Addie Adelekan Ph. D. - Becoming a Project Manager: Lots of Insight as You Consider a New Career

BECOMING A
PROJECT
MANAGER

LOTS OF INSIGHT AS
YOU CONSIDER A NEW CAREER

Addie Adelekan, Ph.D

Copyright 2021 Addie Adelekan, Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Archway Publishing

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.archwaypublishing.com

844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-1482-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-1483-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021922589

Archway Publishing rev. date: 11/11/2021

CONTENTS

Project management, as a career choice, has been
exceptionality good to me. It is exactly for this reason that I
chose to write this book, share my insight and progression,
and hopefully inspire others to follow a similar path.

This book is therefore dedicated to everyone who is
still unsure about what to do with their careers and
those who are slightly interested in or aspiring to be
project managers. May the profession be as good to
you as it has been to me and mine. Best wishes!

Pursuing a career in project management has been one of the best life decisions that Ive made, and I know it is the same for many of my friends and colleagues in the field. For years, as I have looked at every area of my life from family and friends to hobbies and the legacy I will leave, I keep seeing how this career choice has positively impacted the things that matter most. From my first year in this career and even until now in my seventeenth year in the field, I continue to ponder how lucky and accomplished I have felt executing projects and hiring, training, and mentoring project managers.

More and more today, I have met both older and younger people seeking advice about pursuing project management as a career or finding best practices in project management. The purpose of this book is to share some of this information more broadly. In this book, I discuss effective steps for making a career in project management, and I share my career as an example with lessons learned and the various benefits and opportunities for people interested in project management.

My hope is that this book and the supporting resources serve as helpful tools for people who still are not sure what to do, those who are looking to start a fulfilling and fun career in project management, as well as those looking to further take advantage of the benefits and opportunities in project management. Ultimately, my hope is that a career in project management serves many more people across the globe as well as it has served me and those in my circle over the last seventeen years.

UNDERSTANDING
PROJECT MANAGEMENT

PROJECT MANAGEMENT IS a seemingly simple concept and popular job opportunity, yet many today do not really understand what project management means. The concept is rooted in two simple words that have been clearly defined over time. The first of these is the word project ; the second is management . The word project according to the Association of Project Management describes a unique, transient endeavor, undertaken to achieve planned objectives, which could be defined in terms of outputs, outcomes, or benefits (Dixon 2000). And the Oxford English Dictionary describes it as an individual or collaborative enterprise that is carefully planned and designed to achieve a particular aim (Dictionary 1989). It is essentially any temporary effort undertaken to meet a predefined goal, and it is assumed that projects generally have the following characteristics (Merry 2000):

Projects have a purpose . Projects have clearly defined aims and set out to produce clearly defined results. Their purpose is to solve a problem, and this involves analyzing needs beforehand. Suggesting one or more solutions aims at lasting social change.

Projects are realistic . Their aims must be achievable, and this means taking into account both requirements and the financial and human resources available.

Projects are limited in time and space . They have a beginning and an end and are implemented in a specific place and context.

Projects are complex . Projects call on various planning and implementation skills and involve various partners and players.

Projects are collective . Projects are the product of collective endeavor. They are run by teams, involve various partners, and cater to the needs of others.

Projects are unique . All projects stem from new ideas. They provide a specific response to a need (problem) in a specific context. They are innovative.

Projects are an adventure . Every project is different and groundbreaking. They always involve some uncertainty and risk.

Projects can be assessed . Projects are planned and broken down into measurable aims, which must be open to evaluation.

Projects are made up of stages . Projects have distinct, identifiable stages.

The second part is not as simple. Management, like many similar phenomena, has as many different definitions as there are theorists and business experts. To understand project management, it can be described as the art of getting things done through people (Jones 2013) or the transformation of resources into utility (Malik 2015). Its earliest theorists have suggested it includes or is made up of activities like forecasting, planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling (Fayol 1916), and in practice today, those are key tasks that most managers remain responsible for.

With these definitions in mind, project management is the practice of working with resources to forecast, plan, organize, command, coordinate, and control a temporary effort. It often includes initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing an effort once a predefined goal is articulated. The international governing body for project management is called the Project Management Institute (PMI), and they generally regulate the field. This body describes project management as the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project objectives (Guide 2004). In practice, project management is done by project managers or others who may be performing as such even without holding the project manager title.

The international certificate held by most project managers is called the Project Management Professional (PMP). This certificate is offered through the PMI and can be acquired by passing a test after being approved by the PMI.

Another thing to note is that there are many different types of project managers covering various fields of work. There are business project managers, technology project managers, construction project managers, marketing project managers, and so many others depending on the field of work. Project managers are sometimes very technical in skill set, and other times, they are not. They can be found in virtually every industry doing relatively the same type of work. For example, project managers in construction are usually responsible for managing building projects like homes or bridges. In financial services, the project managers may be responsible for setting up financial systems or working on new compensation or actuarial models. In information technology, the project managers help implement new technology systems like software or hardware systems, or they assist with things like data center upgrades or migrations. In government, project managers help will rolling out new government initiatives like loan programs and/or health-care programs. And in the medical field, project managers could lead the rollout of new services like telemedicine, for instance. Regardless of the industry or type of project management, these individuals are typically leading an effort to deliver on a new initiative that will add value to an organization.