Skills of a Project Manager

13_26_ch02. fm rascal 13 Friday, phratry 8, 2000 243 PM Chapter 2 fundamental achievements for protrusion Managers Be non afr assist of grandness roughly argon born great several(prenominal) achieve greatness otherwises tolerate greatness thrust upon them. ordainiam Shakespe ar Twelfth night Introduction Before now, we had discussed visualise counseling in the grand sense, that is, from the sen erant that both type of holdindustrial assembly line, impudently construction, or engineering implementation operated by the analogous sets of rules and carry throughes. For the remainder of this book, we point on the last type of travail and its attractorthe IT pop the question private instructor. envision jitneys ar a very(prenominal) special father of mint. They argon in ofttimes(prenominal) consider up and pull up stakes be increasingly so as the necessitate for profound-hitting technologists continues to soar. Good engineering swan managing direct ors atomic number 18 trained, non born. They break dance scientific disciplines finished experience and education. They force better determine traders each time they successfully sky a range. They tick off immature techniques and apply them on their roves. They learn littleonssometimes the gruelling digestsingto be better double-deckers in the future. 13 13_26_ch02. fm rascal 14 Friday, folk 8, 2000 243 PM What Does a take in Manager Do?Briefly, engineering pick up omnibuss receive the side by side(p) b road requirements G G G G G G G G narrow and review the line of reasoning cheek and requirements by regular reviews and controls to en indisput subject that the knob receives the system that he or she requires and contends. Initiate and plan the flip by establishing its transfigure, command, and base lines that all toldow for any variance measurements and change control. Partner with the wipe stunned go forrs, cash in ones chips with switch spo nsors and other guidance to establish communicate and direction of the project by achieving goals, stretchability tar wee-wees, solving problems, mitigating trys.Manage the technology, people, and change in devote to achieve goals, reach targets, and deliver the project on time and at bottom budget. Manage the project lag by creating an environment conducive to the preservation of the new occupation in the virtually cost- brawny manner. Be adequate to(p) to manage uncertainty, rapid change, ambiguity, admirations, and a less sicd environment. Manage the guest relationship by victimization an adequate direct yet murder and formal reporting format that compliments a view and copious relationship. Drive the project by touching by poser, and motivating allconcerned until the project accomplishes its goal.Now let us stress the skills and qualities mandatory to join forces these requirements. Necessary Skills The skills that a comfortably project manager possesses b e some and varied, covering the perfect spectrum of the world ad hominemity. We end break these skills into a number of specific categories, to wit 14 Chapter 2 sancti unrivalledd Skills for projection Managers 13_26_ch02. fm scalawag 15 Friday, kinsfolk 8, 2000 243 PM Personal Skills cast Managers must(prenominal) be able to move and sustain people. work out police squad members entrust look to the project manager to understand problems and help with re lamentable obstacles.Project managers must be able to comeress and solve problems inside the police squad, as well as those that occur outside the police squad. thither argon numerous ways, both baffling and direct, in which project managers understructure help group members. Some mental testingples embarrass the following G G G G G G Manage by example (MBE). Team members agreeing be close watching all actions of the project manager. thitherfore, project managers must be perfectst, direct, straightf orward, and friendshipable in all dealings with people and with the project. A penny-pinching manager knows how to work hard and come fun, and this advent becomes contagious.A positive attitude. Project managers must always defend a positive attitude, until now when there argon substantial difficulties, problems, or project obstacles. Negative attitudes erode confidence, and a d letward(prenominal) spiral pass on follow. rig expectations. Managers who manage must clear delimit what is expected of group members. It is strategic to do this in writingget agreement from the individual team members. This leaves no room for problems tardilyr, when some ace states Its not my job. consummation expectations must be defined at the endure of the project.Be considerate. Project counsel is a demanding job with a necessity for nine-fold skills at more takes. higher up all, be considerate and respectful, and face people and team members the time and favor they de work. Make people aware that their efforts are appreciated and the work that they do is important, because it is. A letter, personal word, or e-mail of appreciation goes a ache way. Be direct. Project managers are respected if they are direct, open, and deal with all types of problems. Never conceal problems or obviate addressing them.If a problem is huge than the project manager or the team sess deal with, come to the fore it to senior vigilance. Never make committednesss that cannot be delivered. Finally, a favorite and personal rule of the author Underpromise, then over-deliver. 15 Necessary Skills 13_26_ch02. fm Page 16 Friday, family 8, 2000 243 PM proficient Skills There are two schools of thought just about the level essential for expert skills. Some project managers prefer to bring on little technological cognition about the projects they manage, preferring to leave the skilful focal point to other junior managers, much(prenominal) as computer political program ming managers or vane managers.Others suck diminutive expert skills of computer linguistic communications, software, and networks. There is no hard and fast rule. It really depends on the type and size of projects, their structure, resources available, and the project environment. Questions that project managers should ask include the following 1. What types of practiced problems require focus? 2. Who leave solve them? 3. Is it done with character and satisfaction? 