1

How (and why) to build a career in Project Management

PMDays PMI Romania Chapter September 2014

Thomas Walenta, PMP, PMI Fellow

thwalenta@online.de

http://de.linkedin.com/in/thwalenta/

2

What do I want get from my professional life?

Money

What do I want get from my professional life?What do I want to get from my professional life?

Happy Clients

Recognition

Be part of something

Develop capabilities

Establish order

Influence

Help others

Respect

Create something new

Enable a team

Love

Be a Leader

6

The decision to pursue a career in Project Management

The skills and capabilities to develop

Your Reputation built on reliability and trust

The networks to grow

Volunteering

Go public

A roadmap to build and maintain

7

The decision to pursue a career in Project Management

Where am I? What am I good at? What do I know? What have I done?

Is there anything I know today that is relevant in 10, 20, 30 years?

What are signs for a successful Project Manager?

What allows me to change jobs while growing in a role?

Can I make a difference in the new profession?

Do I want to get rich?

Do I want a family life?Do I want to be recognized?

Do I want to achieve something?

8

We: Leadership / Power

Soft / Social Skills ***

The skills and capabilities to develop

Business Acumen *

Project Management **PMBoK > PMP

Prince2, Agile, etc

Tools

You: Social Skills, Communication

Strategy

Market / Products&Customers

Culture > Network > Power

Finance

Governance

I: Self awareness / Attitude / 360

PMP

MBA

16

A roadmap to build and maintain

Start – Learn&Grow – Volunteer – Plateau of Excellence – Giveback

Professional Life

PM Professional

PM Associate

PMO Lead

Program Mgr

PM Consultant /Coach / Trainer

PM Director

Support Deliver Create Benefits Design Future

C-Suite

Birth – Childhood – Growth – Midlife - Slowdown – Retreat – Death

PMP

CAPM

PgMP

17

Outside World

The networks to grow

Industry

Company

Colleagues(Team)

Stakeholders(Clients)

Mentor(s)

Profession

PMI Chapter & Global

Stakeholders(Clients/Contractors)

Mentor(s)

Life

Friends&Family

Neighbors&Tribes

Partner

Soft / Social Skills

Business Acumen Project Management

18

The networks to grow

Face2face: e.g. 200 potential lunch meetings per year

Phone/Skype: sychronous exchange to individuals

LinkedIn/XING/Facebook: asynchronous

Local Groups: Chapter, business clubs

Global Groups: PMI Congress

Think about a 'CRM' system beyond contacts

Listen, be accessible, ask for help

Give!

19

Reputation built on reliability and trust

Be ethical: fair, responsible, respectful and honest(check: PMI Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct)

Say what you do and do what you say

Trust is 'the willingness to suffer'...

Document successesAsk for references

Act professionally. Even on facebook

Consider 'servant leadership' Be a giver

.. and a base for leadership

The Net does not forget

20

Get involved:

Volunteering

You give: time, commitment, work and skills

You get: network, recognition, sandbox, experience Direct business? NO!

Reputation at risk!

PMI local: Chapter (Projects, Board, PMIEF)

PMI regional/global: GOC / Board Committees

Other professional volunteering: IPMA groups, APMR, IPM Day

Social volunteering local: Neighborhood, Community

Social volunteering global: United Nations

Maturity levels: New Learning Experienced Strategic

PMI Symposium

Teaching: local University, remote classes

21

Go public

Social Media: Blogs, LinkedIn Discussions, Slideshare

Publications: Chapter Newsletter, Online Magazines

Speaking: start in projects, Chapter meetings, family/friends

Speaking: learn about presenting, speaking, acting, your body

Speaking: apply for conferences (Chapter, PMI, other)

Talk with theSpeakers at thisConference!

Publications: Write a book/chapter

22

Your life is your project – take a bath in life

Consider & Decide

Sketch Roadmap

Consider & Decide

Learn

Network

Volunteer

Go PublicSatisfaction

Reputation

Trust