Head to the nearest bar?
Do nothing and hope for the best?

Or … implement a cunning plan that saves the day (Editor’s Note: Then head to the nearest bar, right?)

This blog is about what to do if you choose the cunning plan route, inspired by real life response to those inevitable banana skins. It’s far from an exhaustive list and I would love to hear your “Plan Bs”.

1 – HAVE A FAILURE SOLID RECOVERY PLAN

Remember the movie Finding Nemo? You’ll recall the Tank Gang’s escape from the dental surgery fish tank back to the ocean, and having reached the sea, all in plastic bags, Bloat the pufferfish says, “Now what?”

Be sure to follow for more highbrow cultural references, by the way!

Simple truth: Most IT project fails that don’t recover also do not have a “Now What” strategy, and most that do have a well thought out contingency plan tend to reset and deliver successfully.

IT Project leader Andy from London has a plan. He calls it his HOW> WHY> WHAT> WHO> WHERE plan. These are the questions he asks when enacting his reboot plan:

HOW?
How did we get here? This is not a witch hunt, focus on aims not blames – as Andy says).
How can we quickly reset? Sometimes identifying what went wrong presents you with how to put things right, like missing the motorway slip road – you can take the next and replot your course.

WHY?
Why did we start the project in the first place? Checking in with the clear purpose you set out with can quickly put you back on course. It also ensures that everyone is on the same page at a critical time for your project! In fact, it’s a good idea to reaffirm your project’s “why” even when it isn’t failing (Andy says it’s like reminding yourself “why” you’re doing dry January when you’re not in the drinks aisle – you’re less likely to pick up a Sauvignon Blanc after a hard day!)

WHAT?
What’s the chances of success? Occasionally, the smartest choice is to kill a failing project. Few things hinder organisational success more than wasting time, money and human resources on efforts that no longer align with strategic goals, so, if the return on investment isn’t justified, it’s a key leadership duty to cut your losses and reallocate resources to more impactful initiatives.
If you do proceed …
What are you going to consciously do differently? It’s so easy to slip back into the habits that caused the problem in the first place.

WHO?
1 – Seek input from everyone involved in the project, not just the main stakeholders. Valuable insights can often come from those who offer a broader view or a fresh perspective.

2 – Involve all stakeholders responsible for the work when redefining timelines, scope, cost, etc. Many projects rail because they began with unrealistic expectations, often because key contributors were left out at the planning stage. Avoid repeating that mistake by ensuring inclusive and thorough collaboration from the beginning of the reboot.

3 – Create a framework for accountability where everyone actively recommits to their responsibilities, Malc says it’s like refreshing wedding vows. His team affirm their responsibilities verbally and handwrite them in a spiral notebook. Why pen them over typing? Andy says, “Handwriting them is a trick picked up from Sterling Mire’s book, The AOM System, when we handwrite things like goals or commitments, we digest them into our subconscious way better than if we type them.”

Accountability that is transparent and accessible to the whole enterprise leaves nowhere to hide.

WHERE?
Where do we go from here? Before you take one step forward you need to have this nailed. If the project team overlooked critical steps, now is the time to ensure they don’t do that again, or maybe you need to redefine and strengthen the project’s business case, refine requirements, or establish a more realistic timeline – having failed once, the blueprint for the next phase must be 100% perfect, your foundations solid before proceeding.

Where else could our findings be impactful? Beyond just this project, take this opportunity for introspection to evaluate other ongoing projects across the portfolio – could you copy/paste discoveries here to improve project elsewhere in your estate?

Proactively set all current and future projects up for success by internalising your learning and findings from this project to prevent the need for future rescue efforts!

2 – BE OPEN TO NEW WAYS TO DO THINGS

Often it can be a calamity that opens your eyes to new ways of managing and delivering your projects. For an industry that excels at change management, we do like our “that’s how we do things” mindset!

Recently, a new client discovered PMaaS (Project Management as a Service) when they were forced out of, what they referred to as their “contractor comfort zone”. Projects were backing up, putting pressure on their inhouse and outsourced talent pools but delaying the latest project was not an option. They Googled “talent for IT projects” and minutes later they were calling 01623 723910 with questions like “Can PMaaS supply a single Project Manager for a few days?”; “Can PMaaS provide a large team of project professionals?”; “Can Stoneseed flex to meet our demand schedules?” (Yes, yes and yes, by the way).