4. Who can I trust on in my project team? 5. What outside resources, if any, can I draw on for financial aid?As with all employees, project managers should have the skillful fellowship and skills needed to do their jobs. If managers lack these skills, facts of life is one option cosmos mentored or coached by a more experienced individual is another. Senior prudence should ask the question, Do your project managers need more adept skills than they already possess? On larger collectd projects, such as sy stems desegregation projects or octuple-year projects, there are a great deal alike many difficult technologies for the project manager to master.Technical knowledge that provides fullness may be useful. On smaller projects, the project manager may also be a key technological contri furtheror. In this case, technical emergence may sharpen the abilities of project managers to contrisolelye techni harbingery, but it is tall(a) to improve their guidance skills. virtuoso thing is abundantly clearthe project manager is ultimately prudent for the entire management of the project, technical or otherwise, and will require solutions to the technical issues that will occur. 16 Chapter 2 staple Skills for Project Managers 3_26_ch02. fm Page 17 Friday, folk 8, 2000 243 PM focus Skills Project managers need other key skills also those that are purely technical to bring and deliver on their projects successfully. A good project manager needs to understand many facets of the b arter aspect of running a project, so critical skills touch on expertise in the regions of scheme, communication, finance, and compassionate resources. The following are examples of the management topics use in cooking effective project managers G G G G G G G G G G G G G G GProject planning, initiation, and fundamental law Recruiting people and charge them strong project negotiation Software instrumental roles for project management finished estimating and cost control Project execution and control Developing tidy project presentations and reports Personal and project leadership Managing risk and making decisions Effective problem management Performance management Managing the projects within the organization Project management master key (PMP) exam review Growing and sustaining a superior team Managing change within an organizationThis last skill cannot be over-emphasized. Although we apprehension about whether the technology selected is the make one for the organiz ation and will lead to success, projects do not primarily fail because of lack of adequate technology. Statistically, some projects fail because the soft knowledge portions of the project have not authentic enough attentionthe human performer has not been adequately addressed. Change, whether for good or for bad, is stressful on an organization and its personnel. The ability to manage this change is one area in which any good project manager would do well to hone skills.Necessary Skills 17 13_26_ch02. fm Page 18 Friday, phratry 8, 2000 243 PM Coping Skills A good project manager has to come a number of skills to cope with incompatible situations, conflicts, uncertainty, and doubt. This means G G G G G being flexible Being unforgiving and firm when necessary Being creative, raze when the project does not call for it Absorbing large volumes of data from treble sources Being patient but able to differentiate between effort and action Being able to handle large amounts of continuous, often tenacious stressG Additionally, good project managers have high tolerance for surprises, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Projects rarely progress the way that they are defined, and managers need to manage the uncertainty that comes with that. Manage integrity Projector many an(prenominal)? There is no simple perform to this question some managers are able to juggle multiple projects and disparate deadlines successfully, and others are not. In these geezerhood of multiple projects that have to be delivered quickly, it is very possible that management will require managing multiple projects.However, this brings a risk. Will project managers be stretched too thin? Again, there is no single, good answer. Project managers and senior management need to ask themselves some sanctioned questions G G How much support will be provided? How many people are on the project? Are they constituent-time or fulltime? What are the management challenges? An adequately budgeted proj ect may require less effort to manage than one that is extremely thin. Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project Managers G 18 13_26_ch02. fm Page 19 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM G G GAre all the projects in the equivalent physical location or will the project manager overtake a lot of time traveling? Do all the projects involve the alike technology? The same business cultures? The same set of stakeholders? How many of the projects have important deadlines that are close together? The answers to these questions will aid in determining whether multiple projects can share a management resource. The more complex the projects from the standpoints of mental facultying, budgeting, and technology, the more likely it is that they will need a dedicated resource to manage them adequately.Project Management Skills Development One of the surest ways to align strategies and work fierceness competencies with try mickle is to create a road typify from vision to execution. A skills management process starts in the future and works its way back to the present. An IT skills management process, for example, links the enterprise vision to a technology forecast. The technology forecasts to compulsory skills, the required skills to the IT skills farm animal, the skills inventory to the IT staffs competency levels, and the competence levels to gaps and to the time frame during which those gaps need to be contented.Leadership, team building, marketing, business savvy, project management, manufacturing know-how, functional expertise, and institutional knowledge all are part of the skills picture. Skills management serves as an severalize for managing the work effect (see Figure 21). It lays out a road map for skills exploitation, work role definition, calling tracks, resource management, staffing allocation, workload balancing, and learning. With a road map, all members of the work imbibe can fit their strengths, weaknesses, and alternatives into the enterprises plans .Skills management is becoming a lifeline in a riotous IT labor market. Midsize and large enterprises, businesses in the private and public sectors, aggressive and fusty companiesall are tone at skills management with renewed interest. umpteen enterprises now recognize that the have lack of enterprise planning, imagination, and Project Management Skills Development 19 13_26_ch02. fm Page 20 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM enterprisingness Objective Forecast Where does the enterprise want to be in 36 months? What information, technologies and skills will it need to get there?What skills are in-house (e. g. , technical, business, leadership and project management)? What skills will it need in 12 months? 