How to join us
Project Management, by Peter Simon
From Issue Six of our newsletter.
I have been working in project management since I graduated 27 years ago. My experience covers almost all industries and business sectors, from oil and gas, utilities and public sector to marketing and R&D; and I have worked in countries across the world including the UK, mainland Europe, the USA, the Middle East and South Africa.
Twenty-seven years on and one thing hasn’t changed - the role of the project manager. It is still the most important role on a project, so why, in most cases, is it so undervalued and so taken for granted? Can anyone really be a project manager? More to the point, can anyone be a project manager without any development or training in the role?
I believe that the answer to both of these questions is “no”. Recent studies have concluded that 30% of people do not have the aptitude or ability to become project managers - one in three people! So why is it that organisations continue to appoint project managers on the lazy basis that “you’re free and in the right place at the right time, so please can you manage this project?” The fact that “you” have never managed a project before is irrelevant, as is the fact that you have never been trained or developed.
I have recently undertaken some work with the UK’s Association for Project Management (APM) to establish methods and approaches for assessing an individual’s project management knowledge, capability and experience. Part of this has been putting together a career ladder for those who want to become a Professional Project Manager.
The UK, through APM, is leading the world in this initiative. The APM has established a four-tier accreditation ladder, starting with a basic understanding of project management (Introductory Certificate in Project Management) followed by a detailed understanding and some application of project management techniques at a broad level (the APMP), moving on to demonstrable capability of project management (Practitioner Qualification) and concluding with experience of managing a complex project (Certificated Project Manager). Many organisations are now adopting this structure as a means to accredit and develop its project managers and project management staff. Perhaps this will see the end of the “you’re free so you can do it” syndrome - but I doubt it. If you disagree, then I challenge you to think of a project that you know of or are involved in. Who is the project manager? Why are they the project manager? Is it like a project I came across recently where an organisation wanted to implement a new general ledger system so they appointed the assistant to the Chief Financial Accountant as project manager – a big mistake! Or another project to change the name of a company following acquisition, where a member of the corporate brand team who just happened to be available was appointed? Another big mistake!
I am currently working with many organisations across the whole spectrum of business and industry, from law firms to manufacturers of mobile phones, from insurance companies to major utilities. All have the same remit: “We need to improve the way we manage our projects because if we do we will save time, save money and - last but not least - deliver the benefits that we set out to achieve”. How can I achieve this? That’s easy: by making the organisations I work with:
Understand and believe that the role of the project manager is a role that not everybody can fulfil,
Understand and believe that the role needs development,
Appreciate what type of person is suitable to be a project manager,
Appreciate what personal characteristics, experience, attitudes, knowledge and skills a project manager needs to display competent behaviour in their job.
If I can do all this, then there is hope for the profession of project management.
Peter Simon was an elected member of the Association for Project Management’s Council (APM), 1998 - 2001, a member of APM’s Executive and Professional Boards and Chairman of the APM’s Risk SIG for four years. He was Project Manager and Managing Editor of the APM’s PRAM Guide published in October 1997.
Click here for a profile of Peter Simon.