This route is more common than you’d think, when project leaders are forced into new ways of talent resourcing, like PMaaS, they often enjoy its flexibility and control so much that it becomes their go to resourcing model. They realise quite quickly that the model that helped them out of the mess can also be used to prevent them getting into similar messes in the future.

An urgent PMaaS engagement can inspire a client to calmly reassess their PMO (Project management Office) arrangements with us when things quieten down.

A project that begins to fail due to misaligned business case can lead to greater care when producing business cases in the future. Stoneseed’s BAaaS will provide Business Analysts for production of a business case for an IT Project, but also requirements gathering or data analysis to help with project implementation, BAaaS can be tailored to your specific requirement!

Check out Stoneseed’s range of “as a Service” opportunities here.

3 – BE AWAKE TO OPPORTUNISTIC DELIVERABLES

The Post-It note, the tea bag, ice cream cones, the microwave oven, saccharin, x-rays, penicillin, Play-Doh, Teflon, the pacemaker, corn flakes, super glue, dynamite, Viagra, anaesthesia, matches, Velcro, chocolate chip cookies, potato crisps … what do all these have in common?

No, they’re not things you’ll find in the middle aisle of Lidl this week!!

They were all invented or discovered by accident! All examples of when “Plan A” goes wrong – the resultant “Plan B” can be even better – BUT YOU HAVE TO BE AWAKE TO SPOT THE POTENTIAL DELIVERABLES.

Twitter, X now, started as a podcasting idea and look at it now! (Actually, best to look at it a few years ago, but you take my point!!)

There are lots of new opportunities that arise when projects go AWOL, take care not to be so focussed on the salvage mission that you miss out on the potential wider wins.

It’s more than just spotting side-hustle opportunities though, Toria is a Project Leader who swears by this approach and says that it helps “repair the damaged project” too. She told me, “Mindset is key when a project starts to disappear into an abyss. It’s too easy to concentrate on the negatives but that can send you into a downward spiral. Our team is used to looking for the potential positives that could come out it. This trains your brain to stay positive, always, and attract into your mind just happy conclusions.”
Lastly – and this may be my favourite…

4 – REVERSAL OF STRESSED

A client, that I visited recently, has a white wicker basket of chocolate bars and biscuits in the kitchen that are there specifically for when things go wrong.
I love the words that are written on the Post-It note (appropriately) that is sticky taped to the basket: “DESSERTS IS STRESSED REVERSED”.

The thinking is that, rather than leaping to instinctive crisis resolution, you make yourself a brew, p-p-p-pick up a Penguin (to dunk, right?!), and sit and have a proper think about your options.

Makes sense … cup of tea … a chocolate hit … call to Stoneseed. Makes everything better!
I’d love to hear the steps you take when things go wrong with IT Projects – do get in touch!

And if you need help with a wayward project, I’d especially love to take your call on 01623 723910 but remember, PMaaS isn’t just an emergency service or first responder. Stoneseed’s “as a Service” facilities can help you better plan and more efficiently deliver your projects too.

More about Project Management as a Service from Stoneseed

Source:
www.goethe.de/prj/mis/en/mit/tte.html
science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/inventions/15-of-the-coolest-accidental-inventions.htm

The post An IT project leader’s guide to rebooting a failing IT project: post-its, PMaaS, possibilities and p-p-p-enguins! appeared first on Project Accelerator News.

Some experts in techniques such as PRINCE2, PMI and APM project management believe that too much emphasis is put on the need for extroverts to be leaders, and this is a fact that is borne out by around 96% of business leaders falling into this category. Of course, extroverts are the group who are more likely to be noticed and with a good deal of charisma they are certainly likely to be listened to by their team. However, this does not mean that introverts can’t perform at least as well in roles like that of the project manager.

Introverts can in fact make great project managers, so read on as we take a brief look at just some of the benefits of hiring an introverted project manager.

