Being a Project Manager: Emerging Skills, Aptitudes and Expectations
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SERVICES SOLUTIONS SPEAKER LOCATION DATE Being a Project Manager: Emerging Skills, Aptitudes and Expectations Don Southey (Computacenter and PROMS-G) BCS Nottingham & Derby Group October 2006
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Being a Project Manager: Emerging Skills, Aptitudes and Expectations. Don Southey (Computacenter and PROMS-G) BCS Nottingham & Derby Group October 2006. Background as a Project Manager. “Top Teams” in Rank Xerox IT / quality projects for Epcot Ltd & BNFL Computacenter – last 8 years - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of Being a Project Manager: Emerging Skills, Aptitudes and Expectations
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Being a Project Manager: Emerging Skills, Aptitudes and Expectations
Don Southey (Computacenter and PROMS-G)
BCS Nottingham & Derby Group
October 2006
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Background as a Project Manager
“Top Teams” in Rank Xerox
IT / quality projects for Epcot Ltd & BNFL
Computacenter – last 8 years
Corporate / Govt. clients nationwide
Wide variety of ICT projects
Nearly always “someone else’s project”
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Often an interruption to the ‘real’ work
Technically defined
Given to technically able
Minimum of tools or training
No methodology
Projects: the old way
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Projects: the hard way ?
Lack of success causing rethink
Tighter discipline & control required
Specialists, groups, departments
Bright spots: PRINCE / PMI
Kaizen
LTQ / QIP (Xerox)
Focus on Business Need
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Used to be given to ‘techies’
Now recognised as distinct
Similar to:‘good techie ≠ good supervisor’
Also distinct from team leader
Among OGC’s ‘core skills’
Basic competence for all
Trend 1: Project management a specialism
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More change within a project
More need to manage change
More need to define dynamically
More need to review objectives
More focus on business case
Trend 2: Change is here to stay
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Convergence of telecomms, media and computing: predicted 6 yrs ago
2004-6, IPT / VoIP: IT PMs bidding for replacement telephony networks
Process Control over Internet, RFID
R- & TVoIP, Geo-Text, FIPDA …
Tomorrow ?
Economics of churn
Security, trust and resilience
Trend 3: Convergence but not simplification
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Used to focus on methodology
Necessary for clarity & control
Client’s aims and aspirations
Understanding business case
Managing expectations
Persuading stakeholders
Motivating team in teeth of change
Trend 4: Less about charts, more about people
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Competition
Cannot ignore ‘tight’ clients
Small projects – team of one:Senior/assistant unaffordable
Faster delivery
More reporting and control
Systems & time management
Tailoring
Saying “No”
Trend 5: More and more with less and less
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Competition: 2nd corollary
Managed Services
Developing World
Response to encroachment
People buy from people
International virtual teams
“Follow the Sun”
‘Middle layer’ offshoring ?
Trend 6: Up the food chain
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IT is slowly being seen as central to the whole enterprise
First essential: money
Second essential: information
Desire for visibility and control
To higher management
Cf. Product vs Production line
Pushback: Business accountability
Trend 7: Governance
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Matrix reporting
Cooperative ventures
The Internet = The Matrix
MS: ‘borrowed’ resources
Ephemeral alliances
Virtualisation
The BAU-free enterprise
Marketplace of specialists
Trend 8: Enter the Matrix
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Less on systems, more on end service
Turnkey package
Penalties and fines
Litigation
Recording
Risk management
New threats
P.I.I.
Trend 9: Accountability for results
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Less certainty, more responsibility
MS – ‘business within the business’
Portfolios and programmes
‘Organic’ interdependence
Dynamic requirements
Dynamic objectives
Trend 10: Complexity and dynamism
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(Based on Mark Seely / Quang Duong, 2005)
The limits of management Rules based: dynamic procedures By Method: dynamic designs By Objectives: dynamic requirements By Values: dynamic objectives By Politics? – dynamic values
To boldly go where no PM has gone before?
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M. Eng, traditional engineering
Early interest in computing
Moved to modern industry
Got experience in IT and PM
Took management qualification
Tried contracting
Became PM for IT service firm
Took break to run charity logistics projects
Caught in the services ‘squeeze’
Moved into MS & programme management
Retired to Brasil and teaches project management
A possible case history ?
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Thank you for your time.
Questions ?
Contact information: email: [email protected]
01707 – 631000
www.computacenter.com