24 months? 36 months? How invaluable will todays skills be in 12 months? 24 months? 36 months? How dependable are the IS staff members in the established and the needed skills? What education and genteelness will the enterprise offer, to whom and how will it provide this? Wha t sources of IT skills inside and external can we use to fill the gaps? Skill Inventory Skill Definition Strategic Skill rating Proficiency LevelsLearning Portfolio Sourcing Figure 21 Skills ManagementA pathway Map for the Work force-out (Source Gartner assort, Inc. ). foresight are as much to blame for todays labor crunch as is the famine of relevant IT skills. In that climate, skills management can be a powerful tool for bringing discipline, rationale, and cross-pollination to an underused process. crimson more enticing, many IT lords, under the mantel of go entrepreneurism, will throw in their lot with enterprises that have clearly committed to and funded skills management programs.Having a road map with which to guide career development is more pregnant than wandering until serendipity strikes. Three years ago, when large organizations first began covering the area of skills management, it was a process dumb for the most imperfect tense enterprises. By methodicall y and meticulously forecasting, classifying, analyzing, and taking inventory of skills, progressive enterprises could identify the urgency and volume of skills gaps, create focused reproduction programs, and add some rational opinion to their sourcing strategies.Skills management continues to satisfy those needs, even fos20 Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 21 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM tering a niche market of consultants and software developers that are eager to bring order to IT Human Resource management. Before moving on, it is beneficial to make sure that everybody is speaking the same language. In the Gartner Groups definition of perspective, skills management is a robust and systematic approach to forecasting, identifying, cataloguing, evaluating, and analyzing the work force skills, competencies and gaps that enterprises face.Although many programs and inaugurals bring in the label skills management, most of them focus on skills inven tory and glint short in analysis and forecasting. A well-designed skills management process injects a stronger dose of discipline, coordination, and planning into work force planning, strategic planning, pro pedagogy and development programs, resource allocation maneuvering, and risk analysis and assessment. Enterprises can delineate several lessons from skills management. Skills management works if it G G G G GG Defines skills for roles Forces forward thinking Forces some documentation of what makes an IT professional especially proficient Strengthens the organization Leads to focused training, risk assessment, sourcing strategy, and resource allocation via gap denomination Attracts high-level endorsement Does not define work roles Lacks plans or inducing for refreshment Communicates its purpose poorly Provides differing language and terminology Force-fits skills and work roles to policies, kinda than driving new frameworksSkills management does not work if it G G G G G Pro ject Management Skills Development 21 13_26_ch02. fm Page 22 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM Skills Management Case Study A North American manufacturing go with set a goal to encourage revenue by $ccc million within three years. bring out to the growth was a new way of dealing with information and IT. First, lay away of information by divisions had to give way to enterprise ownership of information.Second, omnipresent memory access to information required a managed and enterprise-wide migration to standards, interoperability, common platforms, and thickening/ innkeeper technology. Finally, the vision of ubiquitous access depended on substantially upgrading the IT organizations skill base, supplementing and supplanting processor skills with skills associated with distributed processing and client/server industry development.The play a great embarked on an intriguing opening move designed to cultivate the technical skills and business understanding of the IT professionals. The initiativenotably, society-wide skill identification and continuous trainingwill help the order to raise its skills level and will give IT employees control of their professional development. Elements of the IT professional development initiative included GIdentifying octette areas of IT professional skills, technical skills being only one area (a detailed discussion on the octonaryer areas determine follows this list) Assigning corporation set to skills for the near term, short term, and long term Evaluating employee competence levels within the ogdoad areas of IT professional skills Providing continuous training in critical skills, both technical and non-technical Establishing an IT mentor program Supervisors providing performance planning and coaching Establishing team and ally feedback Flattening the IT organization from 18 to 5 titles Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project ManagersG G G G G G G 22 13_26_ch02. fm Page 23 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM G Mapping sk ills and performance determine to salary zones within the flatter organization With the help of outside experts, IT executives identified more than 125 skills in eight areas of IT professional development. The eight areas of focus for IT professional development and a have of associated skills include GCustomer focusemployee possesses knowledge of customers business needs and expectations delivers constructive qualitative feedback to customers, meets deadlines, and works with customers to set requirements and schedules Technical skillsemployee possesses skills related to programming, computer-aided software engineering, desktop client services, enterprise infrastructure