Decision making

On those projects that are complex or particularly large, the project manager is always needing to make decisions – both large and small. Small decisions can be the difference between spending time on quality or speeding up the implementation of something within the project, and when it comes to a more complex situation, an introvert is more likely to be thoughtful and reflective. They will gather data, consider different opinions and weigh up a number of factors before arriving at a decision. The result can often be a decision that is more informed and will offer an outcome that is more favourable.

Active listening

Introverts are very good listeners and far more likely to listen to the project stakeholders in order to understand all their concerns and ideas. They are also more likely to be approachable, reliable and more cooperative. This can result in a more inclusive environment for the team.

Empowerment

An introvert will not actively seek attention, but they will not shy away from it when appropriate. This can be an important form of empowerment for those team members working with project managers who are introverts.  It offers them a chance to share their opinion and give their own expertise. When it comes to organising sessions to share the successes of the project a project manager who is an introvert is more likely to allow others to shine. The result is a team who are more dynamic, motivated and which is good for overall team morale.

Adaptability

Introverts are more adaptable to change in things like circumstances and technology; they are willing to explore new options and tools and check them out before committing to solutions they are not sure about. They are much better at adapting their approach to suit the needs of the project team and also tend to foster a better understanding of the needs of any unique circumstances surrounding the project.

The post The benefits of hiring an introverted project manager appeared first on Project Accelerator News.

What is project-based learning?

Sometimes referred to as PBL, project-based learning is the idea of learning whilst doing. It allows learners the chance to develop a deeper understanding of a topic through the concept of problem-solving, using real-world challenges and examples.

There is one big difference between PBL and other forms of projects, and this is that it is used to train a whole unit as opposed to just one part of it. PBL is a form of constructivist learning theory that is put into practice, and, unlike other forms of training where the trainer lectures on the topic, it is up to the trainees to take on the role of directing their own learning.

Project-based learning ideas to consider in your training

It is important to keep the seven steps of a successful project in mind:

1. Pose a problem that is challenging – the instructor role is essential here, and how you pose a problem matters in order to encourage enquiry.

2. Implement a sustained enquiry – give your project team the chance to look for solutions to the problem, this might include doing some research online or even looking at case studies. They could also talk to co-workers.

3. Encourage authenticity – they should consider the question in terms of real world problems, ie how might it impact their workplace on a daily basis.

4. Learner voice and choices – your project team should be given as much freedom as possible. When they have more guidelines, they have less to think about. Let them define the process, the content and then the final product where possible.

5. Reflection – it is important to take the opportunity to reflect on anything that has come up during the project. This might include any obstacles and any strategies that may be needed in order to overcome them. These are things that can either be discussed face-to-face or through any other means that may seem appropriate.

6. Critique and revision – in PBL, feedback is critical. It is important for the project manager to guide their team and offer any thoughts on the direction that things may need to take. It is important to consider what can be learnt from the project. Any feedback should be followed by a period of time given over to revision and during this time amendments and possible improvements should also be made based on any feedback.

7. Present the findings – the final step involves each project team being given the opportunity to discuss their findings. Often, a project team may come up with a solution to a real problem that is workable and may be worthy of serious consideration.

The challenges of PBL

PBL can be time consuming, and it may be that learners need a little more time to be guided through the process than you might need if you were presenting materials in a more traditional manner for a formal project management certification.

It is a type of learning that is not suited to everyone so it is important to make sure that everyone has their say, in some instances you may find that you need to blend PBL with other types of learning to provide a fuller learning experience.

The post Upskilling Your Workforce via Project-Based Training Initiatives appeared first on Project Accelerator News.

As the momentum from the Great Resignation starts to wane, employees are finding that their bargaining power isn’t what it used to be. About a year ago, job opportunities and rising wages were abundant, but now, those trends are reversing, with fewer openings and slower wage growth. 

A recent comprehensive study of US working trends by Rebel’s Guide to Project Management unveils that the amount of unpaid overtime labor that workers are contributing saw a large uptick in 2023.

