[Career Enhancement] What Next ?

[honeybee]

After working at different levels of programming and with different languages and environments, a couple of years ago I attended (and completed) a project management certification course from a local (but reputed) management school. While its certification does not carry as much face value as the PMP or PRINCE2, it certainly did enlighten me about the various aspects of project management.

Now after two years, I am looking to enhance my knowledge further. The topics I would like to study further are majorly:

1. The role of communication in IT projects
2. Risk Management
3. Financial Analysis of Projects
4. Theory of Constraints

If possible I would like to pursue all four, however practically it may not always be possible. So what would be most relevant to me as a project manager in IT?

.

[namrekka]

So what would be most relevant to me as a project manager in IT?

Resilience?

[techgnome]

previous joking aside.... of the 4 you listed, I'd say Risk Management is the biggest one... That's usually the one aspect of most projects that PMs tend to either ignore or gloss over. After all, every project is perfect, right?

-tg

[honeybee]

Yeah, till it fails.

As I work more and more I realize each of those four points is grossly underestimated or simply ignored, at least in IT. And in many cases some of these points often go hand in hand. A classic example is of adding resources to a project as it becomes critical, without realizing the strain on the communication channels, often because project managers don't realize communication takes time (I have yet to see a project plan where the activity of communication is even included in the plan and assigned time/effort). The result is a miserably failed project because the existing team not only has to work harder to catch up (the new guys can never reach the same productivity levels in time), but also spend time in teaching the newcomers various things (from the tricks of the trade to the understanding of the ongoing project).

namrekka, you probably meant it as a joke, but I think that's another virtue I need to add to my armour if I want to be a successful project manager. Sorry to have spoilt your joke

.

[namrekka]

namrekka, you probably meant it as a joke, but I think that's another virtue I need to add to my armour if I want to be a successful project manager. Sorry to have spoilt your joke

.

I meant it both ways. Not only a joke but seriously too. Its not only technical knowledge that makes a manager.

[techgnome]

That's why I mentioned risk as probably being the most critical of the bunch... if you can identify the risks and pitfalls, and it sounds like communication is one of them, then you can take proactive (hopefully) steps to ensure that smooth communication happens. That's one of the things I like about the place where I work... me and another developer is here in SC, our client and their developers are in Conn, our technical lead guy loves/works in Toronto, our version of a PM is in .... heck, I'm not sure where he lives, our configuration expert is based out of Mass, the data conversion guru works out of his house in GA, and our report writer lives some were in the lower 48 as well, heck if I know where... and yet through the combined use of IM (we use Office Communicator internally) and EMail and phone, we're able to keep on top of things. We have a daily "standup" in the afternoon using a conference call service where do do our scrum thing. In the last year on this project alone I've probably invested more time in Email than I have for the last 4 years at my previous jobs. It's critical. It's also forced me to develop organizational skills when it comes to Outlook too, knowing what to keep and what to allow to go to archive.
something else that just occurred to me that' critical in a project... trust... you have to trust your team and they have to trust you and everyone has to trust each other. And I don't mean those annoying "team building" "catch me when I fall back" kind of trust issues. I'm talking about the kind of trust where you know that not only will they get their stuff done, but also to know when to say when something goes bad or is about to. I know that if something is about to go alll Three-Mile on me... I know that my team has my back and I'm OK with delivering the bad news. And I don't sugar coat it, I will lay it all out. If I can I provide alternatives, and give a recommendation. Sometimes there are mitigating circumstances where there is just no solution.

Sorry didn't mean to write a dissertation. It was just one of those epiphanal moments where it hit me as to what's different from this job vs the previous ones I had, and it's the level of trust in the team as a whole as well as the individual members, all the way up the chain.

-tg

[honeybee]

No, actually that provides some good insights how multi-location teams can work, probably also underlines the importance of communication in projects.

Even discussing the progress of the tasks is sometimes a challenge for a team leader when the team does not understand the importance of following the communication protocols/channels.