How Do I Become a Project Manager?

Project management refers to "the use of specialized knowledge, skills, tools and methods in project activities to enable projects to meet or exceed the needs and expectations of project stakeholders." This definition goes beyond the use of specialized knowledge and skills The importance of participants in project management was also emphasized. The project manager must not only strive to achieve the scope, time, success, and quality of the project, but also coordinate the entire project process to meet the needs and expectations of the project participants and other stakeholders.

Project manager

Right!

Project management refers to "the use of specialized

What is the driving force behind the development of new business enterprises in the 21st century? Someone said: Project management. American scholar David Cleland also said that in managing global market changes, strategic management and project management will play a key role. In foreign countries, such as NASA, IBM, Siemens, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, project management is used as a strategic management activity for innovation management and crisis management processes. Projects are used as profit centers to monitor corporate performance and Analyze significant deviations and predict their impact on the organization. At home, as China s economy is increasingly integrated into the global economic system, international competition is becoming increasingly fierce, and various projects have become an important component of China s current economic development. The quality of project implementation has become the most important issue for the country, enterprises and society.

China obtains about US $ 3 billion in loans from the World Bank each year and operates many projects through international tendering, procurement, consulting, and BOT. In this era of project development, the project management model is not only an important tool and method for solving problems, but also It has become a major form of government or enterprise organization and management in the 21st century, and a wave of talents and applications for project management has come to the fore.

So what exactly is project management? First, we need to give an accurate definition of the project. The so-called project is a one-time work task that is interconnected to achieve a certain purpose under the constraints of established resources and requirements. In simple terms, developing a new product, building a large house, and arranging a performance can be called a project. Project management refers to "using specialized knowledge, skills, tools, and methods in project activities to enable projects to meet or exceed the needs and expectations of project stakeholders." This definition does not just emphasize the use of specialized knowledge and skills It also emphasizes the importance of various participants in project management. The project manager must not only strive to achieve the scope, time, success, and quality of the project, but also coordinate the entire project process to meet the needs and expectations of the project participants and other stakeholders.

At present, there are two major project management research systems: the International Project Management Association (IPMA) and the American Project Management Association (PMI). China introduced the PMI project management knowledge system in the United States in the late 1990s, and in June 2000, the first PMP exam in China was organized by Hyundai Excellence Group. At present, China has organized eleven PMP exams and passed 3000 People (about November 2003), nearly 50,000 people received project management training, nearly 3,000 companies, and project management training and certification are getting hotter.

With the intensification of economic globalization, modern enterprises are facing severe competitive pressure than ever before, and new products, new technologies and new processes are introduced almost every day. In fact, any innovation and reform is a project activity. Due to the common characteristics of one-off and uniqueness of these tasks, people increasingly realize that it is difficult to cope with conventional operation management, and special project teams must be formed to adopt project management methods. Therefore, there is a strong demand for project management. The World Bank manages each loan as a project; Motorola is a world-renowned telecommunications equipment and service provider that launched a plan in the 1990s to improve its project management capabilities; and the fact Rather than eloquence, as early as 1957, when DuPont of the United States applied the project management method to equipment maintenance, the maintenance downtime was drastically reduced from 125 hours to 79 hours. China is no exception. The need for project management permeates almost any form of organization and plays a transformative role.

However, at present, whether it is the specification of project management in actual operation or as a discipline, it is still in the stage of continuous development, and many places need to be improved. At present, a bottleneck problem encountered in project management in China is the shortage of project management talents. On the one hand, domestic companies are more and more aware of the importance of project management to the success of the project, so they pay more and more attention to project management; on the other hand, among the large number of people currently engaged in project management, there are people with project management theory and practical experience Only very few. In reality, most of the people who become project managers come from people who are more experienced in their profession in various industries. Most of them are exploring some effective methods of project management in the dark by feeling and understanding, and because their business knowledge is good, They are often promoted to project management. (Working on projects and working on project management are two different concepts). The result is exactly what had been anticipated in Peter's Principles: "Everyone is promoted from a position that he was capable of to a position that he cannot."

