In my line of work as a project manager, I invariably get a calls from recruiters for a prospective job opening. Most of them are disappointed after speaking to me when they find out that I am a consulting project manager and not open to employment. It is probably my fault because I have not advertised as some on LinkedIn do indicating they are owners of firms. I did not add it to my profile as in my opinion the title of owner does not add value to what services I provide or add to my skill sets.

I also get frequent calls from the major recruiters inquiring if I knew of a project manager and what I understand from these conversations is that project managers are hard to find and especially experienced project managers who have the skill to navigate through the minefield of expectations from the various stakeholders and team members. The project management industry is beset by a shortage of skillful experienced project mangers.

The reason why experienced and skillful project management professional are hard to find is as it takes years of experience in the field as projects mangers develops skill required to manage a project successfully. The body of knowledge of project management set the stage to manage a project but it is the years of experience in the field that provides the PM the skills to manage a project successfully. Organisations need to give project managers with few years of experience room to grow their skill sets- learning on the job is what creates experienced project managers. Experience by learning by intuition on the job.

In this slow-growth economy we in every organisation are focused on survival than trying to spend time to provide opportunities and time for their budding project managers to develop the skills. This is why you see in many organization the entrance door keeps revolving all the time bringing in PMs and flushing them out regularly. Recruiting, nurturing and retaining talent is central to ensuring quality project management. Organisations need to pay much more attention to training as projects fail organisations lose money and market share. 

There is school of thought in the project management world that if you mind the store - keep track of the process and call regular progress meetings that the project will get delivered. The context of the projects is always changing and project leaders need to evolve leadership styles to suit each new permutation of the project type. The ability to anticipate, identify and react positively are increasingly sought-after qualities in project manager while willing to depart from a “linear approach to delivery”.

“It can be very easy to fall into the trap of believing that process is everything in project management “Says Steve McGuckin, global property managing director for consultancy Turner & Townsend. Successful project managers must combine technical skills and knowledge with the interpersonal qualities to lead multiple projects and large group of people successfully.

Project management is both an art and a science, according to Phil Dunmore, head of consulting at Cognizant.

The “art” of project delivery is the human side of the project delivery that requires the subtle skills of persuasion and social dexterity. Project leaders maintaining a productive, ongoing dialogue between stakeholders throughout the project life cycle clearing the road for better project delivery.

The “science” of project delivery is knowing leveraging analytical thinking, articulate ideas / issues and numeracy to handle the technical and financial aspect of the project while being able to “deviate from the script” and not stick rigidly to templates when the context of the project changes.

Project management is more than managing – Project Management is the ability to lead things that may have never been done before, and against the backdrop of an evolving, changing context - it is delivering a complete client project delivery experience The complete project delivery experience is achieved through:

Understand the business drivers behind the project

Identifying the project objectives and meet it

Navigate it through the life-cycle of the project

Incubate a shared vision of success for the whole project team.

Adjusting to the changing context of the project

Signposting regularly what has been achieved & what remains to be done

Project management professionals must be leaders, who can bring experience to the project while he or she inspire, motivate, negotiate and communicate – a good listener to be successful. Experienced project leaders therefore, must be communicators and ingratiaters who can make quick and clear-minded decisions in the middle of changing context of the project and respond extremely quickly to competition, customers and market dynamics.

What has been your experience in project management? I would love to hear from you.

I do write on Enhancing Client Experience; Project Management; The Untethered Workplace – The Future of Work & the Workplace of the Future and on Disrupting the AEC industry.

 To read more on these subject go the Blog page on our website: www.optumplus.com.