Falling into Project Management: Is it right for everyone?
Imagine the following: You’re Silvia — a design engineer in a top-level technical corporation. You have been working in a team of 8 engineers for several years now, and are working for increasingly complex, major projects. In one of those projects, suddenly, an opportunity arises to take on more responsibility as the Project Manager. Should you, Silvia, take it?
Project Management involves planning, executing, and overseeing projects to achieve specific goals and objectives within defined constraints such as time, budget, and scope/quality. In today’s ever-changing business environment, project management has emerged as a critical discipline that drives organizational success. I like to say a Project Manager is a conductor of an orchestra – he/she sets the pace, gives direction, and brings the team together.
Accidental Project Manager: Many individuals, just like Silvia, become Project Managers not by design but by circumstance. This is what we call the “accidental project manager” — a well-known term due to its frequent occurrence.
Becoming the accidental project manager is in fact more frequent than we think. The phenomenon of professionals unintentionally becoming PM’s, often without formal training in the discipline, occurs often (especially if the transition occurs due to promotions or organizational needs). The field of Project Management in itself has also grown globally, with increasing demand for PM roles in organizations. The accidental PM’s may initially struggle with their new responsibilities, in particular in the case that no formal hand-over transition period is given or that organizations do not identify the need of formal training.
If you already find yourself in this situation, here some tips & tricks to get you started 📚:
- Learn about Project Management principles & concepts (e.g. baseline, EVM, project plan, SPI, among many more).
- Research Project Management methods & tools within your organization. This includes the PM methodology utilised (agile, predictive, hybrid).
- Take care of key PM elements (that may seem insignificant) such as: stakeholder identification, requirement gathering, project baselining.
- Connect with experienced Project Managers inside and/or outside your organisation for knowledge transfer.
Here are some awesome resources (The Accidental Project Manager, PMI 2011 and How To Start A Project As An Accidental Project Manager, Simon Harris 2022), if you find yourself in this situation already 😊.
If you are an organisation introducing accidental PM’s, consider formally recognising the PM role and offering PM resources/training for these individuals; potentially offered through a PMO function (Project Management Office) as a Centre of Competence 💻.
Although the fate of Silvia is that of many (it’s actually a pretty great job!), falling into PM is not necessarily the only form of professional development for engineers. In my experience, career progression from a technical role can take the following forms:
- Technical Expert: individual with level of technical expertise and authority as reference for technical decisions (in Silvia’s case, probably in a specific area of expertise – e.g. design engineer for metallic joints in critical areas).
- Technical Team Leader: leads a team of technical professionals as direct reports (in Silvia’s case, probably of design engineers).
- Project Manager or Leader: leads a multifunctional team as functional reports (in Silvia’s case, the project team).
In all honesty, it is very important to consider IF taking such an opportunity even makes sense. After all, Silvia’s role is most certainly rewarding, dynamic and challenging; she has also shown excellent performance (or else she would not be offered a promotion).
What should Silvia consider for this next step?
👍 Why Should You Get into PM?
To determine if project management is a good fit for you, consider the following scenarios. As a Project Manager you will be expected to:
- Take on a leadership role and guide teams towards a common goal.
- Make decisions and handle pressure to resolve difficult situations.
- Resolve conflicts and disputes amongst team members and project stakeholders.
- Communicate confidently with broad types of audience, including executive management.
- Engage in problem-solving tasks and changing environments.
- Use your strong organisational and time management skills in your daily work and project monitoring.
If any of these scenarios makes your skin crawl (or all of these!), you need to ask yourself if you are willing to step out of your comfort zone. Developing towards a PM to get more comfortable in these situations is possible; it’s whether you want to and are willing to put in the effort required.
👎 Why Should You NOT Get into PM?
While the Project Management discipline can be rewarding, it is not without its challenges. Dealing with stressful situations and working under pressure are common occurrences, as PM’s are expected to deliver projects within strict constraints.
You, as the PM, are accountable for the project delivery. If difficulties occur, even if they are not your fault, you are fully responsible to resolve issues as much as possible.
The PM role can also require long hours and a high level of commitment. Learning how to prioritise your personal tasks and activities is absolutely key.
Now, are you (like Silvia) ready to take on this exciting, challenging new role as a Project Manager? Best of luck! 👏
Follow me on Instagram: cedmonds_is
Follow me on Medium: Catherine Edmonds
