馃攳
Project Management Career - Is it Right For Me? (Let's be Real) - YouTube
Channel: PM Perspective
[1]
- Welcome back, to the very first episode
[5]
of the PM Perspective Channel.
[8]
I know, I had a couple
of videos out there.
[10]
They've been out there a few years.
[12]
This isn't exactly the first episode,
[15]
but I'm calling it the first episode,
[17]
because, this is the first regular episode
[22]
that I'll be putting out there.
[24]
I'm just celebrating the moment.
[27]
Before we get into today's
topic, I just wanna remind you
[32]
that, for the remainder
of March and for April,
[36]
our topic of discussion
is going to be all about
[38]
how to get a project management job.
[42]
If you have never had a
project management job before,
[45]
and you're out there looking
for your very first one,
[48]
then, I've got lots of stuff this month
[50]
that will be relevant for you.
[53]
That you'll find interesting.
[55]
And, if you have a project management job,
[57]
but, you're maybe looking
for that next opportunity,
[60]
there's gonna be plenty of
great stuff for you as well.
[62]
If you're in either one
of those situations,
[64]
there's a lot of really great information,
[67]
that I'll be sharing with
you over the next few weeks.
[69]
Today's topic is, I think is apropos,
[72]
it's answering the question:
[75]
"Is project management right for me?"
[78]
It is a little more geared
towards the person who
[81]
is looking to break
into project management,
[83]
who hasn't had that job before.
[85]
But I wanna cover today is,
we'll start with talking about
[88]
some of the typical reasons people say
[91]
they wanna get into project management.
[94]
I'll talk about a little bit why some
[96]
of those typical reasons are problematic,
[98]
and then, we'll get into,
I'll list of a number traits
[102]
that I think are very
important for a person to be
[104]
very successful at project management.
[107]
It's probably true that just
about anybody can get into
[110]
project management, but, I
would say that, in my travels,
[114]
I run across a lot of
project managers who,
[117]
they get into the field, they
do it as a full time job,
[121]
they get to a certain point,
and then, they sort of plateau.
[125]
And I think that for many of
those people the reasons are
[129]
because, they don't
exhibit a lot of the traits
[131]
that I'm about to talk about today.
[134]
They don't enjoy, or they
are not passionate about,
[137]
the kinds of things that would take
[139]
their career to the next level.
[141]
There's a bit of a pet peeves of mine,
[144]
I get approached by people all the time,
[146]
who are looking to get
into project management,
[149]
and, they will give me some reasons,
[153]
like:
[155]
"I really think is a good
thing for me because,
[158]
"I'm really well organized, and
I can organize other people.
[162]
"I like to help people
stay on schedule, you know,
[165]
"like, I'll nag them and I'll make sure
[167]
"they finish their tasks on time.
[169]
"I'm really great working with
vendors, if there's problems,
[173]
"I'm the first one to get on
the phone, and solve problems,
[177]
"and I'm good at solving
problems over all, so,
[179]
"I think project management
would be a great job for me."
[181]
I typically would say that to them what,
[183]
"You might be right."
[185]
But, those are all very surface
level type things, that,
[188]
you probably have observed
project managers doing before.
[192]
But in order to really be passionate about
[194]
that sort of stuff and to be good at it,
[197]
there's some underlying traits
that we need to talk about.
[200]
I find that a lot of people will approach
[203]
project management sort
of with this idea that,
[206]
"Well, you know, anyone could do it."
[209]
And I said it earlier, I think
anyone could get into it,
[211]
but I don't think just anyone
could get really good at it.
[215]
I tend to think of project management
[217]
as a similar thing to maybe, an artist,
[222]
right, a project manager and an artist.
[225]
You look at a sculpture
that somebody does,
[228]
and you're in awe of how
amazing the sculpture looks.
[234]
Or maybe, you see an artist,
and she's amazing with
[238]
acrylic painting, or drawing,
or whatever her medium is.