applications, technical software, and hardware support Product or technology evaluation and expertiseemployee analyzes and compares products, makes sound recommendations within the company architecture, understands and recognizes limitations of technologies, can communicate the fundamentals of technology to others, and uses technical team resources to resolve or avoid technology- found problems Business and application expertiseemployee possesses knowledge of business-specific applications, knows companys business and local operations, knows the broad application environments (e. g. order entry and accounting), and understands prevalent concepts of business management Project managementemployee handles projects of certain size and complexity, estimates project costs and schedules with a gradation of accuracy, executes project to plan, manages multiple projects at once, builds teams and organizes team resources, and knows project management tools social skillsemployee performs as team member or team leader, contributes knowledge to the team and to the organization, and communicates effectively Administrative skills employee has understanding of budgeting, interviewing, political economy of the business, and salary and review process 23 G G G G G G Project Management Skills Development 13_26 _ch02. fm Page 24 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM G Soft skillsemployee displays leadership, forward thinking, initiative, call for for education, and commitment to organizational structure and development.Each skill receives a heavinessing instrument based on its strategic significance to the company during the coterminous 12 months, the neighboring 12 to 24 months, and the next 24 to 60 months. A skill considered critical to the company earns a weight of 6 a skill with no value to the company earns a weight of 0. subsequently the company skills are identified and their weights assigned, employee skills are crosschecked against the company skills and assigned a score based on the employees competence level. Employee competence levels cat from 6 to 1, that is, from mastery to basic understanding. (A competence score of zero is reserved for skills that are either not applicable or not have by the employee. Employees then compare their competence scores with those they recei ve from their peers, team leaders, and supervisors. To see the scoring mechanism in action, assume that the company assigns COBOL programming skills a weight of 4 for the next 12 months and a weight of 3 for the following 12 to 24 months. At the same time, an IT employee earns a score of 3 for average skills in COBOL programming. Given the framework, the value of those skills to the employee will be 12 during the next 12 months, but the value will decline to 9 during the next 12 to 24 months. Continuous training is considered essential to the programs success. Here, the IT executives are seeking to develop an implicit promise between the company and the employees.The company promises to provide the resources and opportunities for trainingtime, funding, and identification and valuation of strategic skills if the employees promise to use the training to bridge gaps in the company skills base and in their own skill levels. Armed with the company skills inventory and personal competenc e scores, employees who take the appropriate training will see their value to the company rise. Employees who postulate to forgo appropriate training will see their value diminish. On the plus side, the skills and training program has forced the company to view the IT organization in terms of skills and semipermanent corporate objectives, not simply in terms of head count.Moreover, employees have responded positively to a program that puts professional development in their hands. On the negative side, skills identification and buy-in from IT managers take so long that the initiative risks losing momentum. 24 Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 25 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM Keys to a triple-crown Skills Management aspiration Three areas must be worked out for a skills management initiative to be successful 1. Employees have to adopt the program as their own, sooner than as a management dictate, including the employees expect control of their own professional development 2. Supervisors have to surrender some control over employee development 3.Executives must ensure that employees use inflection as a tool for professional development, not as a weapon in tearing competition As enterprises turn to technology to reach the next level of corporate performance, IT organizations should identify the skills they need to meet the corporate objectives. Through a program of skills identification, IT organizations can see the holes in their coverage, set priorities for projects, define which training is required, and determine which skills may need third-party coverage. A commitment to funding for training is essential. Conclusions Rarely has a professional sector evolved as chop-chop as project management. It is totally different from what it was even 10 years ago.The scrape to stay abreast of new and rapidly evolving technologies, to deal with accumulated development and maintenance backlogs, and to cope with people issues has be come a treadmill slipstream as software groups work hard just to stay in place. A key goal of discipline project managers is to avoid the surprises that can occur when these surprises almost always lead to bad news canceled projects, late delivery, cost overruns, dissatisfied customers, outsourcing, termination, and unemployment. Indeed, we need to develop management by surprise (MBS) as a project management technique Keys to a Successful Skills Management Endeavor 25 13_26_ch02. fm Page 26 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM As we have discussed in this chapter, project managers are a special breed of people.The skills that they develop are a cross between a diplomat, ballet dancer, and a Marine army corps drill sergeantall piece of music having the patience of Job. These skills will serve them well for future higher-level positions as offense Presidents, primary(prenominal) Information Officers (CIOs), and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the corporations for which they work. The culture of an organization is a critical success factor in its efforts to survive, improve, and flourish. A culture based on a commitment to project