Amie Jane Leavitt - Becoming a Project Manager

Published in 2018 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2018 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Leavitt, Amie Jane, author.

Title: Becoming a project manager / Amie Jane Leavitt.

Description: New York, New York : Rosen Publishing, 2018 | Series: Tech track: building your career in IT | Audience: Grades 712. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017001577 | ISBN 9781508175605 (library bound book)

Subjects: LCSH: Project managementJuvenile literature. | Information technologyManagementJuvenile literature.

Classification: LCC HD69.P75 .L397 2018 | DDC 658.4/04dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017001577

Manufactured in the United States of America

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?

CHAPTER TWO

WHAT DOES A PROJECT MANAGER DO?

CHAPTER THREE

HAVING WHAT IT TAKES

CHAPTER FOUR

OBTAINING AND MAINTAINING PROJECT MANAGEMENT SKILLS

CHAPTER FIVE

MAKING YOUR WAY INTO PROJECT MANAGEMENT

GLOSSARY

FOR MORE INFORMATION

FOR FURTHER READING

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

INTRODUCTION

B right and early at 6:30 a.m. on Monday morning, Evan hops on the train near his apartment to make his daily commute to the office. Evan is a project manager (PM) with a major software company, and although he has a car, he prefers to take public transportation to work because it gives him a chance to check emails and voicemails on the way to the office. Life as a project manager is all about making use of every single second of every single day. There is always way more that needs to be done than work hours in a day!

By 7:00 a.m., Evan has arrived at work. His team will not arrive until 8:30 a.m., which is great because that gives Evan a good hour-and-a-half head start on his day. He finishes responding to and drafting emails and then updates his daily to-do list with any new tasks that need to be addressed. He checks his companys project management software to find out the progress of the project overall. He checks to see if there are any possible risks, or problems, arising in the project. He delegates new work to team members as a result of the information he received in his emails and voicemails.

When the team arrives at 8:30 a.m., Evan meets them in the conference room for a standup meeting. During this brief powwow, Evan checks on the progress from the team, finds out what everyone is working on, and gives them a chance to ask him and others questions.

Writing out a to-do list using paper and pencil is a great way to start organizing a plan in project management.

The rest of the day, Evan spends running from one meeting to another. Today, he has several meetings in the morningone with his department director, who wants to discuss some changes to the overall program, of which Evans project is a part. Then, Evan meets with stakeholders who would like to know how the project is going and if its still on track to be completed in a month and on budget.

Evan sits down briefly at his desk to eat a lunch he ordered in while he works at his computer. After just a few bites of his sandwich, he is interrupted by a phone call from a member of the finance department who wants to know about an invoice that was submitted and coded to Evans project. He pulls up the information on his computer and gives her the green light to go ahead with payment.

After a hurried lunch, Evan meets with some of the testers on his team to find out what theyve found in their recent assessment of the software. Unfortunately, theyve found a few bugs, which could potentially delay delivery to the client. Evan acts immediately and pulls in the developers to address the issue. They put their other work on hold and dive into recoding those portions of the software. They feel that they should be able to have it finished by EOD (end of day) and will report back to Evan before they leave.

Team meetings may occur in person or online. These meetings are usually directed by the project manager and are meant to keep team members updated on the projects progress.

Evan checks his to-do list to see what other issues need to be addressed. He also adds a few more, including the aforementioned testing issue, to the task list. He hurries off to do some video conferencing with other members of his team who are located in a different time zone and country.

At 3:00 p.m., Evan meets with the human resource department to interview a candidate for a position on his team. The panel interview goes well, and Evan places the candidates name at the top of the list. In the past several days, they have interviewed five other candidates, and they have three more interviews to go later this week. The prospects of hiring this particular individual look very bright, however, and Evan is hopeful theyll have a great new addition to the team if she is ultimately selected.

By 4:45 p.m., Evan returns to the workspace to find that the developers have just finished recoding the software and have returned it for testing. The testers run through the program and find that the bugs have been resolved. One more thing crossed off the to-do list.

The majority of Evans team leaves at 5:00 p.m. He sticks around until 5:30 p.m. to check emails and make his to-do list for tomorrow. Then, he hits the in-office gym for a quick workout before he hops on the train home. As he rides the public transport, he relaxes and gets his mind off work by reading a new novel by his favorite author. Doing this allows him to unwind before he gets home to his family.

Many professionals find that commuting to and from work on public transportation can provide time to relax, enjoy a good book, or take a nap after a long day at the office.

This description of Evans Monday activities might seem like an unusually crazy day to anyone unfamiliar with project management. But it actually isnt. Every day is just like this! Project management is a fast-paced career with many varied responsibilities throughout the day. No two days are alike either. The description of this particular day stands alone in its uniqueness. Tuesday will provide completely new experiences for Evan. And so will Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday! Thats one of the things that attract people to the field of project managementthey like how active it is (both mentally and physically) and how every day poses an entirely new set of challenges and opportunities.

CHAPTER ONE

WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?

I n order to understand project management, its first necessary to learn the definition of a project. A project is something (like a product, service, or process) that is completed by an individual or group of individuals in order to accomplish a particular goal. A project is something that is a temporary undertaking. There is always a beginning and an end to a project.