Hello - I am currently working with a well-known reprographics company (read: old school hierarchy) as a PM/Account Manager. In this environment, my current boss has stonewalled all attempts on my part to begin using any sort of tracking system for our projects aside from email - he is deathly afraid of MS Project and anything Excel. After 18 months of no promotion and constant political sabotage, I am trying to find a new job. The problem I am running into is that most employers looking for PM's in IT are also looking for someone who can fix Flash files, code several languages, and a whole host of other engineering skills I do not have - I have managed these types of projects before including 3 years in London - but this seems like a lot to ask on top of client interfaceing skills, team building, risk management, and delivering a project on-time. Have I missed the boat while being employed in this wasteland? I have been taking classes and working towards my PMP cert, so I have the traditional PM skills, but am definintely concerned about this new turn on any IT related PM jobs I am seeing in the Los Angeles market. Saving Changes...
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Hi Allison, you say your boss has stonewalled all attempts on your part to begin using any kind of a tracking system. It is likely that he has his reasons. Rather than "pushing" on the tool side, have you tried "pulling" on the process side? What I mean is this; start the discussion with your boss along the lines of simply "documenting" your existing process for managing and tracking projects. Seek to mature from your current ad hoc approach to a defined methodology. Be sure to include a post project continuous improvement step so that lessons learned and other improvement opportunities are acted upon rather than filed and forgotten. Don't confuse defining your existing process with suggesting a new process or a new tool. Even if your entire project management and tracking is performed using email, so be it. Once you have defined your PM methodology, then you and others can submit improvement suggestions and solve performance issues based upon real evidence and experiences. Also, it might be useful to know how your peer reprographics firms go about project management and project tracking. It never hurts to compare yourself to your same-class peer organizations. And what about the performance objectives that your boss has? Can you position, if not justify your proposals, based upon ways to help your boss attain or exceed his objectives? To know what is right and be able to make it happen is a skill that will serve one well in any organization, yet many PMs struggle in this area. Before leaving your company, you might consider another try. Regarding technical skills, it does not hurt to have a technical skill or two whether programming or application-based in addition to generic PM skills. There are a number of PMI chapters in the LA area and often times the local PMI chapters announce open PM positions at the various dinner meetings. You might consider joining one or more of them. Very best of luck! -- Mark Perry, VP of Customer Care, BOT International Saving Changes...
