- Welcome back, to the very first episode of the PM Perspective Channel. I know, I had a couple
of videos out there. They've been out there a few years. This isn't exactly the first episode, but I'm calling it the first episode, because, this is the first regular episode that I'll be putting out there. I'm just celebrating the moment. Before we get into today's
topic, I just wanna remind you that, for the remainder
of March and for April, our topic of discussion
is going to be all about how to get a project management job. If you have never had a
project management job before, and you're out there looking
for your very first one, then, I've got lots of stuff this month that will be relevant for you. That you'll find interesting. And, if you have a project management job, but, you're maybe looking
for that next opportunity, there's gonna be plenty of
great stuff for you as well. If you're in either one
of those situations, there's a lot of really great information, that I'll be sharing with
you over the next few weeks. Today's topic is, I think is apropos, it's answering the question: "Is project management right for me?" It is a little more geared
towards the person who is looking to break
into project management, who hasn't had that job before. But I wanna cover today is,
we'll start with talking about some of the typical reasons people say they wanna get into project management. I'll talk about a little bit why some of those typical reasons are problematic, and then, we'll get into,
I'll list of a number traits that I think are very
important for a person to be very successful at project management. It's probably true that just
about anybody can get into project management, but, I
would say that, in my travels, I run across a lot of
project managers who, they get into the field, they
do it as a full time job, they get to a certain point,
and then, they sort of plateau. And I think that for many of
those people the reasons are because, they don't
exhibit a lot of the traits that I'm about to talk about today. They don't enjoy, or they
are not passionate about, the kinds of things that would take their career to the next level. There's a bit of a pet peeves of mine, I get approached by people all the time, who are looking to get
into project management, and, they will give me some reasons, like: "I really think is a good
thing for me because, "I'm really well organized, and
I can organize other people. "I like to help people
stay on schedule, you know, "like, I'll nag them and I'll make sure "they finish their tasks on time. "I'm really great working with
vendors, if there's problems, "I'm the first one to get on
the phone, and solve problems, "and I'm good at solving
problems over all, so, "I think project management
would be a great job for me." I typically would say that to them what, "You might be right." But, those are all very surface
level type things, that, you probably have observed
project managers doing before. But in order to really be passionate about that sort of stuff and to be good at it, there's some underlying traits
that we need to talk about. I find that a lot of people will approach project management sort
of with this idea that, "Well, you know, anyone could do it." And I said it earlier, I think
anyone could get into it, but I don't think just anyone
could get really good at it. I tend to think of project management as a similar thing to maybe, an artist, right, a project manager and an artist. You look at a sculpture
that somebody does, and you're in awe of how
amazing the sculpture looks. Or maybe, you see an artist,
and she's amazing with acrylic painting, or drawing,
or whatever her medium is. A lot of people will look
at the art, and they'll say, "Wow, I could never do that!" They appreciate the
skill that goes into it. They don't say, "Well,
I've got a pencil, I could "probably do the same thing." And yet, people tend to do
that about project management. They'll say, "Well, I can make a schedule, "I could be a project manager." And, I have to have the
conversation with them to say, "Yeah, but, there's probably
a little more to it, "than you're thinking." And in order to get
really good, and to become a senior project manager,
or even to go beyond that, into the executive level
of project delivery, you kind of have to be
passionate about certain things. You have to be wired a certain way, in order to be truly successful. Let's talk about some of those traits. First and foremost, the most important, if you remember any of them today, this is the one I want you to remember. The most important trait
a person has to have to be very successful as a project manager is, they have to have a
genuine interest in people. I'm gonna hone in on one of the words I used there, "genuine." The only way you're gonna get
people to do things for you, and that's kind of what
a project manager does, they bring a lot of people
together to achieve a goal. And they have no formal authority. So, in order for a project
manager to be really good at getting people to all
align on the same objective, which is not an easy
thing, to agree to how something is going to be done, and then, to go do it, and do it
well, a project manager has to have a lot of what I call goodwill currency with those people. They have to have a lot of,
influence on those people. Because, when the chips are
down, and you need people maybe, to stay late or
to work a little faster, or to work a little harder,
or to solve a problem, you need those people
to view you as a leader that they don't mind following, that they don't mind
staying a little late, or going above and beyond for. The only way you're gonna do that, is to demonstrate to them,
that you care about them. Having a genuine interest in people, actually wanting to understand