[243]
A lot of people will look
at the art, and they'll say,
[246]
"Wow, I could never do that!"
[249]
They appreciate the
skill that goes into it.
[253]
They don't say, "Well,
I've got a pencil, I could
[255]
"probably do the same thing."
[257]
And yet, people tend to do
that about project management.
[260]
They'll say, "Well, I can make a schedule,
[262]
"I could be a project manager."
[264]
And, I have to have the
conversation with them to say,
[268]
"Yeah, but, there's probably
a little more to it,
[272]
"than you're thinking."
[273]
And in order to get
really good, and to become
[275]
a senior project manager,
or even to go beyond that,
[277]
into the executive level
of project delivery,
[281]
you kind of have to be
passionate about certain things.
[284]
You have to be wired a certain way,
[286]
in order to be truly successful.
[289]
Let's talk about some of those traits.
[291]
First and foremost, the most important,
[294]
if you remember any of them today,
[296]
this is the one I want you to remember.
[298]
The most important trait
a person has to have to be
[301]
very successful as a project manager is,
[304]
they have to have a
genuine interest in people.
[308]
I'm gonna hone in on one of the words
[310]
I used there, "genuine."
[312]
The only way you're gonna get
people to do things for you,
[316]
and that's kind of what
a project manager does,
[318]
they bring a lot of people
together to achieve a goal.
[322]
And they have no formal authority.
[323]
So, in order for a project
manager to be really good
[326]
at getting people to all
align on the same objective,
[331]
which is not an easy
thing, to agree to how
[334]
something is going to be done, and then,
[336]
to go do it, and do it
well, a project manager
[339]
has to have a lot of what I call
[342]
goodwill currency with those people.
[344]
They have to have a lot of,
influence on those people.
[347]
Because, when the chips are
down, and you need people
[350]
maybe, to stay late or
to work a little faster,
[352]
or to work a little harder,
or to solve a problem,
[357]
you need those people
to view you as a leader
[361]
that they don't mind following,
[364]
that they don't mind
staying a little late,
[366]
or going above and beyond for.
[368]
The only way you're gonna do that,
[370]
is to demonstrate to them,
that you care about them.
[373]
Having a genuine interest in people,
[375]
actually wanting to understand
what their day job is.
[379]
Many of those people working
on your project is something
[382]
they're doing off the side of their desk,
[384]
they have a day job, they have a family,
[387]
they've so many other things
going on in their life,
[389]
other than your project.
[391]
The more interested you
are in those things,
[395]
the more interest that you show,
[397]
the more people are likely to believe,
[400]
that you see them as a human being,
[402]
that you appreciate them,
[404]
and they're more willing
to work hard for you.
[408]
If you demonstrate that genuine interest.
[410]
I spent a lot of time on that one.
[412]
I think it's very important though,
[413]
if you're the kind of person
who just doesn't like people,
[417]
or would rather, you
know, like, send emails,
[422]
than go and talk to people,
[424]
if interaction makes you uncomfortable,
[428]
then maybe you might wanna
think about another career.
[431]
Because, people is what project
management is all about.
[435]
Another trait that I think
is very important is,
[439]
this is where people
are gonna be thinking,
[440]
"Ew, I don't know if I like this!"
[443]
Project managers have to
genuinely enjoy politics.
[448]
And, right now, I know
there's people out there
[451]
who are recoiling at what I just said.
[453]
"Politics, oh my goodness!"
[455]
A lot of people will say to me,
[456]
"No, Jason, politics, I
don't go for that stuff.
[459]
"I leave politics out of the equation.
[463]
"I leave it on the wayside,
[464]
"and I just focus on the task at hand."
[467]
And you can tell what I
think about that, right?
[469]
(laughs)
[469]
But, to me, politics is not a bad word,
[473]
politics is just acknowledging the fact,
[477]
that every human being comes to the table
[480]
with their own set of objectives.
[483]
Everybody wants something,
out of whatever it is,
[487]
that you're doing, and that something
[489]
it's a little different
depending on who that person is.
