This chat with my daughter made me stop and think about the profession of the project manager. Many certified project managers agree that project manager is a profession. They want to make a living as interim project managers, managing projects for clients, or running project after project in a large company, working as a member of a PMO, etc. They have an academic degree, but finally, due to twists and turns of fate, they ended up specializing in project management.
When they meet strangers and are asked “What do you do?” They answer “I’m a software engineer and I manage projects”, “I’m a telecommunication engineer and I manage projects” “I’m an architect and I manage projects”, “I’m a chemist and I work for a pharmaceutical company managing projects to develop new medicines”, etc. Despite managing projects full time, they don’t usually answer “I’m a project manager in IT, in telecommunication, in construction, in drug development”. Notice they were asked about their profession, not the academic degree.
Over 50 years ago, experts agreed a new discipline was needed to turn ideas into reality. Operations management was good to manage the day-to-day business, not to manage the creation of new products, services or results, or any kind of organizational change.
Experts agreed a new set of tools, techniques and processes were needed in order to finish projects on time, on cost, delivering the value and meeting the business goals, and then to be transitioned to operations. Regardless the industry, all projects are expected to be initiated, planned, executed, controlled, and closed. Project professionals share best practices to manage requirements, scope, time, cost, quality, resources, communications, risks, procurement, and stakeholders. Little by little, a discipline named project management began to differentiate and specialize.
Projects should not last forever. Project manager will never be recognized as a profession if project management is mixed with operations management. Good project professionals start projects with the end in mind. The temporary aspect of a project is essential in professional management. Projects are closed after transitioning the result, service, or product to operations. If the project is long-lasting, it can be divided into phases, each of them managed as a project from initiation to closing. Incremental value should be delivered at the end of each phase. Phasing and continue value delivery is a core activity when managing agile projects.
I will help pull everyone’s needs together and plan this project to see if project objectives can be met. I will adjust stakeholder expectations and the project plan, so they are realistic and achievable. Then, I will ensure a common understanding, take corrective actions, and keep everyone focused to keep the project on track, or I will just fire myself!