They surveyed 3,000 employees, and the data reveals a collective surge of 46 billion unpaid overtime hours in 2023 (in the US, but we can guess that the trend is similar in other countries too), dwarfing figures from the previous year. On average, workers were contributing an additional 4.5 hours per week for no compensation, totaling an extra 233 hours annually.

The survey didn’t only focus on project management professionals, but as many office workers these days have an element of project work, how many of those hours do you think are down to project tasks running over or employees not having the time in the day to complete their project activities alongside their day job?

Residents of New Hampshire are bearing the brunt of this trend, reporting nearly 10 extra hours of unpaid overtime each week. Conversely, Montanans have seen a slight decrease in such hours.

The top 5 states which who worked more in 2023:

1. New Hampshire (9.9 more hours)

2. Iowa (7.6 more hours)

3. Alaska (7.4 more hours)

4. Utah (6.3 more hours)

5. North Carolina (6.1 more hours)

‌The 5 states with the smallest increases in unpaid overtime:

50. Montana (0.6 hours less)

49. Hawaii (0.9 more hours)

48. Idaho (1.9 more hours)

47. Maryland (2.1 more hours)

46. Arizona (2.7 more hours)

45. Arkansas (2.9 more hours)

“We were surprised to see that employees are working over the equivalent of a month’s effort on average – for free, and above and beyond their normal hours,” says Elizabeth Harrin of Rebel’s Guide to Project Management. “We’ve moved beyond quiet quitting and the power is back with employers.” 

According to Harrin, the modern concept of ‘free time’ has evolved. 

“What was once considered personal time has increasingly been ceded to employers,” she says. “The dynamics of work are changing again, and that has implications for managing burnout, fair compensation practices, policy, and more.” 

However, what we are also seeing more of is the type of corporate travel where whole project teams come together in one location for an extended period to work on a particular part of a project. This has proved to increase productivity so the added expense of travel and accommodation for a whole team is seen as a cost-effective solution to delivering successful projects. Organisations will tend to lease serviced accommodation to house employees that have good amenities and communal spaces – the end-result being that motivation is also boosted. Maybe more extended business trips – that boost productivity and staff motivation – could be yet another way of working that enables ‘free time’ to be regained when those employees are back at home base.

‌Harrin, who is the author of Managing Multiple Projects, provides the following tips on what employees can do to be more efficient with their time and reduce their working hours:

1. Track Time: Log your work hours to identify patterns of unpaid labor. Use this data to discuss workload with your employer, and negotiate fair compensation for overtime hours, especially when taking on roles that extend beyond the typical workday.

2. Set Boundaries: Clearly define work hours and stick to them. Use your out of office message to let people know when you will next be available, and don’t download work apps to your personal phone.

3. Prioritize Ruthlessly: Focus on tasks that align with key project goals. If it’s not critical, delegate or defer it.

4. Leverage Technology: Automate repetitive tasks and learn how to use all the features of project management tools to streamline workflows.

5. Communicate Efficiently: Opt for asynchronous communication when possible to avoid unnecessary meetings. Use AI assistants to summarize meeting takeaways and create minutes.

6. Educate Yourself: Understand the labor laws and regulations regarding overtime. Know your rights and when to seek guidance.

7. Lead by Example: Don’t expect colleagues to work uncompensated overtime.  Manage your own hours and advocate for employees and peers for fair compensation. 

The post How many hours overtime do you work? appeared first on Project Accelerator News.

Starting a project management role can involve a change in career. You might have started out in a more technical or specialised role and progressed up the chain or moved into project management after gaining skills in another industry. Early on in your project management career, you might find gaps in your knowledge, or skills that you need to improve on. It is also important not to underestimate the skills that you already have. A skills analysis can help us to identify our skills and gaps in our knowledge, and work out how to fill any gaps that we find.

Identifying existing skills

Whilst it is important to have a focus on improvement and growing your skills, take the time to acknowledge and understand the skills that you do have.

You could simply list all the skills that you have, but this can feel challenging if you feel that your experience is very specific or focused on a particular industry. In this case, you might like to use the following headings to help guide your skills analysis:

• Communication
• Teamwork
• Leadership
• Specialist

These are not prescriptive headings – you can add others – but the intention is to think about your specific skills under more general headings. You want to consider both your general and specialist skills – specialist skills and experience are your points of difference. Don’t be afraid to highlight them, especially if they have transferable elements that you can apply to any project.