[493]
Let's just acknowledge that
everyone here is a human being,
[496]
they all have their own objectives,
[498]
let's figure our what
those objectives are,
[501]
and if at all possible, we
can find a way to navigate
[505]
through this, and deliver
our project in a way
[509]
that allows everyone to get
most of what they're after,
[513]
then, why the hell not?
[515]
That's good politics.
[516]
Politics doesn't have to be evil,
[518]
it's just the realization
that everyone sitting around
[522]
the table has their own set of objectives.
[525]
Figure out what they are,
and you'll be successful.
[527]
If you hate politics,
and you wish everyone
[530]
would just take their
own personal desires,
[532]
and set them aside, you're
probably gonna struggle
[536]
as a project manager, and
you most certainly won't get
[539]
to become a senior project manager,
[541]
and to start to manage some
of those larger projects.
[544]
Another trait that I
think is very important
[546]
for project managers is, they
need to be healthy skeptic.
[550]
If being skeptical was beaten
out of you at a very young age
[555]
and you just accept what
people tell you at face value?
[558]
Then you're gonna have a really hard time
[560]
doing a good job as a project manager.
[563]
And, when I say skeptical,
I don't just mean,
[564]
when your project team says,
[566]
"Oh, everything's great, we're green."
[568]
That you're skeptical about that.
[571]
Of course you should be,
that's the most obvious place
[574]
where a project manager
should be skeptical.
[577]
You need to find evidence
to back up what people
[580]
are telling you is true about the project.
[582]
But, I am also suggesting
that you need to be skeptical
[586]
when your executive sponsor
comes to you and says,
[590]
"I want you to build this scope,
[592]
"for this amount of money,
within this timeframe."
[595]
Be skeptical about those three things.
[597]
More often than not, those three things,
[599]
were not derived from some deep analysis.
[602]
Those items were picked out of the sky.
[605]
The price they wanna pay.
[607]
The time they think it should take.
[609]
You need to be skeptical that those
[611]
three things actually work together.
[613]
When ever somebody comes to me,
[615]
an executive or even a client and says,
[617]
"I want this for this much
money and this much time."
[619]
My response is always, "We'll see,
[622]
"I'll take it away, we'll analyze it,
[624]
and I'll let you know whether
or not we can do that.
[627]
Being skeptical about all of those things,
[629]
it's just to me, good project management.
[632]
I find that the majority of
the project managers out there,
[635]
they've had the skepticism
beaten right out of them.
[638]
They feel like, "Well, this
person is an executive,
[641]
"they're 10 levels above
me in the organization,
[644]
"when they tell me to do a thing,
[645]
"I've just gotta go do it."
[647]
If that's how you feel,
and that healthy skepticism
[651]
is no longer there within you,
[653]
then, you're probably gonna
struggle as a project manager.
[655]
Cause what will happen is, you'll say,
[657]
"Yes ma'am," or "sir."
[659]
You'll go away and do whatever
it is they asked you to do.
[662]
You won't achieve your objective,
[664]
because those things were
unrealistic to begin with,
[666]
and nobody is gonna to
be thanking you for it,
[668]
and you're gonna feel
like you were set up.
[670]
So, healthy skepticism, very important
[672]
for a project manager to have.
[674]
Going sort of hand in hand with that, is,
[677]
having a keen interest
in the "why" and "how".
[681]
Not so much in the "what".
[685]
A lot of project managers,
[687]
the very first thing they'll say is,
[688]
"What do you want me to
build, and, by when?"
[692]
Those are the two things,
"what" and "when".
[694]
I tend to say, "You know what?
[697]
"If those are your fist questions,
[698]
"let's just put those aside."
[700]
A lot of people feel like,
"Oh, I'm a real go getter.
[701]
"What do you want, and
when do you want it by?
[703]
"I'll make it happen for you."
[705]
Good on you for having that attitude, but,
[707]
let's put those two
things aside for a minute.
