Hatching the Complete

Project Manager

Presented by:

Nichole Harding and Pavi Pillay13 November 2019

AGENDA

Introduction Environmental Assessment Incubation Approach

Hatching Case Studies Taking Flight Q&A

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND

Getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off

the bus, and the right people in the right seats

(Jim Collins – From Good to Great)

Hatching = Getting the right people on the right bus

PM Technical Skills

Organization Requirements

Organization CulturePM Competencies & Characteristics

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Content

• Industry Research Findings

• Case Studies

Key Findings

• “The Textbook PM” and

“The Complete PM”

• Investment increases long

term PM and organisational

success

• Financial and non-financial

benefits

Benefits to You (WIFM)

• As a decision maker

• As a PM

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

REQUIREMENTS PER TYPE OF PROJECT MANAGER

This sample represented in the chart has been drawn from

129 job specifications received for Project Managers during

the period of January 2017 - July 2019.

This included companies from the following industries:

• Financial Services Industry

• Retail Industry

• Insurance Industry

• IT Industry

• Consulting Industry

26%

17%

53%

4%

Business Finance IT Digital

Type of Project Manager

The data reflected here depicts requirements received from corporates

Financial Industry Qualifications Retail Industry Qualifications

• Minimum 3 year Diploma in Information

Systems; and/or

• BCom (Information Systems); and/or

• BSc (Computer Science or Information

Systems); and/or

• Professional qualification Level 6, or

equivalent

• Qualification in Project Management

(PMP or Prince 2) essential

• Qualification in Agile Project

Management advantageous

• Minimum 3 Year Diploma in

Information Systems; and/or

• BCom Information Systems; and/or

• BSc (Computer Science or

Information Systems); and/or

• BEng –any field

• Professional qualification Level 6 or

equivalent knowledge and skills

• PMP, PMBok, Prince II, ASAP

certification desirable

PM REQUIREMENTS ACROSS THE FINANCIAL AND THE RETAIL

INDUSTRIES

Financial Industry Technical Skills

• Microsoft Project / PPO / Microsoft

Office Suite

• Enterprise PM tools

• SDLC / PMBOK / Agile / Waterfall /

Prince II / ITIL

• IFRS and/or compliance-related

experience

• Actuarial and/or accounting

background

Retail Industry Technical Skills

• ICT ERP

• SAP ERP, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP

Activate & SAP RICEFW

• SDLC / PMBOK / Agile / Waterfall

• IT infrastructure

• Software engineering process

• Integration implementation

PM REQUIREMENTS ACROSS THE FINANCIAL AND THE RETAIL

INDUSTRIES

PM REQUIREMENTS ACROSS THE FINANCIAL AND THE RETAIL

INDUSTRIES

Competencies: Similarities

• Planning and Organising

• Decision Making

• Leadership

• Stakeholder, conflict and influence

management

• Delivering results and meeting expectations

• Resiliency

• Ability to coach and mentor teammates

• Verbal Communication and Presentation

Skills

• Adapting and responding to change

Competencies: Differences

• Business Awareness

• Client Focus

• Ownership

• Excellent attention to detail

• Tenacity

• High EQ

Fin

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• Integrity

• Relating and networking

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• 3 SME’s were asked to participate in this Dipstick

• We asked for their definitions of the following competencies and how these would translate into behaviours:

o Ownership

o High EQ

o Tenacity

o Integrity

o Strong negotiation skills

o Coping with pressure & setbacks

DIPSTICK – PM COMPETENCIES

THE APPROACH

THE INCUBATION PROCESS; A HOW-TO GUIDE ON

HATCHING THE COMPLETE PM

Assessing Technical Fit

(a solid nest)

Assessing Cultural Fit

(the right temperature)

Development Support

(nestling)

ASSESSING TECHNICAL FIT (A SOLID NEST)

Technical SkillsQualifications

• Organisational skill requirements and ways of working

• Qualifications vs experience

• Key skill elements

• Tools and the methodologies

ASSESSING TECHNICAL FIT (A SOLID NEST)

Assessing a PM for the required skillset by a number of vetting techniques either by the

organisation itself or a recruitment/consulting house:

Basic skills identification

Technical assessment

Certifications verified

Aligned requirements

Interview Process

ASSESSING CULTURAL FIT (THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE)

Top-Down

Flat

Siloed

Inter-team

Access to and ease

of decision-making

vs vs

Those pesky competencies…..