management and delivering quality projects and effective management differentiates a team that practices excellent project management from a flock of individual programmers doing their outstrip to ship code. Projects rarely failbut people do. 26 Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project ManagersSkills of a Project Manager13_26_ch02. fm Page 13 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project Managers Be not afraid of greatness some are born great some achieve greatnessothers have greatness thrust upon them. William Shakespeare Twelfth Night Introduction Before now, we had discussed project management in the broad sense, that is, from the perspective that any type of projectindustrial assembly line, new construction, or technology implementation operated by the same sets of rules and processes. For the remainder of thi s book, we focus on the last type of project and its leaderthe IT project manager.Project managers are a very special breed of people. They are in much demand and will be increasingly so as the need for effective technologists continues to soar. Good technology project managers are trained, not born. They develop skills through experience and education. They become better project managers each time they successfully deliver a project. They learn new techniques and apply them on their projects. They learn lessonssometimes the hard wayto be better managers in the future. 13 13_26_ch02. fm Page 14 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM What Does a Project Manager Do?Briefly, technology project managers fulfill the following broad requirements G G G G G G G G Define and review the business case and requirements by regular reviews and controls to ensure that the client receives the system that he or she wants and needs. Initiate and plan the project by establishing its format, direction, and b ase lines that allow for any variance measurements and change control. Partner with the end users, work with project sponsors and other management to establish progress and direction of the project by achieving goals, reaching targets, solving problems, mitigating risks.Manage the technology, people, and change in order to achieve goals, reach targets, and deliver the project on time and within budget. Manage the project staff by creating an environment conducive to the delivery of the new application in the most cost-effective manner. Be able to manage uncertainty, rapid change, ambiguity, surprises, and a less defined environment. Manage the client relationship by using an adequate direct yet complete and formal reporting format that compliments a respected and productive relationship. Drive the project by leading by example, and motivating allconcerned until the project accomplishes its goal.Now let us examine the skills and qualities needed to meet these requirements. Necessary Skills The skills that a good project manager possesses are many and varied, covering the entire spectrum of the human personality. We can divide these skills into a number of specific categories, namely 14 Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 15 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM Personal Skills Project Managers must be able to motivate and sustain people. Project team members will look to the project manager to solve problems and help with removing obstacles.Project managers must be able to address and solve problems within the team, as well as those that occur outside the team. There are numerous ways, both subtle and direct, in which project managers can help team members. Some examples include the following G G G G G G Manage by example (MBE). Team members will be closely watching all actions of the project manager. Therefore, project managers must be honest, direct, straightforward, and intimate in all dealings with people and with the project. A goo d manager knows how to work hard and have fun, and this approach becomes contagious.A positive attitude. Project managers must always have a positive attitude, even when there are substantial difficulties, problems, or project obstacles. Negative attitudes erode confidence, and a downward spiral will follow. Define expectations. Managers who manage must clearly define what is expected of team members. It is important to do this in writingget agreement from the individual team members. This leaves no room for problems later, when someone states Its not my job. Performance expectations must be defined at the start of the project.Be considerate. Project management is a demanding job with a need for multiple skills at many levels. Above all, be considerate and respectful, and give people and team members the time and consideration they deserve. Make people aware that their efforts are appreciated and the work that they do is important, because it is. A letter, personal word, or e-mail of appreciation goes a long way. Be direct. Project managers are respected if they are direct, open, and deal with all types of problems. Never conceal problems or avoid addressing them.If a problem is bigger than the project manager or the team can deal with, escalate it to senior management. Never make commitments that cannot be delivered. Finally, a favorite and personal rule of the author Underpromise, then over-deliver. 15 Necessary Skills 13_26_ch02. fm Page 16 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM Technical Skills There are two schools of thought about the level needed for technical skills. Some project managers prefer to have little technical knowledge about the projects they manage, preferring to leave the technical management to other junior managers, such as programming managers or network managers.Others have detailed technical skills of computer languages, software, and networks. There is no hard and fast rule. It really depends on the type and size of projects, their struc ture, resources available, and the project environment. Questions that project managers should ask include the following 1. What types of technical problems require management? 2. Who will solve them? 3. Is it done with quality and satisfaction? 