One of the things that makes me wonder is when people introduce themselves as a project manager and you start talking to them about project management and then you realise they are not real project managers.
In fact the title of PM is very clearly defined.
1. The project must be controlled using a recognised project management methodology which varies by nature of Project, Country & Industry.
2. A PM does not define a project, only controls it. The PM controls only three aspects, time, cost & quality. The project is defined by the project board or consultant. If your project has no board, you are not a PM in the industry definition of the term. You are just a care taker.
For those that mange projects, it has to be one of the best jobs; every day is different, the achievement when a project goes well is fantastic (if not rare) and the way you have to deal with so many different people with different agenda makes it one of the most challenging. Change is a VERY difficult thing to accomplish - particularly on large organizations. Sometimes these projects don't go the way the owners wanted and get negative feedback. Thus PM become the scapegoats, though its not his creation and the (wrong) RFP was written by a "so-called" expert. However this is part of risk management and should be used accordingly. It is one of the few jobs that if done well goes unnoticed; the project was delivered on time and within budget that is expected and its not due to him. Projects get noticed when they go wrong and PM gets the credit for the failure. As non-technical (MBA) lobby is tirelessly trying to establish the notion - The secret to success is knowing who to blame. They are still not ready to take any lessons from this recession which happend because of this ostrich like approach of managers and decision makers.
I have also found Project manager to be a abused and misused term. I’ve been a project manager, technical specialist, QA/QC expert. I found that 90% of people don’t want change in their workplace, usually because it will adversely affect them. Situation becomes very alarming if there are people on client side who themselves don't want project to succeed as it may make them redundant (common in gov. projects). Contrary to that a failed/delayed project is good for their blame game approach. A project always creates change and rarely for the good for the people who are having it done to them by changing the status quo and throwing new challenges.
The term “project manager” is deliberately misconstrued by people who overestimate the earning potential of project managers. They wish to have associated with the term & include it on their CV as they think that this will a. get them a better paid job & b. give them some kudos by telling others they are a PM. I personally know many persons who following a project management awareness course or certificate course (few classes of powerpoint “this is a project” etc and online tests) added PM to their CV and started applying for PM jobs.
A project manager needs to be very good at pleasing everyone; they are blamed from all sides ehen the project is late/ over budget. Most of the times scope of work (SoW), time frames and budgets are unrealistic. Then there is the SoW and methods that the resources ( just hired in hurry) don’t understand and the sponsor (guy with the money) keeps changing because he started to understand SoW only when first delivery was made and invoice sent. You as the project manager have to deliver it to the same time frames and budget. Now who wants to be a Project Manager? Answer is obvious and thats the reason we see so many troubled projects and consequently co.s also?
In fact the title of PM is very clearly defined.
1. The project must be controlled using a recognised project management methodology which varies by nature of Project, Country & Industry.
2. A PM does not define a project, only controls it. The PM controls only three aspects, time, cost & quality. The project is defined by the project board or consultant. If your project has no board, you are not a PM in the industry definition of the term. You are just a care taker.
For those that mange projects, it has to be one of the best jobs; every day is different, the achievement when a project goes well is fantastic (if not rare) and the way you have to deal with so many different people with different agenda makes it one of the most challenging. Change is a VERY difficult thing to accomplish - particularly on large organizations. Sometimes these projects don't go the way the owners wanted and get negative feedback. Thus PM become the scapegoats, though its not his creation and the (wrong) RFP was written by a "so-called" expert. However this is part of risk management and should be used accordingly. It is one of the few jobs that if done well goes unnoticed; the project was delivered on time and within budget that is expected and its not due to him. Projects get noticed when they go wrong and PM gets the credit for the failure. As non-technical (MBA) lobby is tirelessly trying to establish the notion - The secret to success is knowing who to blame. They are still not ready to take any lessons from this recession which happend because of this ostrich like approach of managers and decision makers.
I have also found Project manager to be a abused and misused term. I’ve been a project manager, technical specialist, QA/QC expert. I found that 90% of people don’t want change in their workplace, usually because it will adversely affect them. Situation becomes very alarming if there are people on client side who themselves don't want project to succeed as it may make them redundant (common in gov. projects). Contrary to that a failed/delayed project is good for their blame game approach. A project always creates change and rarely for the good for the people who are having it done to them by changing the status quo and throwing new challenges.
The term “project manager” is deliberately misconstrued by people who overestimate the earning potential of project managers. They wish to have associated with the term & include it on their CV as they think that this will a. get them a better paid job & b. give them some kudos by telling others they are a PM. I personally know many persons who following a project management awareness course or certificate course (few classes of powerpoint “this is a project” etc and online tests) added PM to their CV and started applying for PM jobs.
A project manager needs to be very good at pleasing everyone; they are blamed from all sides ehen the project is late/ over budget. Most of the times scope of work (SoW), time frames and budgets are unrealistic. Then there is the SoW and methods that the resources ( just hired in hurry) don’t understand and the sponsor (guy with the money) keeps changing because he started to understand SoW only when first delivery was made and invoice sent. You as the project manager have to deliver it to the same time frames and budget. Now who wants to be a Project Manager? Answer is obvious and thats the reason we see so many troubled projects and consequently co.s also?