ASSESSING CULTURAL FIT (THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE)

• Personal characteristics vs an organisation’s culture and

values system

• Limiting or boxing vs creative problem solving

• Upskilling or development to align to organisational culture

• Preference for structured vs unstructured environments

ASSESSING CULTURAL FIT (THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE)

Assessing a PM for culture fit by a number of vetting techniques, either by the organisation itself or a consulting house,

include:

Character references and verifications

Consistent and multiple face to face

engagements

Psychometric or behaviouralassessments

Interview process

Underpinning the loop – lines of

communication must remain

open between recruiter and

hiring manager

DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT (THE NESTLING)

ULTIMATELY HATCHING THE COMPLETE PM

• Identifying gaps

• Developing plans to

support the gaps

identified

Continued UpkeepMonitoring and Action Intensive Care

• Regular check-ins

- Informal feedback

- Information-sharing

- Tracking project

progress

- Offering support as

required

• Induction

• Acclimatising

CASE STUDIES

CASE STUDY: ONE (LESEDI LESEGO*)*NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED

COMPANY 1 COMPANY 2

Industry Financial Services Financial Services

Organisational culture

• Top down leadership approach

• Defined ways of working

• Vision not always clear or communicated

• Structured

• Governance-heavy

• Collaborative and highly dependent team structures

• Innovation valued

• Vision clear and frequently communicated

• Flat structure

• Unstructured at times

• Team oriented

PMs personal

characteristics

• Innovative

• Analytical

• Highly collaborative

• Autonomous

• Not an early adopter

of change

• Driven

• Creative thinker

• Big-picture thinker

• Unyielding

Skills match Strong technical and qualification fit Strong technical and qualification fit

OutcomeUnhatched - contract not renewed in the organisation and

PM replaced

Hatched – contract continuity across different projects in the

same organisation

Conditions

CASE STUDY: TWO (HILLARY BOTHA*) *NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED

Industry Retail

Organisational culture

• Fast paced

• Tight deadlines

• Agile

• Chaotic

• Self-managed and autonomy valued culture

• Team-oriented

• Top-down leadership approach

PMs personal characteristics

• Self-driven

• Initiator

• Innovator

• Assertive

• Solutions Driven

Skills match Evident qualifications gap but strong technical capability and competencies.

Outcome Hatched – contract continuity across different projects in the same organisation

Conditions

TAKING FLIGHT

If the appropriate amount of time is invested upfront in Hatching the Complete PM, this enables

the hatched PM to take flight resulting in:

TAKING FLIGHT: BENEFITS TO THE PM

Longevity of service

• Average tenure

increased

High Performance

• More projects

completed according

to KPI’s

Skills Development

• More likely to

study/develop further

due to nestling action

plans

Future Placements

• Increased chance of

contracts within same

group

• Improved chance of

securing a new role

due to good referrals

TAKING FLIGHT: BENEFITS TO THE ORGANIZATION

If the appropriate amount of time is invested upfront in Hatching the Complete PM , this leads to

organizations achieving the following benefits:

Cost & Time Saving

• Higher retention = lower on-

going hiring requirements

• Reducing time spent in hiring

and on-boarding cycles

• Reducing placement costs

Business Continuity

• Higher retention = maintenance

of intellectual property

• Stability due to “safe and trusted

pair of hands”

• Higher retention = organization

knowledge = new deliverables

absorbed with less of a learning

curve

• Understanding and application

of “ways of working”

Added Value

Q&A