In the United States, project management has now become the preferred profession. According to statistics, the annual salary of junior staff engaged in project management is $ 45,000- $ 55,000, intermediate staff is $ 6.5-8.5, and senior staff is $ 1130-300,000. American universities have begun setting up master's degrees in project management, and there is a tendency to replace MBA professional degrees. Statistics from several well-known websites and domestic authoritative organizations on the current demand for and the compensation of urgently needed talents in the society show that project management professionals are at the top of the list! This shows that the whole society attaches great importance to project managers.

All aspects of project managers in modern enterprises

In the enterprise, project management has constituted the growth point of enterprise benefits; in the project, the project manager plays a vital role and often determines the success or failure of the entire project. Therefore, there should be a broad and profound understanding of the requirements for the quality of project managers. In many developed countries, project managers have become a unique profession, and they can base themselves on society with their professional knowledge and skills like teachers, architects, and accountants. At present, only a few industries and a few institutions in the country can use a more scientific and standardized project management system for internal project management. Most companies still use the let it go method or a system based on the past experience of the unit. Project management; while SMEs have many projects, the project management mechanism is not very sound.

So what kind of project managers do modern companies need?

1. Modern enterprises need project managers to implement corporate strategies

Regardless of whether it is a project management company or a project management (MBP) company, the company's strategy is implemented by project management as a tactical management, and the work performance of the company's management is based on whether the organization's strategic goals are achieved For the measurement, we can see the importance of project managers in implementing corporate strategy.

2. Modern enterprises need market-oriented project managers

The market is changing rapidly, it is like an invisible hand, exerting influence on the health of the project from all angles. Because all projects in the core of the company's business must be inextricably linked with the market, project managers need to pay attention to market trends, accurately grasp the pulse of the market, and make timely correct decisions that reflect market requirements, rather than relying on their own subjectivity Decide to manage the project or be a rigid project executor.

3. Modern enterprises need customer-oriented project managers

An enterprise without customers does not exist, and any modern enterprise urgently needs to establish a customer-oriented corporate culture environment, taking the needs of customers as the highest interests of the enterprise. In the process of project management, the project manager is completely project-centric, and the project serves customers, so the project manager should be customer-centric.

4. Modern enterprises need goal-oriented project managers

One of the salient features of the project is the goal characteristics, including schedule, cost, quality and scope goals. The completion of the project is premised on the achievement of these goals. These goals are mutually constrained and affected. For example, the reduction of the budget is unchanged in the scope. Under the premise, it may cause the extension of the construction period or the reduction of quality. Due to the existence of project constraints and changes in environmental conditions, the project manager often needs to manage the project objectives through appropriate trade-offs.

5. Modern enterprises need mature project managers

For modern enterprises to pursue healthy and stable development, they need to establish a mature project management structure system. Enterprise projects are being produced one by one and ending one after another. Project management capabilities are one of the core capabilities of modern enterprises, and they continuously improve the core capabilities of the organization to provide guarantees for achieving the organization's strategic goals.

How to be a good project manager

Jacky is a project manager of an IT company. He has been promoted to project manager because of his outstanding performance in the project team, but has been unable to enter the state after two years of work. He is definitely an authoritative expert for professional technology, but he often appears to deal with customers. Fatigue. Some time ago he received a project to develop a company's personnel management software, but the project was halfway through, and the client had to change his intentions, affecting the direction of the entire project. But customers are reluctant to pay for project changes, making Jacky miserable.

Susan, a girl who smiles brightly, speaks and does things very vocally and has a PMP certificate. She thinks she knows the project management process well, but she encountered problems in the actual operation process. She did handle the communication and coordination issues very well. She was optimistic, but in the face of unexpected situations in the project, the risks that may occur did not have enough foresight, and she was often "attacked" by surprise. On one occasion, the project team was temporarily paralyzed because the backbone of the project team was temporarily sick and no substitute was found.

As far as the current situation is concerned, although many people who are engaged in project manager work can complete a project within a given time, it may not be a truly successful project management. Successful project management is based on achieving all the established goals; many people have tested With the PMP certificate, you may not be able to become a qualified or even outstanding project manager immediately.

In many non-project management enterprises, such a dilemma is encountered when managing a project. David is the manager of the company's marketing department and is organizing the company's New Year party. With his coordination ability, it is absolutely no problem to communicate with the departments to prepare for the program and participate in the organization, but because of its absolute lack of authority, he encountered an awkward situation in the organization of the New Year team project. Therefore, as a company level, the authority of the project manager must also be established.

