Become a Project Manager With No Experience: Guaranteed!

[Music] hi my name is elvis rodriguez your project leadership coach and today i'm really excited because a while back i promise to deliver a video on how you can get started in your project management career with no experience in other words if you're an aspiring project manager and are trying to figure out how to begin a project management career but you have no experience then this video is for you i want to invite you to stick around all the way till the end because the information i'm going to give you is definitely going to help you get started in your project management career today all right let's go to the lesson okay here's what i'm going to cover in today's lesson i'm going to start by defining project management from several different angles first of all what is project management second i'm going to spend a few minutes discussing the role of a project manager in other words what does a project manager actually do third i'm going to share some of the basic skills required to be successful in this field of work next i'm going to fill you in on some of the common challenges faced by project managers and finally after i've walked you through the basics of a project management career i'm going to teach you how to get started in this career with no experience so let's talk about project management what is project management project management is the discipline that applies formal processes methods tools and techniques to a related set of tasks or activities in order to complete them within a specific time and budget now in order for you to understand that definition i'm going to give you a few examples of projects so here are some examples developing a new product from scratch constructing a new building implementing a new software tool at your company all of these temporary pieces of work known to us as projects will have a start date a finish date a budget and a number of people resources assigned to get them done and as soon as that piece of work is completed for example as soon as our new product is completed or as soon as our new building is completed or as soon as our new software tool is implemented the project is over so going back to the definition of project management it's probably more clear now that project management is the discipline that applies formal processes methods tools and techniques to these pieces of work in order to get them completed within a specific time and budget which leads us to the role of the project manager based on what we just discussed the project manager is then the person who leads a team of individuals on the journey of completing these temporary pieces of work he or she is ultimately responsible for making sure that the project is not only completed successfully but that it is completed on time and within budget in a nutshell project management is a leadership role where you as a project manager will use formal processes methods tools and techniques to lead your team to success in completing whatever piece of work has been entrusted to you now this video is focused on how to start your project management career with no experience so i don't want to spend too much time digging into the project management life cycle or project management fundamentals however let me show you at least one more thing that will help you visualize the work and the role of a project manager on the screen i'm showing you what a basic project management process looks like so let's say that you've been given a project to implement a new software tool at your company as a project manager you would lead your team through a basic process like this one in order to complete the work and in each phase of the process you'd be focusing on something different for example during the initiation phase you would do things like develop a project charter during the planning phase you would plan your scope your your cost your risks during the execute phase you would launch the project during the monitoring control phase you would control your schedule focus on controlling your costs managing your team controlling quality and during closure you would focus on closing contracts and capturing lessons learned so in general this is what a project manager does for each project they're given of course it can get much deeper than this but i'm sharing this with you so that you can get a high level feel for this work okay let's discuss a few of the skills required to succeed in project management these are the basic skills you will need to successfully take projects from start to finish as i showed you in the previous slide a project manager takes projects through a process we call a life cycle again you initiate projects you plan projects you execute a project you monitor and control a project and finally you formally close a project and all the while you're leading different teams through all these phases in an effort to deliver the work on time and on budget so it won't surprise you to hear that the skills required to succeed in this field of work are strong organizational skills you'll need strong communication skills you need very good listening skills as you will always be responding to the needs of your stakeholders you will need good problem solving acumen meaning you have to be quick on your feet to solve unexpected challenges projects rarely go as planned so you must be ready on a moment's notice to help your team navigate the unexpected you'll also need a decent working knowledge of microsoft office google suite or some other tool that would allow you to create presentations and collaborate with your teams finally having good budgeting and time management skills will contribute heavily toward your success now we could spend a lot of time discussing skills but these are just a few of the key things you need to succeed as a project manager all of these skills are important to leadership so anything that makes you a better leader is a good skill to have or develop all right i'm almost ready to show you how you can begin your project management career without experience but first i want to share one last thing that i think is important for you to know about this work and that is the common challenges a project manager faces on a daily basis now in order to make this as real and as clear as possible i've decided to do one thing on the screen i'm showing you the top 10 reasons projects fail if you google these or speak to different project managers you'll get a slight variation on this list but generally speaking these are the top 10 reasons projects fail if you think about it if these are the reasons projects fail then this is also a good list of the common challenges faced by a project manager we fight scope creep we're always trying to schedule resources who also have other commitments we're constantly striving to manage stakeholder expectations we have to deal with risks and estimates and teams that don't always cooperate with our plan and so as you look at this list you can see why some of the skills we talked about earlier are so important but look i have to tell you that for me these challenges are what makes the job fun i love a good challenge and i'm always excited to work through all these things and deliver my projects on time and on budget you know i've always said that project management is not for the week of heart it can be a pretty challenging career but it's also a really rewarding career so if nothing i've said so far has scared you then you're ready for the next step you're ready to find out how you can actually begin your career now in project management with no experience all right let's do it okay i'm gonna give you three simple steps to get you going on your project management journey today and the first step is for you to become intimately acquainted with the definition of a product that's probably not what you were expecting to hear but let's look at that definition together and discuss why understanding what it says and what it doesn't say is so important to your journey and here's the definition the project management institute defines a project as a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product service or result so the keys are projects are temporary meaning they must have an end date otherwise they would be disqualified from being called a project and second projects must be undertaken to produce a deliverable of some kind and that deliverable can be a product service or other result determined in your scope now i want you to listen very closely to what i'm about to say because i need you to hear what this definition does not say number one it does not say that a project must be delivered by a certified person number two it doesn't say that a project must only be run by an experienced individual number three it doesn't say that a project must be of a certain size in order to be considered a project and finally it doesn't make any assertions about the origins of the project or who is qualified to commission a project what this