[710]
I would much rather have a
PM sitting in front of me,
[713]
who is asking, "But, why do you want this?
[716]
"And, how do you think we should do it?"
[718]
"Why" and "how" are much
more important questions.
[721]
When we're kids we ask "why" a lot.
[724]
And our parents at some point probably got
[726]
totally fed up with us and said,
[728]
"Stop asking me why, It's
just because, just go do."
[733]
And we carry that forward in life,
[735]
and many of us stop asking, "Why?"
[738]
And we stop asking, "How?"
[740]
It's just, "What?"
And, "By when?"
[742]
We feel like we're being
good foot soldiers by saying,
[745]
"What, and, by when?"
[747]
And, we're not supposed
to be foot soldiers,
[748]
we're supposed to be leaders, right?
[749]
Focusing on "why" and
"how", if that's a natural
[752]
tendency for you, if it
hasn't been beaten out of you,
[754]
then, I think you're gonna have,
[756]
an awesome time as a
project manager, because,
[758]
that's exactly what everybody
really needs from you.
[762]
Also, I think a project manager
always has to be playing
[766]
scenarios and considering
possibilities in their heads.
[770]
One of the things that I find
people say to me a lot is,
[775]
"You know, Jason, the whole
organization keeps changing,
[780]
"they change their mind
about what they want,
[783]
"we're changing how we're doing things
[785]
"right in the middle of the project,
[787]
"I mean, if we could just
stop all this change,
[790]
"and we could just execute our plan,
[792]
"everything would be just so much better."
[795]
And I think about those
people, and I think,
[797]
"I am so sorry, that you
feel that way, because,
[800]
that is life, we live in a
constantly changing world."
[806]
A lot of people, who don't
have a lot of experience
[809]
with project management,
are just getting into it,
[811]
they have this vision in their head, that,
[814]
"This is what I'm gonna do, I'm
gonna create a project plan,
[817]
"and we're gonna get the project team
[818]
"to execute against that plan,
[819]
"and we're gonna deliver
on time and on budget,
[821]
"and then, we're all gonna celebrate."
[823]
That's a great dream.
[824]
In my 23 years of delivering projects,
[827]
I have never actually had that happen.
[830]
There's a famous quote, and
I forget who is attributed--
[833]
it's attributed to many
different people, but,
[835]
the quote goes a little
something like this,
[837]
that "No plan survives
contact with the enemy."
[840]
And, what that basically means is,
[842]
you can make all the plans you want,
[843]
but the very moment you engage the enemy,
[848]
you have to change your plans.
[850]
Because, they're not
gonna behave in the way
[852]
that you anticipated, everything
is going to be different.
[856]
A successful project manager, actually,
[858]
is okay with that ever changing landscape.
[861]
They don't lament the fact that people
[863]
can't make up their mind,
that the things keep changing.
[867]
"If they would just stop
changing for a while,
[870]
"then we could get this done."
[872]
If they're more of the
kind of person that goes,
[874]
"Hah, c'est la vie, so it changed."
[877]
And they're okay with that,
they're no stressed by that,
[881]
then, they're gonna make
an awesome project manager.
[884]
I build my plans, and part of the course
[887]
that I'm putting together,
one of the major points
[889]
that I make is, the process
of coming up with a plan,
[892]
the team building around that,
[894]
is actually the more important thing
[896]
than the actual plan itself.
[898]
Because, the plan, is
totally gonna need to change,
[901]
on day one, when you start executing it.
[903]
I guarantee it.
[904]
So, a person who's okay
with that, is gonna do
[907]
very, very well as a project manager.
[910]
The final thing I would say here, is,
[913]
a project manager has to be able
[915]
to trust themselves to make a decision.
[920]
And, often you'll have to make a decision
[923]
with very little information.
[929]
I'm not going to put it that way.
[931]
You'll have to make a decision
[933]
before you have all of the information.
[937]
Everything's not gonna be
perfectly lined up for you
[941]
every time you have to make a call.
