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In some projects issues arise in that when chosing a project manager with a particular discipline - they will focus more on that and try and run the project based on it - not always taking into account the input from other parts of the value chain. A manager needs to have3 skills: Interpersonal, Conceptual and Technical Technical being able to set-up good systems that track the project through its phases. Someone who sees the whole picture, facilitate and ensure that the team contains the specialists in each required discpline to make the project cost effective and running well.
I beleive from my expereinces that the best project manager (PM) is the guy who can combine the following:
1- Technical expereince in the same field/descipline
2- Great project management expereince
But in my opinion if PM has no#1 but he has n't no.#2 then the project will be lost.
I think for majority of the cases, it's unwise to NOT select a PM because he/she is from a particular discipline. Project management is all about applying Art and Science. Art is what a PM is, interpersonal, conflct management, background, experiences. Science is all about knowledge about project management and especially standards, ex: knowing what is a CPM, Scheduling, Risks etc etc. So, one could think that while NOT selecting, his/her Art is being questioned and may not want those Art to be applied due to specific reasons which I guess should be very rare.
Knowledge of the domain will help 'talk the talk' with the stakeholders however smart PM's just get what Art has to be applied the moment they review the charter and initial discussion with stakeholders. The beauty of PM skill and I believe with finance too is that irrespective of the function we should be able to relate to all the industries. I have seen folks who has done Civil, Railway, IT, Rocket launching project and programs with ease and smartly. So, it's all about knowing PROJECT MANAGEMENT rather than anything else. Typically there is a preference for folks who knows the domain well than others who doesn't know the domain but as long as PM's are smart enough- which should be figured out during the interview :-), we shouldn't stop anyone because of a specific backgroud or proficiency.
Thanks,
Abdul Rahiman
PMP,RMP,SP,ITILv3,CSM.
Hi Erika,
Well, Yes, Psychology plays a good part with the job you were used to doing. I've noticed this all my life (I am young though)
If you are looking for a PM to deal with EPC, then similar experience is mandatory and you can't have someone with Bid Management instead. As you mentioned above, it will cause a well-imbalance in the project.
Moreover, I don't go with the statement that a good PM can handle projects from all verticals, if so, I would want to see some PM with a Real Estate Background all his/her life, dealing with NASA's Mars Odessey. It doesn't make sense.
First you need to prove that you can create a model, that works by itself, so that in the absence of the project manager itslef, the model will do job for him. This is enormously difficult because sometimes it would last more than doing the project; but this is where you start breaking down the structure of work so it can granular enough to be modeled. So if anyone can do this they can do almost any area, as long as the team can fill in the holes, due to the degree of specialization needed for specific tasks.
I would be a little controversial on it. Before being PM, one should be a good professional in the field. You cannot be a good PM for an IT project without knowing anything about programming, You can be a PM, but you'll lose a lot of time trying to understand the real issues, not to mention that you'll have to fully rely on the programmers to know whether a solution is appropriate or not. And, these guys are being in a litle bit of conflict of interests, isn't it? On one hand, they should deliver, on the other hand, subjectively, they will provide the solution which is more comfortable for themselves. Same in any other project, or field. And this leads to another problem: Selection is made, in first instance, by HR specialized individuals, which are mainly specialized in psichology or related fields, and rarely capable of properly asessing the purely professional skills, which may lead to situations when applications of the most skilled PMs are not selected, while thyose of less skilled, but more psichologically "on standard" are.
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