What makes a Project professional?
There is an old adage: do they have 10 years experience or 2 years repeated 5 times?
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away…well, as a young manager in the London Electricity Board….. I learned the difference between experience and capability. In my project career I have had the privilege of working with great project professionals and …………other project people. Some great professionals with no certification, some well qualified, some certified people with little ability and some with the title and nothing else.
While I have a view on this I would like to garner the views of others through an unstructured survey. I.e. not a questionnaire.
Here is some food for thought:
[a] ??Is it about what competencies a project person has, such as those defined by both the APM and PMI in competency frameworks?
[b] Is there a project professional mindset, a set of behaviours, and if so what?
[c] Is it the level of Qualification, such as APM’s Project Professional Qualification (PPQ) or PMI’s Project Management Professional (PMP)?
[d] Is it defined by IPMA certification levels A-D?
[e] Some organisations such as Shell and Experian have specific levels of capability which define the nature of projects someone is allowed to lead.
[f] Does it make a difference what role you are in? E.g. is there a natural progression from project to programme manager – or not?
[g] Is multi-sector experience a factor?
[h] And where do APM Fellows fit in? Those applying have to demonstrate both considerable Capability but also contribution to the profession.
[i] Is it having Chartered Status?
[j] Does it have anything to do with agility?
…..Or a combination of these or ?something else? ?
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How can we frame what constitutes a project professional. There is a sort of equation I have used which may help:
If you have a view you wish to share, please contact me at : [email protected] with your thoughts. It would help if you could boil it down to succinct bullet points. To give some context could I also ask for your current role, time in the project profession and sectors you have worked in please.
It would be amazing to have responses from around the world as great PM professionals are everywhere, as I have found as an APM International LevelUp panel member.
Please share with your networks if you will.
When I publish the results NO personal details will be provided.
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Incredible professional people in the title graphic
Eric Clapton – needs no introduction
Margaret Hamilton - American Computer Scientist, Systems Engineer
Yang Ho – Chinese Olympic diver
Plus a selection of amazing people from the project profession:
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N.B. This article does not ask whether or not project management is a profession, but assumes that it is. In this instance I am not interested in debating that topic. If you are interested I suggest the following excellent piece:
Bringing strategy & execution together
12 个月I think (for me) there's 2 aspects to your question Adrian - 1. What are the characteristics of a project professional? 2. What makes a 'good' project professional? This is in the same way one may ask what differentiates a 'Medical Doctor'? At the baseline (for both) is the knowledge, skills, and training to 'do the job'. Note this is not prescribing 'how', simply that you 'can'. So this is several steps beyond the idea of the 'accidental Project Manager'. Simply because you're organized and like lists doesn't make you a 'project professional'. Second is 'how you approach the role'. I think for a project professional it requires approaching the role (and projects) from an ownership and accountability aspect. You *want* to be accountable and deliver, you want to make things better, etc. And a 3rd aspect is in relation to your 10yrs/2yrs adage - you *want* to be better next year than you are now. So you're constantly growing and learning. Anything less and it's not a 'profession' for you, it's just a 'job'.
Helping to transform your operational leaders into high performing problem solvers, leading to process waste reduction by 15-20% while adding to profit making. Let's talk.
12 个月Great post, thank you for sharing!