4. Who can I rely on in my project team? 5. What outside resources, if any, can I draw on for assistance?As with all employees, project managers should have the technical knowledge and skills needed to do their jobs. If managers lack these skills, training is one option being mentored or coached by a more experienced individual is another. Senior management should ask the question, Do your project managers need more technical skills than they already possess? On larger complex projects, such as systems integration projects or multiple-year projects, there are frequently too many complex technologies for the project manager to master.Technical training that provides breadth may be useful. On smaller projects, the project manager may also be a key technical contributor. In this case, technical training may enhance the abilities of project managers to contribute technically, but it is unlikely to improve their management skills. One thing is abundantly clearthe project manager is ultimately responsible for the entire management of the project, technical or otherwise, and will require solutions to the technical issues that will occur. 16 Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project Managers 3_26_ch02. fm Page 17 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM Management Skills Project managers need other key skills besides those that are purely technical to lead and deliver on their projects successfully. A good project manager needs to understand many facets of the business aspect of running a project, so critical skills touch on expertise in the areas of organization, communication, finance, and human resources. The following are examples of the management topics used in training effective project managers G G G G G G G G G G G G G G GProject p lanning, initiation, and organization Recruiting people and keeping them Effective project negotiation Software tools for project management Accurate estimating and cost control Project execution and control Developing powerful project presentations and reports Personal and project leadership Managing risk and making decisions Effective problem management Performance management Managing the projects within the organization Project management professional (PMP) exam review Growing and sustaining a high-performance team Managing change within an organizationThis last skill cannot be over-emphasized. Although we worry about whether the technology selected is the correct one for the organization and will lead to success, projects do not generally fail because of lack of adequate technology. Statistically, most projects fail because the soft science portions of the project have not received enough attentionthe human factor has not been adequately addressed. Change, whether for good or fo r bad, is stressful on an organization and its personnel. The ability to manage this change is one area in which any good project manager would do well to hone skills.Necessary Skills 17 13_26_ch02. fm Page 18 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM Coping Skills A good project manager has to acquire a number of skills to cope with different situations, conflicts, uncertainty, and doubt. This means G G G G G Being flexible Being persistent and firm when necessary Being creative, even when the project does not call for it Absorbing large volumes of data from multiple sources Being patient but able to differentiate between patience and action Being able to handle large amounts of continuous, often unrelenting stressG Additionally, good project managers have high tolerance for surprises, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Projects rarely progress the way that they are defined, and managers need to manage the uncertainty that comes with that. Manage One Projector Many? There is no simple answer to th is question some managers are able to juggle multiple projects and disparate deadlines successfully, and others are not. In these days of multiple projects that have to be delivered quickly, it is very possible that management will require managing multiple projects.However, this brings a risk. Will project managers be stretched too thin? Again, there is no single, reliable answer. Project managers and senior management need to ask themselves some basic questions G G How much support will be provided? How many people are on the project? Are they part-time or fulltime? What are the management challenges? An adequately budgeted project may require less effort to manage than one that is extremely thin. Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project Managers G 18 13_26_ch02. fm Page 19 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM G G GAre all the projects in the same physical location or will the project manager spend a lot of time traveling? Do all the projects involve the same technology? The same business cultures? The same set of stakeholders? How many of the projects have important deadlines that are close together? The answers to these questions will aid in determining whether multiple projects can share a management resource. The more complex the projects from the standpoints of staffing, budgeting, and technology, the more likely it is that they will need a dedicated resource to manage them adequately.Project Management Skills Development One of the surest ways to align strategies and work force competencies with enterprise vision is to create a road map from vision to execution. A skills management process starts in the future and works its way back to the present. An IT skills management process, for example, links the enterprise vision to a technology forecast. The technology forecasts to required skills, the required skills to the IT skills inventory, the skills inventory to the IT staffs competence levels, and the competence levels to gaps and to the time frame during which those gaps need to be filled.Leadership, team building, marketing, business savvy, project management, manufacturing know-how, functional expertise, and institutional knowledge all are part of the skills picture. Skills management serves as an order for managing the work force (see Figure 21). It lays out a road map for skills development, work role definition, career tracks, resource management, staffing allocation, workload balancing, and learning. With a road map, all members of the work force can fit their strengths, weaknesses, and alternatives into the enterprises plans.Skills management is becoming a lifeline in a turbulent IT labor market. Midsize and large enterprises, businesses in the private and public sectors, aggressive and conservative companiesall are looking at skills management with renewed interest. Many enterprises now recognize that the combined lack of enterprise planning, imagination, and Project Management Skills Development 19 13_26_ch02. fm Page 20 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM Enterprise Objective Forecast Where does the enterprise want to be in 36 months? What information, technologies and skills will it need to get there?What skills are in-house (e. g. , technical, business, leadership and project management)? What skills will it need in 12 months? 