what their day job is. Many of those people working
on your project is something they're doing off the side of their desk, they have a day job, they have a family, they've so many other things
going on in their life, other than your project. The more interested you
are in those things, the more interest that you show, the more people are likely to believe, that you see them as a human being, that you appreciate them, and they're more willing
to work hard for you. If you demonstrate that genuine interest. I spent a lot of time on that one. I think it's very important though, if you're the kind of person
who just doesn't like people, or would rather, you
know, like, send emails, than go and talk to people, if interaction makes you uncomfortable, then maybe you might wanna
think about another career. Because, people is what project
management is all about. Another trait that I think
is very important is, this is where people
are gonna be thinking, "Ew, I don't know if I like this!" Project managers have to
genuinely enjoy politics. And, right now, I know
there's people out there who are recoiling at what I just said. "Politics, oh my goodness!" A lot of people will say to me, "No, Jason, politics, I
don't go for that stuff. "I leave politics out of the equation. "I leave it on the wayside, "and I just focus on the task at hand." And you can tell what I
think about that, right? (laughs) But, to me, politics is not a bad word, politics is just acknowledging the fact, that every human being comes to the table with their own set of objectives. Everybody wants something,
out of whatever it is, that you're doing, and that something it's a little different
depending on who that person is. Let's just acknowledge that
everyone here is a human being, they all have their own objectives, let's figure our what
those objectives are, and if at all possible, we
can find a way to navigate through this, and deliver
our project in a way that allows everyone to get
most of what they're after, then, why the hell not? That's good politics. Politics doesn't have to be evil, it's just the realization
that everyone sitting around the table has their own set of objectives. Figure out what they are,
and you'll be successful. If you hate politics,
and you wish everyone would just take their
own personal desires, and set them aside, you're
probably gonna struggle as a project manager, and
you most certainly won't get to become a senior project manager, and to start to manage some
of those larger projects. Another trait that I
think is very important for project managers is, they
need to be healthy skeptic. If being skeptical was beaten
out of you at a very young age and you just accept what
people tell you at face value? Then you're gonna have a really hard time doing a good job as a project manager. And, when I say skeptical,
I don't just mean, when your project team says, "Oh, everything's great, we're green." That you're skeptical about that. Of course you should be,
that's the most obvious place where a project manager
should be skeptical. You need to find evidence
to back up what people are telling you is true about the project. But, I am also suggesting
that you need to be skeptical when your executive sponsor
comes to you and says, "I want you to build this scope, "for this amount of money,
within this timeframe." Be skeptical about those three things. More often than not, those three things, were not derived from some deep analysis. Those items were picked out of the sky. The price they wanna pay. The time they think it should take. You need to be skeptical that those three things actually work together. When ever somebody comes to me, an executive or even a client and says, "I want this for this much
money and this much time." My response is always, "We'll see, "I'll take it away, we'll analyze it, and I'll let you know whether
or not we can do that. Being skeptical about all of those things, it's just to me, good project management. I find that the majority of
the project managers out there, they've had the skepticism
beaten right out of them. They feel like, "Well, this
person is an executive, "they're 10 levels above
me in the organization, "when they tell me to do a thing, "I've just gotta go do it." If that's how you feel,
and that healthy skepticism is no longer there within you, then, you're probably gonna
struggle as a project manager. Cause what will happen is, you'll say, "Yes ma'am," or "sir." You'll go away and do whatever
it is they asked you to do. You won't achieve your objective, because those things were
unrealistic to begin with, and nobody is gonna to
be thanking you for it, and you're gonna feel
like you were set up. So, healthy skepticism, very important for a project manager to have. Going sort of hand in hand with that, is, having a keen interest
in the "why" and "how". Not so much in the "what". A lot of project managers, the very first thing they'll say is, "What do you want me to
build, and, by when?" Those are the two things,
"what" and "when". I tend to say, "You know what? "If those are your fist questions, "let's just put those aside." A lot of people feel like,
"Oh, I'm a real go getter. "What do you want, and
when do you want it by? "I'll make it happen for you." Good on you for having that attitude, but, let's put those two
things aside for a minute. I would much rather have a
PM sitting in front of me, who is asking, "But, why do you want this? "And, how do you think we should do it?" "Why" and "how" are much
more important questions. When we're kids we ask "why" a lot. And our parents at some point probably got totally fed up with us and said, "Stop asking me why, It's
just because, just go do." And we carry that forward in life, and many of us stop asking, "Why?" And we stop asking, "How?" It's just, "What?"