means for you today is that even though you don't have any experience as a project manager there's nothing stopping you from taking the next step which i'm about to share with you right now okay that next step is this projectize your work life right now that's right i want you to review all of your current work and assess how much of it you can document as a project and this is where you have to lean on that definition that we looked at a few minutes ago are you working on a software development project are you leading an office move have they asked you to put together a new customer service program are you playing a lead role in a merger or acquisition how about a marketing campaign or hr initiative i think you get the picture sit down and think carefully about the work you're doing today i guarantee you that just about everything you're working on qualifies as a project based on the official project definition if it has a start date an end date and an expected outcome you have a project on your hands that you can officially document as such do the same thing with your home life take all your work at home at your church or local charity where you volunteer and document it as a project that kitchen or bathroom model the refinishing of your floors your lawn and garden projects that church seminar or volunteer event that you led take all of these things and document them as projects using the basic life cycle i showed you earlier what did you do to initiate your project what did you do to plan your project how did you execute or launch your project what things did you do to monitor and control your project how did you close your project if this sounds like too much work then you may not be ready for this career because documenting projects for the purpose of reporting is a major part of the work you will be doing as a project manager but if you're willing to put the work in you will discover in short order that all of this documentation is actually necessary and will come in handy when you go for your project certification let me show you what i mean by that the words you see on the screen come directly from the project management institute's website take a look at these requirements for becoming a certified project management professional notice that they say that earning your pmp certification is a commitment i completely agree with them there but here's the key before you apply you must have 36 months of experience leading projects if you hold a four-year college degree and you must have 60 months of leading projects if you hold a high school diploma associate's degree or global equivalent all of this means that they are expecting you to be working on projects long before you get that certification and that's describing who you are today as you begin to research your own work and document it in project management language you're actually working on documenting the experience requirement for your future certification and while you're engaged in this exercise you will start to think talk and act as a project manager in fact this due diligence on your part will have you well on your way to launching your project management career even with more experience than you thought you had now here's the most exciting part of this journey once you have documented all of your work you will be in a position to understand your entry point into your project management career let me show you the typical career path for project managers those with under one year of experience are typically considered entry-level project managers titles around that can be project coordinator project assistant associate project manager and so on those with two to five years of experience would fall into the experienced category people with six to ten years of experience are typically at the senior project manager level and those with over 10 years of experience might fall within the director or even executive level category depending on the years depth and nature of the projects they have been running so once you have all of your projects documented and you understand the years of project work you have under your belt you can use this chart to know what level of project management job you can apply for and that takes us to the last and perhaps the most important step in how to become a project manager with no experience okay the final step in launching your project management career is to update your title and jump right in that's right start applying for project management jobs right away trust the process i just showed you i went through it myself learn and accept the definition of project management believe that it applies to you research and document your work and home activities as projects and remember this includes aligning yourself to the correct entry point if after documenting all your work you have zero hours of experience that's okay then take a basic online project management class and apply for an entry-level project management job you can see from the career path that there's an entry point for everyone including those who have no experience don't be afraid to update your title and take this final step believe me this is the most crucial step and also the hardest step because it is difficult for us to view ourselves as project managers when we feel we have no experience but trust me on this you must take this bold step if you want to succeed i wish someone would have told me this 20 years ago i started my career as an accountant and later i made a career change into project management and it took me three years to finally call myself a project manager but you don't have to make that mistake don't delay there has never been a better time to get into project management than today at the time of this recording the project management institute reports that there will be 2.2 million new project management jobs added each year through the year 2027 and one of those jobs is yours here are some final thoughts to help you launch your new career in project management number one consider taking a basic course and project management fundamentals remember this does not have to be an expensive college or university class i'm not speaking against those classes but just letting you know that a short boot camp or simple online training from a reputable trainer would suffice for the moment at this point in your journey the purpose of taking a training is not to get you certified or make you an expert in all things project management the purpose is to help you marry the hands-on experience you just researched with proper project management methods and terminology this could give you that final bit of confidence you may need before applying for a job and you may be asking yourself why wasn't training one of the three steps i outlined earlier that's a great question and here's the answer if you take a class first before wrestling with your background before researching those phases i showed you earlier and doing your best to drop your work into those phases you will get very little from a training however if you do the due diligence first and then take a training you're going to come to that class with great questions you'll really soak in the knowledge and walk out of there even better prepared to tackle your first job number two don't be afraid to ask your manager to let you manage projects as part of your work responsibilities every year most employers do performance evaluations where they set goals for the year that would be a perfect opportunity for you to bring this up in most cases managers are more than happy to delegate additional work to those who are interested in doing more if you really get lucky they might even pay for you to take a basic course in project management but again don't be afraid to bring this up to your manager and number three remember this is your career don't let anything or anyone stop you from moving forward with your desire to become a project manager hopefully this presentation has shown you that this goal is well within your reach but if you still have questions feel free to contact me right here on my youtube channel or by email instagram or facebook or if you have something more urgent and you feel like you could use some one-on-one coaching then feel free to visit my coaching page i would love to talk to you okay good luck and thanks for listening if you found this video useful then i'd like you to do a couple of things number one hit the like button and number two subscribe to my channel in the days ahead i'm going to continue to post really good project management material and i don't want you to miss it also remember to come back and put your comments below and let me know how it's going on your journey to becoming a project manager alright see you in the next video

Channel: Your Project Leadership Coach

Views: 389,694

Keywords: Project management, careers, change careers, become a project manager with no experience

Id: XNDePDD_CV4

Length: 20min 27sec (1227 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 09 2021