For example, under communication you might list client communication, communication with a number of stakeholders and digital communication using newsletters and an update dashboard. These are all skills specific to you and they demonstrate a range of communication experience.

Identify the gaps

One way of identifying the gaps in your project management knowledge is to do a SWOT analysis. For SWOT analysis examples, you can consider assessing past projects, competitors’ strategies, or industry trends. Using this activity in this way was introduced to me by a mentor and I found it a helpful exercise. It is a useful way of understanding your personal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. By carrying out a SWOT analysis, you can better understand the gaps in your knowledge and how you can go about filling them.

Let’s briefly break down how to consider each of these elements in the context of a skills analysis:

• Strengths: What skills do you already have? What areas of experience do you bring to the team? Think about the things that you can do and are capable of. We often shy away from acknowledging skills that we do have. This is your opportunity to write them down and recognise their value.
• Weaknesses: What experience are you lacking? What areas would you like to improve on? Although this is labelled weaknesses, it is important not to think about this too negatively. Frame it as the areas where you want to improve. Acknowledging the gaps in your knowledge shows a willingness for improvement and a keen interest in progressing your career and experience. Do also think about your interests. If you have an interest in risk management or resource planning, add that as an area to explore further.
• Opportunities: What opportunities are available to you? Here, you can think about things like training grants (perhaps from your employer or a professional body), internal secondment opportunities or time given for pursuing additional skills. Any of these things can help you move forward and increase your skills base. Think about what opportunities are on offer and how you can use them to your benefit.
• Threats: What are the threats to your position or future plans? Again, don’t be too pessimistic here. You might want to think about technology changes that might impact you or the volatility of your field of work. As with thinking about weaknesses, think about threats through the lens of challenges that you will need to overcome. This proactive approach will encourage you to think carefully about the environment you are working in and how you can work within it.

You can complete a SWOT analysis on two levels:

• Current role
• Overall skills

When thinking about your current role, consider the things you bring to the role and can do well, and think about things that you need some help with. This will allow you to succeed in your current role and demonstrate to your employer that you are enthusiastic and keen to learn and develop.

Thinking about overall skills requires a more holistic view of your career. Where do you want to be in 3/5/10 years’ time? Is there an area outside of your current role that interests you but is beyond the scope of this role? Do you have a specific goal in mind but need to plan the steps to get there? Here, the SWOT analysis can help you to understand where you are and, as you have a specific long-term goal in mind, what skills you can improve on long-term.

Once you have completed your SWOT analyses, you will have a better understanding of what skills you want to work on, and the skills that you already possess.

Carrying out an assessment to identify the gaps in our knowledge is a useful exercise. Whilst we could simply make a list and work through it, that can be quite a prescriptive exercise. Focusing on our individual traits and situation and how we can build on those is a more useful exercise for the individual project manager. It can also help give you focus and direction about where to take your career and experience next.

Plan to fill them

Now that we understand what the gaps are, we can plan to fill them. There are a number of ways in which you can approach this, but it can be helpful to start by breaking down the gaps into three categories:

• Skills are specific areas of expertise or understanding that you need to improve on. This would be things like communicating with stakeholders or completing a risk register.
• Experience is undertaking a role either temporarily or permanently that allows you to apply multiple skills and builds your wider knowledge of the industry.
• Qualifications are formally recognised qualifications that will enhance your career.

Once you have broken these down, you can return to your SWOT analysis and assign each area that you’ve recognised to one of these categories. Below is a brief example of how to assess each area.

• Strengths: If one of your strengths is that you hold the APM PMQ or Prince2 Practitioner qualification, then you might say that you are happy with your current status of qualifications, or plan to do another, but in the long term.
• Weaknesses: If one of your weaknesses is that you have never completed a risk register, then you might flag that as a skill that you would like to improve in the short term and can raise that with your line manager or mentor.
• Opportunities: If an opportunity available to you is that your employer offers short internal secondments, take advantage of them. It will allow you to develop your experience in a new area and understand more of the business.
• Threats: If a threat to your career is rapidly changing technology, take advantage of short courses to develop IT skills or subscribe to a magazine or newsletter that will keep you up to date with the current technological developments in your area.