And, "By when?" We feel like we're being
good foot soldiers by saying, "What, and, by when?" And, we're not supposed
to be foot soldiers, we're supposed to be leaders, right? Focusing on "why" and
"how", if that's a natural tendency for you, if it
hasn't been beaten out of you, then, I think you're gonna have, an awesome time as a
project manager, because, that's exactly what everybody
really needs from you. Also, I think a project manager
always has to be playing scenarios and considering
possibilities in their heads. One of the things that I find
people say to me a lot is, "You know, Jason, the whole
organization keeps changing, "they change their mind
about what they want, "we're changing how we're doing things "right in the middle of the project, "I mean, if we could just
stop all this change, "and we could just execute our plan, "everything would be just so much better." And I think about those
people, and I think, "I am so sorry, that you
feel that way, because, that is life, we live in a
constantly changing world." A lot of people, who don't
have a lot of experience with project management,
are just getting into it, they have this vision in their head, that, "This is what I'm gonna do, I'm
gonna create a project plan, "and we're gonna get the project team "to execute against that plan, "and we're gonna deliver
on time and on budget, "and then, we're all gonna celebrate." That's a great dream. In my 23 years of delivering projects, I have never actually had that happen. There's a famous quote, and
I forget who is attributed-- it's attributed to many
different people, but, the quote goes a little
something like this, that "No plan survives
contact with the enemy." And, what that basically means is, you can make all the plans you want, but the very moment you engage the enemy, you have to change your plans. Because, they're not
gonna behave in the way that you anticipated, everything
is going to be different. A successful project manager, actually, is okay with that ever changing landscape. They don't lament the fact that people can't make up their mind,
that the things keep changing. "If they would just stop
changing for a while, "then we could get this done." If they're more of the
kind of person that goes, "Hah, c'est la vie, so it changed." And they're okay with that,
they're no stressed by that, then, they're gonna make
an awesome project manager. I build my plans, and part of the course that I'm putting together,
one of the major points that I make is, the process
of coming up with a plan, the team building around that, is actually the more important thing than the actual plan itself. Because, the plan, is
totally gonna need to change, on day one, when you start executing it. I guarantee it. So, a person who's okay
with that, is gonna do very, very well as a project manager. The final thing I would say here, is, a project manager has to be able to trust themselves to make a decision. And, often you'll have to make a decision with very little information. I'm not going to put it that way. You'll have to make a decision before you have all of the information. Everything's not gonna be
perfectly lined up for you every time you have to make a call. And if you wanna become a
more senior project manager, if that's were you wanna head, you have to be able to
get as much information that's available to you in the moment, and then make the call, and
be comfortable with that, and live with the fact that you're not always going to get it right. If you're paralyzed by
fear, and you always have to be right, if you
always have to be right, and you're a perfectionist,
project management might not be for you, if you're
okay with making a mistake because you understand
that making a decision, the best informed decision
you possibly could make is more important than
being right all the time, then, you're probably gonna be okay. So, anyways, I'm gonna stop here. I think I've given you
enough food for thought. What I want you to do with it, is, think about the things that I mentioned, ask yourself, "Is this really, me?" And if you think it is, and you say, "Yeah, absolutely, I'm
that kind of person, "I ask how, and why all the time, "and I haven't had that
skepticism beaten out of me, "and I love politics." Then, great! Then, I'm really exited
for you to go on the rest of this journey with me, cause we got lots of really great stuff for you. If this video has given you
pause, and you're thinking, "Ah, maybe not for me." Then, that's also good, because, I see a lot of people, get
into project management as a profession, they
get to a certain level, probably they do finally make it to PM, like they go from junior
PM to PM, and then, they just sort of plateau,
and they get very frustrated, and they're like, "Well,
I've been a PM for 15 years, "why am I not getting
the bigger projects?" And chances are, it's
because some of these stuff. They're just not passionate about people, they keep lamenting the fact
that the world is changing, and that's why they're not
getting the bigger projects. Cause, they're just not comfortable enough to be able to take it to the next level. So, think about those things. I hope you find this information useful. If you did, and you think
other project managers might find it useful too, then, what I'll like to ask you to do is to interact with
the video a little bit, that will allow you to present this video to more project managers. Take a little trip bellow
the video here, and tell me. Did you like the information? Give me a thumbs up. If you didn't, it didn't work for you, then fine, thumbs down. Either way, fine by me. Leave me a comment, in
the comment section. Tell me, did this sort
of clinch it for you? Did you go, "Yeah, totally,
you've made me even "more exited about project
management than I was before!" Awesome!
I wanna hear that. Or even if, maybe, this video has maybe potentially stopped you from
making a bit of a mistake. Let me know. I really would like to hear that too. That's the whole reason
why I'm doing this video. And if you haven't already, please, hit the subscribe button,
and next to that button, you see a little bell icon,
if you wanna be notified when the next video comes out, go ahead and click that as well. The next video that I have for you, which will be coming out next Friday, is all about, compensation
for project managers. What are project managers,
getting paid these days. Thank you, for sticking with
me on the very first episode. I hope you enjoyed it, and I look forward to seeing you in the next video.