In PMBOK, project management is generally divided into 9 knowledge areas, scope management, time management, cost management, quality management, human resources management, communication management, procurement management, risk management and overall management. As a project manager, you must continuously improve in these 9 aspects. As a company, you should provide enough space for project managers to show their talents. Only by taking a two-pronged approach can it be possible to cultivate an outstanding project manager.

Expert Vision: Professor Hu Yunfeng (Senior Consultant of Shanghai Zhuoer Yue Management Technology Consulting Co., Ltd., PMP)

Different project sizes have different requirements for project managers. Therefore, how to become an excellent project manager depends on the size of the project it manages. This article will discuss the situation of projects above the appropriate size.

According to a sample survey conducted by a project management consulting company in the United States on the project managers of several large and medium-sized companies in the United States, a statistical data on the career development of the project manager is obtained, as shown in the table below. From this material, it can be seen that the training of a Senior Project Manager by an enterprise requires a career accumulation process from a single function, a single major, to a related major, or multiple majors. It usually takes about 15 years.

Career stage	age	Roles	control
1	twenty one	Start New Start	Single function (function)
2	twenty three	Team member Team Member	Single function
3	25	Team leader Team Leader	Single function
4	28	Intermediate Project Manager Junior Project Manager	Single profession (Profession)
5	33	project manager Project Manager	Related majors
6	38	Senior Project Manager Senior Project Manager	Several professions
7	40	Project director Project Director	industry (Industry)

The above table just lists the career development stages of the project manager from the age and role of the project manager. Below we talk about the key points to be an excellent project manager from the perspective of actual project operation.

1. Necessary professional and technical qualities

Any project involves special expertise, such as IT, automotive, civil construction, and so on. The project manager must have a sufficient degree of understanding of these technologies. This is the so-called "expert authority" that the project manager sometimes needs to use. But the project manager's reliance on this position is not his professional and technical qualities, but his leadership and management capabilities.

2. Strengthen planning and control capabilities

Planning and control are at the core of project management.

The plan is a communication process in which the project manager uses effective communication skills and other abilities, combined with organizational policies, project goals, constraints, and other factors to reach a consensus on 5W2H with the relevant personnel of the project. It is the management of project goals (including organizational goals and personal goals).

Planning and control are twin brothers. Without planning, control is meaningless. Project control is the action taken after the deviation of the project execution results compared with the plan (including scope changes), including the identification of deviation magnitudes, deviation treatment and change procedures.

3. Communication and coordination skills

One of the main roles of the project manager is Integration. The so-called integration is to organically combine the various deliverables of a project in a certain time, space and logical order according to the requirements of the project goals. It has to deal with each functional department, and also with project stakeholders including customers, suppliers and even banks, government departments and so on. All of this requires the project manager to be responsible for integration, and he needs constant communication and coordination between these functional departments and project stakeholders.

A person who is introverted and unfamiliar with the language required to communicate with these project stakeholders, a person who does not have the appropriate communication skills, and a person who does not know how to formulate a communication plan cannot complete effective communication and coordination. Unable to complete project integration.

4. Risk awareness

The one-time and uniqueness of the project determines the risk of the project. Professionally educated project managers will not make bold commitments, and they must conduct adequate risk identification and analysis during the project planning stage, and make a good plan for Contingency Planning and Response Planning; when the project enters the implementation stage Later, risk tracking and monitoring needs to be performed periodically.

5. Leadership

Leadership is manifested in direction, decision-making, and influencing others. Project managers must be motivated, strong-willed, energetic, passionate, and confident. When the team is anxious or loses confidence, the project manager needs to give them a sense of encouragement and direction; when the project is going well, he needs to point out the problems and difficulties that the project may face. In addition, project managers need to have sufficient political awareness and courage.

6. Take the project's end seriously

In the closing phase, it is necessary to deal with the "random tail" work and quality rework (Punch List) of items that seem to be incomplete; there are also a series of issues such as accounts receivable and accounts payable, team stability , Product acceptance issues and other situations. The quality of the closing work is even directly related to the overall evaluation of the project by the project stakeholders. Therefore, project managers who are truly professional will attach great importance to the completion of the project and start and finish the project.