[943]
And if you wanna become a
more senior project manager,
[946]
if that's were you wanna head,
[949]
you have to be able to
get as much information
[951]
that's available to you in the moment,
[954]
and then make the call, and
be comfortable with that,
[956]
and live with the fact that you're
[957]
not always going to get it right.
[959]
If you're paralyzed by
fear, and you always
[962]
have to be right, if you
always have to be right,
[964]
and you're a perfectionist,
project management
[967]
might not be for you, if you're
okay with making a mistake
[971]
because you understand
that making a decision,
[975]
the best informed decision
you possibly could make
[977]
is more important than
being right all the time,
[980]
then, you're probably gonna be okay.
[982]
So, anyways, I'm gonna stop here.
[983]
I think I've given you
enough food for thought.
[986]
What I want you to do with it, is,
[988]
think about the things that I mentioned,
[990]
ask yourself, "Is this really, me?"
[993]
And if you think it is, and you say,
[995]
"Yeah, absolutely, I'm
that kind of person,
[997]
"I ask how, and why all the time,
[1003]
"and I haven't had that
skepticism beaten out of me,
[1005]
"and I love politics."
[1007]
Then, great!
[1009]
Then, I'm really exited
for you to go on the rest
[1012]
of this journey with me, cause we got lots
[1014]
of really great stuff for you.
[1016]
If this video has given you
pause, and you're thinking,
[1019]
"Ah, maybe not for me."
[1021]
Then, that's also good, because,
[1022]
I see a lot of people, get
into project management
[1025]
as a profession, they
get to a certain level,
[1029]
probably they do finally make it to PM,
[1031]
like they go from junior
PM to PM, and then,
[1035]
they just sort of plateau,
and they get very frustrated,
[1038]
and they're like, "Well,
I've been a PM for 15 years,
[1041]
"why am I not getting
the bigger projects?"
[1045]
And chances are, it's
because some of these stuff.
[1048]
They're just not passionate about people,
[1051]
they keep lamenting the fact
that the world is changing,
[1055]
and that's why they're not
getting the bigger projects.
[1057]
Cause, they're just not comfortable enough
[1059]
to be able to take it to the next level.
[1061]
So, think about those things.
[1063]
I hope you find this information useful.
[1067]
If you did, and you think
other project managers
[1069]
might find it useful too, then,
[1071]
what I'll like to ask you to do
[1072]
is to interact with
the video a little bit,
[1074]
that will allow you to present this video
[1077]
to more project managers.
[1078]
Take a little trip bellow
the video here, and tell me.
[1081]
Did you like the information?
[1082]
Give me a thumbs up.
[1083]
If you didn't, it didn't work for you,
[1085]
then fine, thumbs down.
[1086]
Either way, fine by me.
[1087]
Leave me a comment, in
the comment section.
[1090]
Tell me, did this sort
of clinch it for you?
[1093]
Did you go, "Yeah, totally,
you've made me even
[1095]
"more exited about project
management than I was before!"
[1098]
Awesome!
I wanna hear that.
[1100]
Or even if, maybe, this video has maybe
[1103]
potentially stopped you from
making a bit of a mistake.
[1105]
Let me know.
[1106]
I really would like to hear that too.
[1108]
That's the whole reason
why I'm doing this video.
[1110]
And if you haven't already, please,
[1112]
hit the subscribe button,
and next to that button,
[1115]
you see a little bell icon,
if you wanna be notified
[1118]
when the next video comes out,
[1119]
go ahead and click that as well.
[1121]
The next video that I have for you,
[1124]
which will be coming out next Friday,
[1125]
is all about, compensation
for project managers.
[1130]
What are project managers,
getting paid these days.
[1134]
Thank you, for sticking with
me on the very first episode.
[1138]
I hope you enjoyed it, and I look forward
[1140]
to seeing you in the next video.
Most Recent Videos:
You can go back to the homepage right here: Homepage