Next steps

The final step is to put the results of your skills analysis into action.

You might need to undertake some research yourself to see how feasible your requirements are. If you want to undertake a qualification, can your employer support you or do you need to fund that yourself? If you have found a gap in your skillset, is that something you can fill within your current role, or do you need to ask for opportunities across other departments?

A helpful first step can be to speak to your line manager, a mentor or a colleague to get some advice on how to tackle your gaps. More senior professionals will have a wealth of experience and are usually happy to give you advice and help on developing your skills and experience.

Final thoughts

One of the best things you can do for your career is to take proactive action towards finding and filling gaps and a skills analysis is an effective way of doing that. By identifying these gaps, you will be aware of what they are and be able to seek opportunities to fill them. It will allow you to enhance your career opportunities and give you a roadmap of areas that you can work on to improve your knowledge and experience in the project management world. It is also a good opportunity to think about your existing strengths, as well as your career and where you want to go in future. And don’t be afraid to revisit this exercise. As you progress through your career you will gain more skills and experience and your interests and goals will change.

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Initiate The Concept and Define The Purpose

Before beginning your initiative, it is important to define exactly what it is you want to accomplish. This includes defining the overall scope of the project and defining the goals and objectives for the project. Before you can begin planning, you must first define the purpose. Once the purpose is defined, you can then create an action plan to help achieve your goals.

Write Down The Steps You Need To Take

Knowing the requirements of your project will help you plan it appropriately and identify the steps that you will need to take in order to achieve success. This may include developing a detailed timeline that will outline all of the steps involved, including research, design, production, and distribution. The more thorough you are with this process, the easier it will be to implement and monitor success criteria. However, keep in mind that you must also be flexible throughout the execution, as there may be things that you are unable to plan for due to unforeseen circumstances.

Set Meaningful Milestones

When creating your plan, be sure to set specific milestones that will help monitor your progress and provide an accurate assessment of the status of your project. Be sure to include cut-off dates in your plan and set clear expectations as to when each milestone must be completed. This will help you stay on track and ensure that you meet all of the requirements for your first project in a timely manner. Measuring the progress of your project will help you determine whether or not you are on track to reach your goals as well as identify any potential problems that need to be resolved. It can also help you adjust the project timeline.

Think Outside The Box

Are you utilizing all available technologies to promote and manage your project? If not, you may want to do additional research on new strategies that could be useful to you. You may also want to experiment with different types of technology and tools. If you need help along the way, for example, with setting up live streaming, check out Red Bee Media’s playout services. Having a fresh perspective can help you discover new ways to manage your project and come up with innovative ideas that may be able to help you achieve your goals.

Communicate Well

Make sure that your first project is well coordinated and that all members of the team are on the same page. This is particularly important if there are several people involved in different aspects of the project such as technical development. Without proper communication, the team may find it difficult to deliver the results that were expected of them and it may also cause delays in the implementation process. In order to prevent these issues from occurring, make sure that all team members are aware of the goals of the campaign and have clear instructions on how to achieve them.

The post Helpful Tips For Project Managers Starting Their First Project appeared first on Project Accelerator News.

For those starting out on a career as a project manager – or maybe considering a career change into project management – there are a few things to know to get off to the best start. Below is a useful beginner’s guide to becoming a project manager, listing some of the main attributes required and what’s involved in this career choice. Bear in mind that this is now a chartered profession in the UK so you will almost certainly need to study for some professional project management certification during your career to progress to the most senior levels. Keep reading to learn more.

What Traits Are Needed To Be A Project Manager?

Project managers need to be highly organised and equipped with good planning skills. As project management jobs can very often be fast-paced and demanding, a cool and calm head under pressure is needed. Strong communication and leadership skills are also essential, as well as the confidence to oversee a large team of people and delegate tasks. Project managers have to frequently be able to provide solutions quickly and efficiently to problems that arise, so the ability to be a quick-thinker and enjoy problem-solving are also needed. The ability to motivate others and lead by example will stand a person in good stead as a project manager, helping them to thrive in their own work and help others to do the same.

