Transition to a Project Manager

tcfreer

tcfreer

tcfreer

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Ok, so i'm getting to the point were I want to make the final Career change for my self - and I want to settle in something that I'll be happy in and have constant 'challange' in.

From my exposure to it nothing seem's to hit the spot more then Project Management - now this is just my view and your mileage my differ.

So besides doing my Prince2 - what advice do you current PM's have in getting into this role?

I'm aware of Prince2, SixSigma Lean etc - though I don't have the offical bit of paper that say's you've passed them, but is there anything else?

And what's better - the relative saftey of being a Perm PM or the excitment of different companies and more exposure of being a Contract PM
 
tcfreer said:
So besides doing my Prince2 - what advice do you current PM's have in getting into this role?
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ask to get more involved in project management basically... see if you can be given a small project to run etc...

(this is assuming you're currently working on projects at the moment in some other role)
 
How much experience have you had working as part of a Project team or in a role related to project management?
 
That's why I asked, as, if you can focus your work more around it, the experience is most valuable. The cert is the box tick when it comes to getting a new gig, but they'd still want the experience. A fresh PMP/ Prince2 wouldn't make me think you could run my project but n years experience and the cert would.
 
What attracts you to project management?

I don't consider it a skilled role and in some ways it's easy. Doing course after course may not make one a good PM. It comes with experience. In my opinion you ideally need to be a great at multi-tasking. In the IT field I think that's one of the reasons more women exist in PM roles than in other IT roles. Must be able to manage expectations too, prioritise well etc.

I know many a techy who has ventured into Project Management only to be dying to get back into a skilled programming role again :)
 
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I Just took a job as a project engineer, the previous project engineer was promoted to project manager...that is how its done at my place.

The last place I worked had project managers. At best I would describe them as post men who can't make a technical decision, even if they are chartered engineers..
 
chris_h said:
The last place I worked had project managers. At best I would describe them as post men who can't make a technical decision, even if they are chartered engineers..
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They shouldn't need to, while relevant background in the domain they're working in is often helpful a PM manages projects not people, actual engineering managers, dev managers etc... make technical decisions and have technical people reporting to them.
 
Ok well my back ground is all MI, Reports and data - making sense of 'stuff' and providing s report that other people can use to make a decsion.

Project Exposure - well besides supplying data/ testing reports for projects, the only real exposure I have is a small ish project I did to move 300+ new users from one system to another. Few hurdles, such as getting a physical link in place to allow them to access the system, aswell as setting them up, putting people in place to train, provide the actual material to train them.

What draw's me to it - well in my current work place, we have 100's of PM's - and from my interaction's with them, none of them seem to have understand what they are working on. There very silo'd in there approach - it all about there project - full stop. It doesn't help us as a business, but when it's raised it's closed off as just 'thats the way we do this'
I don't think this should be the case at all, and I'd like to work my way up and prove that to be the case.

I'm not bothered about the increased pay, the extra responsabilties etc - they don't drive me. But knowing that I am trying to do the right thing and what seem's to be the right way does
 
well I think the first step is to speak to your boss and/or someone within the project office or equivalent about taking on some extra responsibility re: reporting etc.. on the next project you work on or being allowed to run with a small project. This doesn't have to entail you being given a PM role right a way but there is no reason why a reasonable company can't give you a shot at trying the role or part of it with a view to you possibly moving into a PM role.

I guess in some ways the certificate can help with this too, I wouldn't go overboard with certs but doing one will indicate interest and can be mentioned formally in annual reviews along with comments about how you'd like to progress to PM work - HR and your boss' boss read this stuff too.
 
^^ that's what I'd have said. Try and take on more project responsibilities while you're in where you are. Even project facilitator, or jnr pm, anything would help. You could ask your employer if they'd support your certification for Prince2 etc. that would further show your interest in the area.
 
I just started doing an online PRINCE2 course myself. As I am looking to move away from 1st line Service Desk. I am partially involved in a few small projects at work that I hope will give me the first taste of PM.

