I was talking to a colleague recently and we started talking about what would we consider to be our greatest success so far as a Project Manager and it made me wonder: What is yours?
Mine is: Taking on a failing project and turning it around. I was working with an awesome team who went above and beyond to get things rectified and back on track.
So tell me? What is your greatest success as a Project Manager? Saving Changes...
Jerry DolvinManager Program Manager| FlightSafety InternationalSaint Peters, Mo, United States
The happy realization that the same PMP processes and tools can be applied to any endeavor with repeated success! If you are a PMP practitioner, then you must know that any company or industry is desperate to make you part of their team!
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1 reply by Emily Luijbregts
Aug 03, 2017 2:01 PM
Emily Luijbregts
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That's a great one! I really like that showing that i'm a PMP gives an instant level of expertise to prospective employers.
Saving Changes...
Deepa KalangiManager, Program Management, Author, Trainer| CVS HealthCharlotte, NC, United States
Great topic Emily. Mine is also similar to yours. I am able to successfully deliver most chaotic, complex, large scale, projects on time and on budget while still being called a good Project Manager:-) Saving Changes...
Seeing unexpected or unplanned benefits come out of a project.
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1 reply by Emily Luijbregts
Aug 03, 2017 2:02 PM
Emily Luijbregts
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That's a really great one! Have you seen that a lot?
Saving Changes...
Ramachandran SwaminathanRegional Delivery Manager| Oracle Consulting IndiaBangalore, Karnataka, India
I was PM of a large migration project, where the team scattered across all over the globe. You had people in India, US(here again at different locations and timezone), Hungary and other places. We were working on brand new technology which was kind of untested because no-one else had worked. The client was operating a mission critical system and couldnt afford more than 4-5 hrs of production downtime for migration to new system
Challenges - Untested technology, Team scattered across globe in different time zone, dependency of one team's work on other team, mission critical production system and more.Everyone in the client as well as our organization was very apprehensive of these risks
I had just done my PMP a few months earlier. I realized we need to have a solid project plan with all dependencies,timezone differences, holidays correct effort estimates chalked into it. Fortunately I had a very knowledgeable, enthusiastic team with me. We got into tons of meetings/calls within a span of 4-5 days and started drafting a plan in MSP. Again had multiple discussions with all of the teams and got their feedback and adjusted the plan. Got it reviewed with client as well and all went well. The project was supposed to of 3-4 months of duration.
Preparing the project plan was not as difficult as making all the stakeholders understand the details in it and what are the critical activities and what is the contribution of the respective teams sitting in different places.
The 1st Twist:
The new environment provisioning was delayed by 2-3 weeks and my team was in a waiting mode.
The 2nd Twist:
The plan was frozen, but I had put my papers and moved out of my organization in that 2-3 weeks. I felt like I need to stay on and finish this challenging task, but I had got a better role outside and needed to move on
3rd Twist:
Within 1-2 months of me moving out, I heard that the senior most lead in my team who contributed a lot to the plan also moved out
After 4 months, I got a call from my team member informing that the project has gone-live as per plan and there was only a delay of 1 week which was becasue the client was not ready. He wanted to thank me for putting in place a well defined plan which was really appreciated by the client and internal stakeholders. I also felt proud at that time and this was one of the defining moments in my PM career. I missed the success party in the end, but was very happy about the appreciation from my team mebers Saving Changes...
Mark EckmanSenior Project Manager, PMP| VeoliaEmporia, Va, United States
Greatest success as a PM would have to be the implementation of better risk management processes that have now become adopted standards within my organization.
Having a formal risk management plan is essential to project success and it took a lot of effort to convince my organization that the extra time and cost spent on risk management would pay big dividends in the long run.
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1 reply by Emily Luijbregts
Aug 03, 2017 2:08 PM
Emily Luijbregts
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This is one thing that really motivates me as a Project Manager. When I see an organisation adapt and take suggestions and improvements on board for processes and when it really works.
The happy realization that the same PMP processes and tools can be applied to any endeavor with repeated success! If you are a PMP practitioner, then you must know that any company or industry is desperate to make you part of their team!
That's a great one! I really like that showing that i'm a PMP gives an instant level of expertise to prospective employers. Saving Changes...
Greatest success as a PM would have to be the implementation of better risk management processes that have now become adopted standards within my organization.
Having a formal risk management plan is essential to project success and it took a lot of effort to convince my organization that the extra time and cost spent on risk management would pay big dividends in the long run.
This is one thing that really motivates me as a Project Manager. When I see an organisation adapt and take suggestions and improvements on board for processes and when it really works.
Great example Mark! Saving Changes...
MAURICIO B. MEJIA S.C.Project Manager| ARCOSA / MEYER Utility StructuresFort Worth - TX, United States
Applying PM methodology (PMBOK) into portfolio management the team was able to meet the expected results for two years in a row, and the third year we surpassed expectations.
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1 reply by Emily Luijbregts
Aug 03, 2017 3:58 PM
Emily Luijbregts
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That's an impressive achievement! Was it just applying PMBOK rules or also other changes that you made?
Applying PM methodology (PMBOK) into portfolio management the team was able to meet the expected results for two years in a row, and the third year we surpassed expectations.
That's an impressive achievement! Was it just applying PMBOK rules or also other changes that you made?
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1 reply by MAURICIO B. MEJIA S.C.
Aug 03, 2017 4:03 PM
MAURICIO B. MEJIA S.C.
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Mostly implementing control techniques and a lot of team work... engaging project managers all the time to know their problems and work on the solutions... a lot of involvement in the actual work work "on the field": visiting locations, talking with many of the team workers. And mostly being aware of many of the company processes, meaning being involved with the procurement department, the financing department, the legal department, etc.