24 months? 36 months? How valuable will todays skills be in 12 months? 24 months? 36 months? How proficient are the IS staff members in the established and the needed skills? What education and training will the enterprise offer, to whom and how will it provide this? What sources of IT skills internal and external can we use to fill the gaps? Skill Inventory Skill Definition Strategic Skill Valuation Proficiency LevelsLearning Portfolio Sourcing Figure 21 Skills ManagementA Road Map for the Work Force (Source Gartner Group, Inc. ). foresight are as much to blame for todays labor crunch as is the shortage of relevant IT skills. In that climate, skills management can be a powerful to ol for bringing discipline, rationale, and cross-pollination to an underused process. Even more enticing, many IT professionals, under the mantle of career entrepreneurism, will throw in their lot with enterprises that have clearly committed to and funded skills management programs.Having a road map with which to guide career development is more meaningful than wandering until serendipity strikes. Three years ago, when large organizations first began covering the area of skills management, it was a process reserved for the most progressive enterprises. By methodically and meticulously forecasting, classifying, analyzing, and taking inventory of skills, progressive enterprises could identify the urgency and volume of skills gaps, create focused training programs, and add some rational thinking to their sourcing strategies.Skills management continues to satisfy those needs, even fos20 Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 21 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM tering a niche market of consultants and software developers that are eager to bring order to IT Human Resource management. Before moving on, it is beneficial to make sure that everybody is speaking the same language. In the Gartner Groups definition of perspective, skills management is a robust and systematic approach to forecasting, identifying, cataloguing, evaluating, and analyzing the work force skills, competencies and gaps that enterprises face.Although many programs and initiatives adopt the label skills management, most of them focus on skills inventory and fall short in analysis and forecasting. A well-designed skills management process injects a stronger dose of discipline, coordination, and planning into work force planning, strategic planning, professional training and development programs, resource allocation maneuvering, and risk analysis and assessment. Enterprises can reap several lessons from skills management. Skills management works if it G G G G GG Defines skill s for roles Forces forward thinking Forces some documentation of what makes an IT professional especially proficient Strengthens the organization Leads to focused training, risk assessment, sourcing strategy, and resource allocation via gap identification Attracts high-level endorsement Does not define work roles Lacks plans or incentive for refreshment Communicates its purpose poorly Provides differing language and terminology Force-fits skills and work roles to policies, rather than driving new frameworksSkills management does not work if it G G G G G Project Management Skills Development 21 13_26_ch02. fm Page 22 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM Skills Management Case Study A North American manufacturing company set a goal to boost revenue by $300 million within three years. Key to the growth was a new way of dealing with information and IT. First, hoarding of information by divisions had to give way to enterprise ownership of information.Second, ubiquitous access to information required a managed and enterprise-wide migration to standards, interoperability, common platforms, and client/server technology. Finally, the vision of ubiquitous access depended on substantially upgrading the IT organizations skill base, supplementing and supplanting mainframe skills with skills associated with distributed processing and client/server application development.The company embarked on an ambitious initiative designed to cultivate the technical skills and business understanding of the IT professionals. The initiativenotably, company-wide skill identification and continuous trainingwill help the company to raise its skills level and will give IT employees control of their professional development. Elements of the IT professional development initiative included GIdentifying eight areas of IT professional skills, technical skills being only one area (a detailed discussion on the eight areas identified follows this list) Assigning company values to skills for the near term , short term, and long term Evaluating employee competence levels within the eight areas of IT professional skills Providing continuous training in critical skills, both technical and non-technical Establishing an IT mentor program Supervisors providing performance planning and coaching Establishing team and peer feedback Flattening the IT organization from 18 to 5 titles Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project ManagersG G G G G G G 22 13_26_ch02. fm Page 23 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM G Mapping skills and performance values to salary zones within the flatter organization With the help of outside experts, IT executives identified more than 125 skills in eight areas of IT professional development. The eight areas of focus for IT professional development and a sampling of associated skills include GCustomer focusemployee possesses knowledge of customers business needs and expectations delivers constructive qualitative feedback to customers, meets deadlines, and works with customers t o set requirements and schedules Technical skillsemployee possesses skills related to programming, computer-aided software engineering, desktop client services, enterprise infrastructure applications, technical software, and hardware support Product or technology evaluation and expertiseemployee analyzes and compares products, makes sound recommendations within the company architecture, understands