Compiling Reports

Project managers are responsible for compiling reports for the projects they have been working on for the company. The ability to create a clear and detailed report is a skill all project managers will need to develop. Some of the things that can help to make a report better include merging multiple PDF files to make them easier to link together, only using relevant graphs and charts to present data, and making sure all the necessary information is listed in a logical way that’s easy to read. Feedback opportunities should also be given to allow future improvements to reports that present data in a better format.

Setting Goals and Targets

Project managers are responsible for ensuring that a team and the company as a whole is able to reach set targets and goals. However, they are also responsible for setting out the aims for targets in the first place. Project managers need to be good at identifying the ways in which a company or team can improve its performance and what its goals and targets need to be. They will then need to be able to motivate their team to achieve these targets and guide them in the actions that need to be taken to get there.

Overseeing a Team

For those that are new to project management, overseeing and leading a team of people could initially feel uncomfortable and unknown. When starting out as a project manager, it can be helpful to build on confidence and leadership skills and undertake further training if necessary. This can help new project managers to feel more comfortable in their role, delegating tasks, and dealing with fellow team members. It can also be helpful to learn how to handle workplace disputes and the process to follow should one arise. This will help to prevent projects from being affected by a lack of teamwork and communication.

The post A Beginner’s Guide To Becoming A Project Manager appeared first on Project Accelerator News.

Too often areas of a project that should be clearly defined are not. Assumptions are made about who is responsible for what and, even worse, assumptions are made about what exactly the business objectives are and what benefits the project will deliver to the organisation.

In our enthusiasm to get started on an exciting new project it is easy for everyone, not just the project manager, to rush through the early preparation stages of a project and get on to the exciting parts. But in uncertain economic times every project should be delivering substantial business benefits that can be accurately measured. The benefits might be time or cost savings, but equally they might be aimed at maintaining a certain reputation (or rescuing a failing one) so they are not always easy to measure and cannot always be accurately predicted in advance. Nevertheless, the expected benefits should be documented so that it is clear to everyone involved why the project is needed.

No list of questions is ever exhaustive but here are 20 questions that a project manager should always ask, whatever type of project they are working on in any type of organisation:

1. What are the business goals that the project is aiming to achieve?
2. What business benefits will these goals deliver if achieved?
3. What will be the consequences to the business (financial, reputation etc) if the project does not go ahead or fails to deliver the objectives?
4. Are there any easy-to-implement alternatives to this project? Sometimes other solutions are available that do not require the cost implications of a full-blown project.
5. Are there any disadvantages to implementing this project? Staff redundancies might be an obvious one but there might be some that are less obvious.
6. Who is the main stakeholder, with ultimate responsibility for driving the project forward? It is important that someone senior takes ownership of a project – that person should never be the project manager.
7. Who is responsible for ensuring appropriate resources (time, people and money) are allocated to the project? This should be someone with the authority to allocate whatever resources are required.
8. Who will be responsible for deciding whether the project goes ahead or not after the initial investigations? This will often be a group of people, sometimes with conflicting aims.
9. Is the new project dependent on the successful delivery of a current project? If so, a full report on the status of the project already underway should be obtained before committing to the new project.
10. What are the success criteria that will indicate that the objectives have been met and the benefits delivered?
11. Will new equipment/products be required to facilitate project delivery for example is new software needed?
12. Will there be any necessary staff changes (redundancies or new hires)?
13. Will existing staff require re-training for example to learn new business processes?
14. Which individuals, teams or departments will be involved in the project?
15. Who will be responsible for documenting the business requirements in detail?
16. Who will determine interim and final deadlines? Projects where the marketing department, for example, decide on a deadline for an IT project have a far less chance of success than when informed estimates are made about the resources required.
17. How much contingency will be available in the budget?
18. Who will be responsible for making the decisions to include or exclude requested changes once the project is underway?
19. Will the project deliverables need to be tested and, if so, by whom?
20. Who will provide the final approval of the project deliverable?

