Project Manager as Generalist:Project Manager as Obsolete

Lecture notes by Jack P. Ferraro, PMPPMI Congress

The Future of the Project Management Generalist

• The rapidly changing project environment is causing performance dilution for the generalist, who is no longer able to keep pace.

• Growing project complexity, accelerated pace of change and interoperability of project management standards allows specialists to provide much-needed expertise to customers at lower cost.

• These trends are reshaping how we must think about who we are and what we do!

The Generalist

• A project management generalist is a practitioner who is able to do all the general tasks in the area of project management.

Domains of Project Management Generalist

• Technical– project management activities• Contextual– business or subject matter

activities• Behavioral– personal and team activities

Technical Competency – Project Manager Competency Development Framework

• The PMCDF® is structured around a Taylorist view of management – central control

• Often-used words include: determine, identify, select, create, develop

Mega Challenges Facing the Generalist

• Increasing project complexity, internationalization and shorter timelines

• Practitioner education / expectation paradigm• More structure, methodology, knowledge

management• Information overload

Mega Answers• Industry answers

– More standards – Higher education / research– Expanded certifications

Certifications

Research articles in Project Management

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Growth in World-wide Project Management Certifications

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Practitioner Solutions in Project Management Education

• What is your answer?– Know your customer– Differentiate yourself

Project Management as a Professional Service

• Project team performs economic activity

The Project as anEconomic Activity –

Adding value directly to Economic units

SponsorInterested

Parties

Primary Economic Unit

Traditional Project Management as a Service

Project Manager as a Service Provider

• Service: an economic activity that adds value either directly to another economic unit or to a good belonging to another economic unit.

• Economic units - the project team and its sponsor, customers and interested stakeholders.

• These economic units are people.– In order to add value, the project manager must interact with

them.

Adapted from Pine and Gilmore Value Chain

Materials

Goods

Services

Experiences

Margin

Dif

fere

nti

atio

n

Customer Interest

HighLow

HighHigh Value Chain

Low

Customization

Commodization

Project Management is Global• And your services compete with other

providers on a global basis!

Global Services Are Commoditized when…

1. Communication becomes cheaper, faster changing traditional interactions between consumers and service providers,

Global Services Are Commoditized when…

2. Producer’s organization relocate,

Tata Consultancy

• Atlanta• Boston• Chicago• Cincinnati• Denver• Hartford• Houston• Detroit• Florida

• Indianapolis• Los Angeles• Minneapolis• New Jersey• Pittsburgh• San Diego• Bellevue• Sunnyvale• Washington DC

• 35,000 consultants

• 33 countries• Clients include

6 of top 10 Fortune 500 list of largest corporations in the US

Global Services Are Commoditized when…

1. Communication becomes cheaper, faster,2. Producer’s organization relocate,3. The consumer moves to the supplier’s

location.

Hufbauer, G., Warren, T. (1999) “The Globalization of Services: What Has Happened? What Are The Implications?”

PMP® Regional Percentage Growth

71%

94%

73%

137%

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60%

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100%

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160%

NorthernAmerica

Asia Pacific EMEA LatinAmerica &Caribbean

Region

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Percent growth fromApril 05 to July 06

www.pmi.org

Disruption in supply and demand

www.itjobswatch.co.uk

Standards

• Technical standards– Project management information system

standards– Database and interface standards – Internet and network communication standards– Educational and certification

Open Markets

• Reduction of market barriers– Reduction of trade barriers with China– Increase globalization trends

More Competition

• New market entrants– Certified practitioners growing faster in regions

outside of North America

Highly Educated Low Cost Labor

“Nearly half the world’s population in India, China and Russia are being integrated into the global economy, most of them highly-educated people who can do just about any job in the world.” (Craig Barrett, CEO of Intel)

Summary

• Growing project complexity, accelerated pace of change,

• Codification and interoperability of project management standards,

• Highly educated low cost labor,• Surging demand of project management

services,• Will result in…

Summary

The generalist is becoming irrelevant and specialists providing superior project management service expertise to customers.

Hope for the Future

• Specialization is the key to the future success of the project management profession

• There are three emerging specialization paths for the practitioner– Administrator– Knowledge expert– Leader

Steps to Specialization1. Know your Strengths2. Be aware of Environment3. Define Your Purpose4. Create Experiences with

your customer5. Initiate Transformation

InitiateTransformation

ProvidingServices

CreateExperiences

Know Your StrengthsAchiever Developer Learner

Activator Discipline Maximizer

Adaptability Empathy Positivity

Analytical Fairness Relator

Arranger Focus Responsibility

Belief Futuristic Restorative

Command Harmony Self-assurance

Communication Ideation Significance

Competition Inclusiveness Strategic

Connectedness Individualization Woo

Context Input

Deliberative Intellection

Be Aware of Your Environment – Emerging Roles

Leaders

• Industry needs each role.• Value proposition is

unique to customer• Transformation provides

the greatest value proposition to customers but also entails greater risk

InitiateTransformation

ProvidingServices

CreateExperiences

Knowledge Experts

Administrators

Administrator• Serves the information needs of stakeholders: reporting,

tracking and budgeting. • Driven by regulatory requirements such as Sarbanes-Oxley.• Executives are demanding accurate, timely information to

report to boards.• Tightly aligned with project offices and their methodologies.• Value proposition: a promise of sound project initiation,

business case, and control processes.

Knowledge Expert

• Practitioners who specialize in particular areas of project management, such as procurement, risk analysis, scheduling, scope planning, or resource management.

• Demand for these knowledge experts expands significantly as project complexity increases.

• Value proposition: experience and deep vertical knowledge.

Leader

32

…And your people skills!

“The whole discipline and art of project management is going to be the essence

of management training, operational excellence and value added… people skills… will increasing determine an organization’s success... Teams will voluntarily come together to solve

complex problems using global resources, essentially replacing the modern day corporation… project

managers with a knack for people skills will be the glue…”

Tom Peters PM Network January 2004

Leader• Service-based Project Leader

– Serves the project organization, creating a meaningful experience for team members, customers and critical stakeholders.

– This experience is fuel that initiates the transformation of the people, systems and organizations.

– Align their team’s personal aspirations and needs

– Considers the net social outcomes and the intrinsic value of the work itself.

– Leads work that defines individuals, illuminates their identity and helps them discover a sense of purpose

Model for Service-based Project Leader

The Project as anEconomic Activity –

Adding value directly to Economic units

SponsorsInterested

Parties

Users / Customers

Project Team

Define Your Purpose

Alignment Equation

Convictions (Values based) + Purpose (Outcome based) = Effort Expended

Significance = Effort Expended

Create Experiences

• Efficiency– Seek high value work– Master low value work and turn it over

• Embrace customization– Discover customer use– Discover customer desired experience