What do a dinner party, family vacation, and new advertising campaign have in common? They鈥檙e all examples of projects. And while those endeavors have very different purposes, similar applications can be applied to define, prepare for, and see each one through鈥攕uccessfully! There鈥檚 a pretty good chance you鈥檝e already served in the role of project manager but didn鈥檛 stop to think of yourself as one. Even if you don鈥檛 have the official title, you鈥檝e likely supervised any number of temporary, multi-stepped tasks. Am I right?
Have the Knowledge, Engage Your People
Project management is one of the most critical functions in today鈥檚 workforce. This is because it falls outside of a company鈥檚 normative day-to-day operations and requires a high level of proficiency for a singular outcome. It is a true art, one that combines institutional knowledge with people management skills. This makes it difficult, but essential. Project management requires engagement with various groups of stakeholders, which can mean鈥攐ftentimes鈥攈aving the cooperation of people that wouldn鈥檛 usually report to you.
General Principles Leading to Favorable Results
With each project, a project manager accepts a tremendous responsibility鈥攐rganizing, communicating, tracking, tweaking, and cheerleading at every step. During my long career, I鈥檝e run every type of project and taken on many supporting roles, too. I would say that roughly 80 percent of the discipline鈥檚 principles are not industry specific, meaning that invariable, fundamental processes will always be part of any project鈥檚 sequence. This eliminates the need to reinvent the wheel for every new undertaking.
Basic Skills Benefit
For the project manager, it鈥檚 all about delivering efficient results鈥攁chieving a specific goal within constraints of time, budget, and miscellaneous resources鈥攅ven when inevitable bumps in the road occur. Anyone in a leadership position will eventually wear the hat of project manager. The matter becomes, then, whether you will be an effective one. The acquisition of rudimentary project management skills is fitting for any professional. Not having at least one trained project manager in your building puts you at a competitive disadvantage.
Specialization Pays Off
Project management specialization pays off鈥攊n more ways than one! When you attain knowledge that translates to valuable skills, it creates value to your organization and a considerable increase in your earning potential. USF Corporate Training and Professional Education offers a stand-alone, introductory project management course and certificate program. Our office also offers exam prep for designation as a Project Management Professional, the gold standard for mastery from the Project Management Institute.
Never forget that lifelong learning is the avenue for career and personal enhancement. I encourage you to learn more about USF Corporate Training and Professional Education鈥檚 project management offerings by visiting our website. Stay tuned as new project management certificates with concentrations in construction and information technology (IT) are in development!