There are many more questions that could be asked to ensure a project starts off with a good chance of success. But just as important as asking a question is getting a proper answer. The majority of people will have received appropriate training for project managers to help them develop a series of questions that is most relevant for their business. Those new to project management can benefit from knowledge-based training such as APM PFQ or one of the PMP Credentials.

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Of course, it is true that some organisations actively encourage their employees to become certified, and some even insist on it. They provide the opportunity, the funding and the time away from the office to achieve this. Some companies even offer salary rises for people who gain the PMP Certification. But there are also many smaller, successful organisations which do not place so much emphasis on these industry-recognised credentials which may be for cultural reasons or simply a lack of training budget. That may, however, be changing as project management moves more towards being recognised as a profession in the way that accountancy and law are with their emphasis on qualifications and continuous professional development.

There are many experienced project managers who would argue that they have proved their worth with academic qualifications and other relevant qualifications over the years of their careers, not to mention their extensive experience so why would they be interested in yet more credentials. Well one reason is that of continuous professional development and another, perhaps more important, reason is the advantage when it comes to enhanced career prospects.

So why is it worth obtaining a PMP certification?

The PMP certification is an indication to a new employer that you have the proper amount of relevant experience and training and have a good enough understanding of the PMI Body of Knowledge and more general project management principles to pass the exam. The stringent pre-requisites to the exam mean that this is not just a paper credential – you can only take the exam if you can demonstrate that you have between 3 and 5 years of practical experience running projects.

So the fact that many employers place such a significant amount of weight on this credential is understandable. Many organisations do not even interview people without this designation, which may be unfortunate for the many highly successful people who previously did not have the need for this type of credential. For example is a project manager with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree and 10 years practical experience a less suitable candidate than one with only a bachelor’s degree and 3 years experience but also PMP Training? Some employers might think so but it would be encouraging to believe that, in a professional world, employers can see beyond certain credentials. Nevertheless, as times change in the project management world so too must project managers.

So, quite simply, project management courses that lead to internationally-recognised credentials such as PMP Certification, APM PFQ and the other APM credentials such as APM PMQ (previously known as APMP) are worth the effort. They draw attention to your CV and get you in the door for the all-important interview where you can impress a prospective employer with your knowledge and previous experience.

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As I write this, the feeling is that the jobs market for project managers is beginning to pick up. At Project Challenge this week many recruitment consultants, journalists, and specialists on the PMI an APM stand said that the number of advertised jobs for project managers is beginning to pick up. So if you are looking for a new job will a project management certification help you get a job?

Will a project management qualification get me that job?

Increasingly employers have the pick of candidates to interview for job vacancies. Regrettably this means that they look for more specific set of requirements from candidates to pre-screen CVs before an interview. This means that minimum requirements for a professional qualification are becoming increasingly more common. However it remains true that a qualification is only going to get you considered for an interview the most important factor is going to be you demonstration of competence within your CV. Can you show how you effectively used project management to deliver successful projects in a professional way? How did you plan your stakeholder management? Can you give examples of risk that were avoided by effective management? Employers are looking for those who demonstrate a consistent approach to the delivery of projects.

Which project management courses should I take?

Given that project management qualification can help you get on the short list for the interview. Which one should you take? Well if you just need something to boost your qualification then anything will do, well almost. It is best to target the qualification that most suits to industry you are targeting. PRINCE2 is very strong in the UK public sector and its supply base, especially in the IT sector. The PMI PMP is most widely recognised in global organisations, especially those with their roots in the USA. The APM is strongest in the infrastructure, defence and IT sectors.

Blended approaches to training?

The traditional approach to project management qualification has been a full 5-day course with the exam at the end of the week. These types of course are too expensive for many seeking a new job. However a number of providers now offer blended solutions with increasing levels of self study and support. The options can be highly cost effective using podcast, printed study material, e-learning and fast track workshops. Using these materials job seekers can now search for jobs on a much more cost effective way.

Parallel Project Training offers APM PMQ training (previously know as the APMP) by distance learning and podcast.

The post Will getting a project management qualification such as PRINCE2, APM PMQ or PMP help me get a job? appeared first on Project Accelerator News.