a lead developer or team lead. These positions are good stepping stones to project management. Another approach to honesty is to call yourself a developer who has had responsiblity for comlete project delivery.
Its important to figure out what your expertise and professional identity is, then use terms that capture that. Of course gettting some professional PM training would also be a good thing -- if you really want to head in that direction. If you are an excellent developer don't be overly eager to leave development and become a ft manager, it might not be your cup of tea. Saving Changes...
I seem to spend a lot of time agreeing with emails from Frank, and this is another instance.
What separates PM from a Team Leader. Several things!
Firstly ... Title. What does you organisation call your position? Even if it is PM, look at criteria 2 and 3 below before getting too excited...
Secondly .. Breadth of role. Do you have complete accountability for all nine functions in the PMBOK model, or are you primarily responsible for delivering a technical deliverable to time, cost and quality requirements within a broader plan.
Thirdly ... Scale. This tends to be definitional and perhaps a little semantic. But a number of companies that I am familiar with are keen to differentiate three levels of project work assignment. Level 1: Job Level, short term activities with a tight deliverable range, involving primarily time, cost and quality management. Level 2: Run-of-Shop Projects. Activities that do involve full project management, but are considerable in the small - medium band of complexity, duration, scope etc. These can be allocated primarily on experience, and can usefully serve as the basis of PM skills development....
Level 3: Strategic Projects. Long term, large scale, high risk and/or complex projects which require significant project management skills and are generally allocated only to experienced and accredited PM's.
I endorse Frank's advice... Be modest in your assessment of the role for the moment... seek additional opportunities and mentoring in PM ... and seek opportunities for fomal training and accreditation. Along the way it will be obvious to you when the time has come to hang out the PM shingle....
But good luck in the journey and congratulations on having the insight to ask the question anyway...
I believe you are a project manager if you are performing or actively managing the performance of project management processes, procedures and tasks.
This includes but is not limited to Project planning and estimation, project scheduling and tracking, project review & reporting at a project and steering level, issue, change, defect and budget management, team management, stakeholder, dependency and interface management.
I am tired of performing all of these tasks on 9-12 month projects plus often the business analysis role however I have to justify why I believe I am the project manager.
Too often I am stuck with a "figure head" project manager, often someone with no project management experience at all, that I as "not the project manager" still have to perform all the project management tasks and then report to the so called project manager just like I report to members of the steering committee.
Usually, this is because of some ridiculous reason like I can't possible have the term "manager" in my role as that may upset the world as we know it.
So if you are doing all the project management on projects, then you are a project manager.
If your projects are very high profile, large budget and high risk then you are probably a senior project manager or a project director.
If your projects are smaller, lower profile, budget and risk, then you are a project manager.
But lets get rid of the "figure head" project managers that do nothing but waltz into the steering committee with their clipboard, add little to discussions and then waltz out with no actions.
In Corporate America today, there's no such thing as "career path". 32 of the 50 states are "employment at will" states, what this means is that the company can terminate the employee or contract person without having to justify the termination. I recently worked for a client in Omaha, NE that regularly hired away perm staff from competing local companies, then terminated these folks 2 months later.
What happens at most companies, is that a person gets stuck at the upper end of his or her grade level and has nowhere else to go within the organization. Then after 7 years or more, management looks at this person's high salary and benefits, and terminates the person as a cost cutting measure, despite wonderful yearly reviews. In many instances, the American is replaced by a H1B from India or China at a 50% costs savings to the company.
So, the bottom line is that if you can't move up, you move out quickly AND CREATE YOUR OWN CAREER PATH. The first thing you do when you get a new job is update your resume and start preparing yourself for the next opportunity.
Saving Changes...
Anonymous
"...many instances, the American is replaced by a H1B from India or China at a 50% costs savings to the company..."
This is not true. The salary has to be in the market-range, approved by the government. It might be lower than an American counterpart's, but when you add the sponsorship expenses, it usually evens out. Saving Changes...
Pure Texas bull -> The salary has to be in the market-range, approved by the government. It might be lower than an American counterpart's, but when you add the sponsorship expenses, it usually evens out. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Tom, I suggest you fix your attitude. We are not here to read your slashdot-propaganda.
The INA sets forth procedures for employers wishing to employ H-1B nonimmigrant workers. To obtain H-1B status approval, the employer must first file a Labor Condition Application (LCA), Form ETA 9035 or ETA 9035E, with the Department of Labor. The employer must state that it will:
Pay the nonimmigrant workers at least the local prevailing wage or the employer's actual wage, whichever is higher; pay for non-productive time in certain circumstances; and offer benefits on the same basis as for U.S. workers;
The only attitude that needs fixing is yours, Mr. Anonymous. The DoL does not resources to properly administer this program, I know for a fact that there's 1000s of H1Bs working illegally at major corporations while millions of Americans walk the street unemployed. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
This is becoming off-topic so I'm afraid I won't be able to help you to ruin the discussion. I go by facts, and I gave the facts. So respond only if you have something relevant that can count as a fact. If you want to flame, do it elsewhere. Saving Changes...
The facts are that H1Bs have driven 1000s of red blooded Americans into homelessness. This is not a skill issue, but about pure money and greed. Americans can not compete with folks willing to work a half price, plus put an additional 10 to 20 hours a week for free. Saving Changes...
