21st century project management competencies

Defense AT&L, Jan-Feb, 2007 by Wayne Turk

Let's talk about the 21st century for a minute. A few years ago, anyone mentioning the 21st century was either talking about the seemingly distant future or science fiction. It is not the future any more, but the here and now, and the 21st century program manager needs a whole new portfolio of competencies.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In the beginnings of project management, back when dinosaurs roamed the backyard, there was no training for PMs, no certifications, no professional organizations; the only requirement was to get the job done. Project management has even been called the "accidental profession" because people just stumbled into it. They were picked to run a project and had to learn by trial and error. And there were lots of errors to learn from.

But as people began to share information, project management slowly became codified and more organized, and good practices were noted. Professional organizations like PMI (the Project Management Institute) came into being. Professional courses were developed. Seminars and conferences began to be held. Schools began to teach project management. In fact, schools like the Defense Acquisition University were developed to teach best practices and prepare PMs and those in associated fields to run successful projects. We saw the first vestiges of certifications; however, certifications of any kind were the exception rather than the rule. These days, however, more and more certifications are available--and sometimes required.

Professional Certifications

Admittedly certifications are only one measure of competency, but they are a visible and tangible measure. Certifications show that a person has met certain requirements and can be depended on to have specific skills and knowledge. Government agencies are in a state of flux as far as certifications go; sometimes they are required, and sometimes they aren't. As is so often the case, different government agencies are going in different directions. Even the rules in DoD are changing.

Congress provided guidance for DoD through the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Acts. Because of DAWIA and DAWIA II, DoD is both constrained in what it can do and encouraged (read "directed") toward what it must do for a more professional and streamlined workforce. DAWIA begat the first requirements for PM certifications in DoD. While certifications are still required for some DoD PM positions, more flexibility on tenure and requirements for years of experience has been added under DAWIA II. The primary goal of both acts is in the name: Acquisition Workforce Improvement. I won't make the usual comments about getting more help than we need from Congress because the goal is admirable ... and the help is needed in this case.

DoD certifications come primarily from DAU training courses, after which people are certified at different levels: Level I -- Basic; Level II -- Intermediate; and Level III -- Advanced. The Air Force Institute of Technology and the Naval Postgraduate School are also good sources of professional education for the PM in search of relevant degrees, certification, and continuing education.

Other agencies, most notably NASA and Health and Human Services, have instituted requirements for certifications in some cases. They are also providing training to help with those certifications. Most other agencies either haven't instituted requirements for certification yet, or their initiatives are still in the embryonic stage.

In and outside of government, the PMI certification of Project Management Professional (PMP) is probably seen by most as the gold standard. PMI has been acknowledged as the leader in the field and has more than 200,000 members, representing 125 countries. It sets a level of required expertise and professionalism that is recognized nationally and internationally in its PMP certification. Dozens of companies and organizations provide courses and help for individuals to achieve PMP.

It is not just in the United States that there is a movement toward required certifications. Many other counties, including Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom are on the certification bandwagon.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Certification requirements for more positions are probably just over the horizon. PMs, and those who want to be PMs, need to start preparing for them. But they are just one measure, just one of the competencies that are--or may be--required in this new century.

Practical Competencies

As a PM, you have to manage:

* People -- your team and those associated personnel who sometimes work with you; upper management; the end users; the vendors; and everyone else who is a stakeholder.

* The financial intricacies -- both what you plan to spend and what you do spend (often seemingly unrelated to each other).

* The schedule -- the project schedule and all the individual tasks that are part of it.

Each of these areas requires somewhat different, but related, management competencies.

Managing People

Good project management requires good people-management skills. New managers frequently have few, if any, people-management skills and usually aren't really trained in managing. Upper management too often believes that if a person has great technical skills, then he or she can manage--and too many projects have problems because that isn't the case. But take heart if you're a new manager (or even a not-so-new one) because people-management skills can be learned. There are training courses. Mentors are always a possibility. There are books and articles on the subject. Take advantage of what is available to learn both the technical and people side of project management. Then put theory into practice.