Results tagged “Cyndee Miller” from Voices on Project Management

We've been getting a major dose of the future with the release of PMI's Project Management Circa 2025. And even though it does seem a little odd to be envisioning what a profession will look like when some of its future practitioners are only about 10 years old right now, some of the shifts are already happening.

Just in the past few years, we've watched sustainability become ingrained in projects. Or as Anne Larilahti, head of the environmentally sustainable business program at Nokia Siemens Networks, so eloquently put it in a sustainability panel at congress last week, companies are going to start considering the planet as "a stakeholder in its own right."

Dave Prior, PMP, of Valtech, bemoaned the lack of any new project management tool since the emergence of critical chain--before Google, the iPod or the Agile Manifesto.

"Our entire profession has been spun on its head--that demands new tools," he said.

For him, that means mashups--"blending things that don't necessarily go together to make something better." He cited Danger Mouse's The Gray Album that blended The Beatles and Jay-Z, but argued that it's not just for hipsters. Mr. Prior, for example, relies on his own mix of the Art of War, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai and A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide), with a dash of agile.

He also talked about teams collaborating and using tweets, yamms and IMs for status reports because they all offer built-in meeting minutes.

Some of the Circa 2025 authors also offered up some predictions:

Dorothy Tiffany, PMP, predicted even more virtual offices and a lessons learned database "that comes to you instead of you going to it." Like iTunes offers up songs you might like, the project database would track data that details what your project is going through, and offer solutions and recommendations based on past initiatives.

David Pells, PMP, PMI Fellow, spotted new opportunities in emerging fields. Nanotechnology, for example, will "require many programs and projects with new dimensions of complexity." The transition to alternative energy also will "require a lot of investment--and a lot of programs and projects." And climate change is another big field, "affecting everything from agriculture to tourism." Project management hasn't traditionally been embraced in scientific developments, he said, but there needs to be more multidisciplinary collaboration.

Tim Jaques, PMP and Jonathan Weinstein, PMP, made several predictions about the future of project management at the state level. For example, megaprojects would span state lines, and project management offices would start operating more and more at the state level.

Project managers are in for some big changes. Coming in on schedule and within budget is all well and good--but it's not enough.

That's been the running mantra for a while now, but it seems to be gaining even more traction as Harold Kerzner, PhD, explained in the first-ever closing session at a PMI global congress in North America.

"Time and cost used to drive all decisions," said Dr. Kerzner, senior executive director, project management at the International Institute for Learning Inc. "Now we're saying, 'Wait a minute, are we providing value?'"

Without that, the project will be axed.

"If management doesn't see how a project will deliver a value, that project will be canceled even if it's meeting time and budget constraints," he said.

Not all constraints have equal value, Dr. Kerzner said.

That's quite a mind shift for project managers--and it's going to take a whole new skill set.

Indeed, Dr. Kerzner boldly predicted earned value management will be "obsolete very shortly," upstaged by value measurement methodologies that consider intangibles such as goodwill or reputation.

And while a mastery of technical knowledge use to suffice, that's now considered "old school."

"Project managers must understand business," he told the crowd.

They will also need an understanding of politics, culture/religion, stakeholders and people. And Dr. Kerzner predicted a new wave of certifications in complex projects, virtual teams, cultural differences and morality and ethics.

Project managers who go in armed with those skills will find a receptive audience in the executive crowd.

"The biggest change in the last several years has been in senior management support of project management," he said. "Senior management no longer views project management as a career path. It is now viewed as a strategic competence necessary for survival of the company."

Do you agree with Dr. Kerzner? Are you seeing increased demand for business understanding--or should project managers stick to what they do best?

I had a boss once who was constantly telling me to "think outside the box" and to "push the envelope." It made me want to scream. Seriously.

I'm not doubting the importance of innovation. Indeed, it's the best way to for companies to break out of a slump. But there's something about the subject that makes people talk in a constant stream of mind-numbing and hazy clichés.

So it was with slight trepidation that we started in on the October issue of PM Network®, completely devoted to innovation.

What we found, though, is a lot of companies--and project managers working at those companies--with solid examples of projects and processes that are truly cutting-edge.

In our Case by Case section, we take a deep dive into four projects to show how innovation can take many forms. Sure, IBM's 3-D avatars were the kind of super cool, whiz-bang technology that screams innovation.  But the team also backed it up with truly innovative processes.

Let's face it, some people think all of the processes that go along with project management just get in the way of innovation. But it can actually facilitate it.

"The crux of the issue is how do you right-size project management without squashing the innovative process. It's a delicate balance that exists between the two extremes," says Andy Bowen, who's working on a submarine project and was featured in the magazine's The End Result column.

And in our Voices on Project Management PM Network column, David Gardner from Facebook talks about the need to for clear communications and sophisticated scheduling. But he also acknowledges the need to have a little fun--even as you roll out a bleeding-edge technology.

Tell us what you think.

No one knows project management better than you, the practitioners in the trenches. For months, you've been weighing in on the blog.

Well, here's your chance to have your voice heard in PM Network.

Every month, the magazine will run a Voices on Project Management column. Project managers will share ideas, experiences and opinions on everything from trends to new methods of doing things.

If you're interested in contributing, please e-mail us your idea.

Check out the debut column by Peter Taylor, PMP, weighing in on the pressure for PMOs to perform in tough economic times.

For project managers out of work or just looking to change gigs, the recession and job cutbacks have made the competition tough. John Thorpe, managing director of Arras People, a project management recruiting firm in London, England, offers some tips for landing your dream job.

1. Focus on you, not your projects. Many people make the mistake of ticking off all their successful projects rather than talking about how they contributed to that success. "People are interested in what you did," he says. "You could have been serving coffee on that project. But if you made the difference in a project's outcome, be loud and proud about it."

2. Experience trumps training. Hiring managers are most interested in a proven track record. Mr. Thorpe suggests you put project experience front and center.

3. Market yourself. Your résumé is your sales literature and you have to sell your experience and education in a way that speaks to the person doing the hiring. "A generic CV is not going give you the best chance, particularly in this economy when hiring is tighter and roles are much more specific," Mr. Thorpe says. He suggests tweaking your résumé for each job, emphasizing your experience in a way that specifically relates to the position you are applying for.

4. Keep it short and sweet. Recruiters have hundreds of résumés to sort through. If yours is 17 pages long, they're likely to pass it by. "You have to grab their attention in the first half of the page or you are not going to make the cut," he says.

5. Consider contract work. Many companies are opting for temporary employees to fill gaps in staff without making a long-term commitment. For those with the right skills, contract gigs can garner decent wages and help you get your foot in the door.

6. Go to networking events. A lot of jobs never even get advertised, so it pays to network. It's a time-consuming but necessary part of the search, he says. "Finding a job is a job. You need to work hard at it and commit yourself full time."

Want to know where the hotspots are even in a down market? We've got it covered PMI's Career Track in the May issue of PM Network. We will also have stories on making time for training and moving up the career ladder.

And in the 10 April issue of Community Post, PMI members can check out an article on how to highlight your credential when you are jobhunting.