The course itself is around 12 months long and includes Foundation, Practitioner, Six Simga and ITIL (which I already have). I was lucky enough to have signed up to Groupon earlier this year, because a month later, I got an email saying I could get the course done for £99 instead of £2450!!!

Already told my team lead about all of this during my PDR and also spoken to people within our PMO team here at work and I am hoping to gather more work and get some kind of secondment going. It will be a task and a half, but if it beats talking to numpties on the phone on a daily basis, then I am game.

Good luck in your endeavours! :)
 
dowie said:
well I think the first step is to speak to your boss and/or someone within the project office or equivalent about taking on some extra responsibility re: reporting etc.. on the next project you work on or being allowed to run with a small project. This doesn't have to entail you being given a PM role right a way but there is no reason why a reasonable company can't give you a shot at trying the role or part of it with a view to you possibly moving into a PM role.

I guess in some ways the certificate can help with this too, I wouldn't go overboard with certs but doing one will indicate interest and can be mentioned formally in annual reviews along with comments about how you'd like to progress to PM work - HR and your boss' boss read this stuff too.
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This is it really.

The best way to start is usually in a PMO or Project Support role, assisting a PM first to get an understanding of the basics. You can then look to take on small Projects with some support and guidance from an experienced PM.
 
tcfreer said:
none of them seem to have understand what they are working on. There very silo'd in there approach - it all about there project - full stop. It doesn't help us as a business, but when it's raised it's closed off as just 'thats the way we do this'
I don't think this should be the case at all, and I'd like to work my way up and prove that to be the case.

I'm not bothered about the increased pay, the extra responsabilties etc - they don't drive me. But knowing that I am trying to do the right thing and what seem's to be the right way does
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This attitude may pose some challenges for you. Fundamentally, most organisations appoint a project manager to deliver a project, not to 'do the right thing' or help the business in general (although that should be an indirect consequence). To be successful many PMs will have to be silo'd on a vertical level, because if they start worrying too much about the bigger picture then it may negatively impact their project in some way (typically deviating too much from planned time/budget). So the approach many PMs will take is influenced by the organisation as much as their personal choice. Essentially it is not the role of the PM to run the wider business, there should be other people taking care of that and conceptually if there is sufficient project governance then the project should help to deliver towards overall business goals anyway.

Going back to the original question, I come from a similar background (Data/BI) and the approach I took was:
1) Studied Project Management at Postgraduate level
2) Stated my desire to my employer to make the transition and run some small projects
3) Took PRINCE2 Practitioner when offered by employer
4) Undertook PM role for a workstream (BI) within a wider project - this basically meant doing all the admin/reporting/planning and client liaison but not quite a full-blown PM role in terms of budgetary responsibility
5) Changed employer and subsequently stated ambitions in PDR
6) Offered PM role on a small-ish project relating to DWBI

I don't think you necessarily need to go via a junior PMO/Admin role, I guess it depends how senior you are currently as to whether that would be too much of a step down. Most people I see going that route are youngsters who went there as pretty much their first IT job.

As for whether PRINCE2 is valuable, it is in the sense that many employers (especially public sector) expect it. The actual material itself is very mixed and the number of organisations who strictly adhere to it is quite limited (in fact PRINCE2 itself suggests that organisations use a tailored approach if appropriate).
 
Cheers Guys - lots of realy valuable information there

Yeah I can see reading my post and yours @HangTime how it come across an your right indeed.

I've started looking out for PM Course's - I'm alos on Groupon so I'll pounce on it there.

I've a regular review with my manager tomorrow so I'll raise it there for certain.

Thanks everyone - i'll see were it leads :)
 
Just to expand on Hangtime's point really, not only is it not a PM's job to focus on everything all at once (the exact opposite actually, a project should have specific deliverables and the PM should focus there, because who else will?) but also if you are trying to improve things from top to bottom and you're not in an environment open to it you will drive yourself to distraction.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with exhibiting behaviours and doing the right thing yourself, but the second you start challenging processes, procedures and 'the way things are done' expect to get people's backs up. It's not a way to win friends at work.

I'm a service architect, that's what I do :D you won't win any popularity contests. Fortunately I do have a lot of managerial experience to fall back on, it really helps.
 
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