and recognizes limitations of technologies, can communicate the fundamentals of technology to others, and uses technical team resources to resolve or avoid technology-based problems Business and application expertiseemployee possesses knowledge of business-specific applications, knows companys business and local operations, knows the broad application environments (e. g. order entry and accounting), and understands general concepts of business management Project managementemployee handles projects of certain size and complexity, estimates project costs and schedules with a degree of accur acy, executes project to plan, manages multiple projects at once, builds teams and organizes team resources, and knows project management tools Interpersonal skillsemployee performs as team member or team leader, contributes knowledge to the team and to the organization, and communicates effectively Administrative skills employee has understanding of budgeting, interviewing, economics of the business, and salary and review process 23 G G G G G G Project Management Skills Development 13_26_ch02. fm Page 24 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM G Soft skillsemployee displays leadership, forward thinking, initiative, drive for education, and commitment to organizational structure and development.Each skill receives a weighting factor based on its strategic significance to the company during the next 12 months, the next 12 to 24 months, and the next 24 to 60 months. A skill considered critical to the company earns a weight of 6 a skill with no value to the company earns a weight of 0. After the company skills are identified and their weights assigned, employee skills are crosschecked against the company skills and assigned a score based on the employees competence level. Employee competence levels range from 6 to 1, that is, from mastery to basic understanding. (A competence score of zero is reserved for skills that are either not applicable or not possessed by the employee. Employees then compare their competence scores with those they receive from their peers, team leaders, and supervisors. To see the scoring mechanism in action, assume that the company assigns COBOL programming skills a weight of 4 for the next 12 months and a weight of 3 for the following 12 to 24 months. At the same time, an IT employee earns a score of 3 for average skills in COBOL programming. Given the framework, the value of those skills to the employee will be 12 during the next 12 months, but the value will decline to 9 during the next 12 to 24 months. Continuous training is considered essen tial to the programs success. Here, the IT executives are seeking to develop an implicit promise between the company and the employees.The company promises to provide the resources and opportunities for trainingtime, funding, and identification and valuation of strategic skills if the employees promise to use the training to bridge gaps in the company skills base and in their own skill levels. Armed with the company skills inventory and personal competence scores, employees who take the appropriate training will see their value to the company rise. Employees who choose to forgo appropriate training will see their value diminish. On the plus side, the skills and training program has forced the company to view the IT organization in terms of skills and long-term corporate objectives, not simply in terms of head count.Moreover, employees have responded positively to a program that puts professional development in their hands. On the negative side, skills identification and buy-in from IT managers take so long that the initiative risks losing momentum. 24 Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 25 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM Keys to a Successful Skills Management Endeavor Three areas must be worked out for a skills management initiative to be successful 1. Employees have to adopt the program as their own, rather than as a management dictate, including the employees assuming control of their own professional development 2. Supervisors have to surrender some control over employee development 3.Executives must ensure that employees use metrics as a tool for professional development, not as a weapon in cutthroat competition As enterprises turn to technology to reach the next level of corporate performance, IT organizations should identify the skills they need to meet the corporate objectives. Through a program of skills identification, IT organizations can see the holes in their coverage, set priorities for projects, define which training is required, and determine which skills may need third-party coverage. A commitment to funding for training is essential. Conclusions Rarely has a professional field evolved as rapidly as project management. It is totally different from what it was even 10 years ago.The struggle to stay abreast of new and rapidly evolving technologies, to deal with accumulated development and maintenance backlogs, and to cope with people issues has become a treadmill race as software groups work hard just to stay in place. A key goal of disciplined project managers is to avoid the surprises that can occur when these surprises almost always lead to bad news canceled projects, late delivery, cost overruns, dissatisfied customers, outsourcing, termination, and unemployment. Indeed, we need to develop management by surprise (MBS) as a project management technique Keys to a Successful Skills Management Endeavor 25 13_26_ch02. fm Page 26 Friday, September 8, 2000 243 PM As we have discussed in this chapt er, project managers are a special breed of people.The skills that they develop are a cross between a diplomat, ballet dancer, and a Marine Corps drill sergeantall while having the patience of Job. These skills will serve them well for future higher-level positions as Vice Presidents, Chief Information Officers (CIOs), and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the corporations for which they work. The culture of an organization is a critical success factor in its efforts to survive, improve, and flourish. A culture based on a commitment to project management and delivering quality projects and effective management differentiates a team that practices excellent project management from a flock of individual programmers doing their best to ship code. Projects rarely failbut people do. 26 Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project Managers