Leaping in to Project Management

[simplicity]

Just wondering how the Project Managers amongst you made the leap in to project management?

1) Did you do a support role first e.g Project Officer type role?
2) Did you make a transition from a previous management role?
3) Was it purely luck after years of un-related experience?

[craig1]

Just wondering how the Project Managers amongst you made the leap in to project management?

1) Did you do a support role first e.g Project Officer type role?
2) Did you make a transition from a previous management role?
3) Was it purely luck after years of un-related experience?

3

At a permie job in the 90s, a number of PMs left under a cloud, the company needed someone to take over some projects at very short notice and I volunteered on the condition that if I did a decent job that I'd get the job permanently.

[redgiant]

Just wondering how the Project Managers amongst you made the leap in to project management?

1) Did you do a support role first e.g Project Officer type role?
2) Did you make a transition from a previous management role?
3) Was it purely luck after years of un-related experience?

1

I was on a graduate management scheme for a consultancy firm and when that finished I was then fast tracked through a app testing role and became a PM with small projects at first (£200k budgets) then moving up to bigger ones.

[northernladuk]

One key question which you didn't add which would be much more useful is WHERE did you slip in to Project Management. I guess you are asking for feedback with the idea of trying the same route. We could all say 1, 2 or 3 but if 99% of us did it in permie land it is of no use to you.

For me I did number 2 in permie land. Working on an account and in managerial position and a PM role came up so transfered internally. We had already been giving PM training and had a tightly structured methodology which we also had training in.

[simplicity]

One key question which you didn't add which would be much more useful is WHERE did you slip in to Project Management. I guess you are asking for feedback with the idea of trying the same route. We could all say 1, 2 or 3 but if 99% of us did it in permie land it is of no use to you.

For me I did number 2 in permie land. Working on an account and in managerial position and a PM role came up so transfered internally. We had already been giving PM training and had a tightly structured methodology which we also had training in.

Many thanks for your responses - I wasn't too interested in whether people were contracting previously or permenant. Some good responses though...

I should add that I came in to the profession from a support role. I jumped from a permie generic support role in to contract project support and then in to a management role. I've kind of back tracked to an IT support role as its paying twice as much as the non-IT PM role I had before.

One thing I did find with my previous PM role was that the job title didn't actually match the content and expected responsibility of the job. I get much more satisfaction now in a less senior role as there is so much to learn.

As much as it shouldn't matter what type of projects you've managed before I would say that it would make sense to have experience in the relevant sector. Jumping across sectors can be challenging and just because you were at the top of the ladder in one sector doesn't mean you will automatically know it all in another. Allow time for learning about a new sector if switching....

[craig1]

Many thanks for your responses - I wasn't too interested in whether people were contracting previously or permenant. Some good responses though...

I should add that I came in to the profession from a support role. I jumped from a permie generic support role in to contract project support and then in to a management role. I've kind of back tracked to an IT support role as its paying twice as much as the non-IT PM role I had before.

One thing I did find with my previous PM role was that the job title didn't actually match the content and expected responsibility of the job. I get much more satisfaction now in a less senior role as there is so much to learn.

As much as it shouldn't matter what type of projects you've managed before I would say that it would make sense to have experience in the relevant sector. Jumping across sectors can be challenging and just because you were at the top of the ladder in one sector doesn't mean you will automatically know it all in another. Allow time for learning about a new sector if switching....

I'd disagree with that last paragraph. The more senior you get, the less important it is what sector you're in. I would be as comfortable running a top-end project in a law firm as I would in a telecoms company or a retail organisation. It's all about stakeholder management skills and they're transferable across industries. It helps to have sector experience but it's by no means critical.

[simplicity]

I'd disagree with that last paragraph. The more senior you get, the less important it is what sector you're in. I would be as comfortable running a top-end project in a law firm as I would in a telecoms company or a retail organisation. It's all about stakeholder management skills and they're transferable across industries. It helps to have sector experience but it's by no means critical.

Thanks - thats reassuring, I think you have helped me identify that my apprehension is probably due to my low confidence of going outside my comfort zone.

[redgiant]

Many thanks for your responses - I wasn't too interested in whether people were contracting previously or permenant. Some good responses though...

I should add that I came in to the profession from a support role. I jumped from a permie generic support role in to contract project support and then in to a management role. I've kind of back tracked to an IT support role as its paying twice as much as the non-IT PM role I had before.

One thing I did find with my previous PM role was that the job title didn't actually match the content and expected responsibility of the job. I get much more satisfaction now in a less senior role as there is so much to learn.

As much as it shouldn't matter what type of projects you've managed before I would say that it would make sense to have experience in the relevant sector. Jumping across sectors can be challenging and just because you were at the top of the ladder in one sector doesn't mean you will automatically know it all in another. Allow time for learning about a new sector if switching....

I have also taken on a less senior role with the two contract roles that I have had since leaving the consultancy. I wanted to pick up knowledge in some more niche skills & products which should open the doors to become a PM deploying/developing them in future.

As far as jumping sectors is concerned I have not found it much of a problem yet - this probably due to having experience when I was a permie consultant working in retail, financial service, defence and central government sectors. This will get harder as time goes on if I don't get contracts in those sectors I expect.

[redgiant]

I'd disagree with that last paragraph. The more senior you get, the less important it is what sector you're in. I would be as comfortable running a top-end project in a law firm as I would in a telecoms company or a retail organisation. It's all about stakeholder management skills and they're transferable across industries. It helps to have sector experience but it's by no means critical.

I think certain sectors are more selective than others (Investment Banks and Retail being two such sectors) but I do agree with you that the more senior you are the easier it is to transfer around.

[craig1]

Thanks - thats reassuring, I think you have helped me identify that my apprehension is probably due to my low confidence of going outside my comfort zone.

The biggest stakeholder management tool is being able to answer in advance for a stakeholder "what's in it for me?" If you can understand how your project affects how the organisation makes (or loses) money then you can talk to the senior people on their level. It's like the transition from senior IT manager to CIO, many senior IT managers have a hugely successful career without having to talk to too many non-IT people but a CIO must know how to talk to other C-level execs in their language or he's going to be a miserable whipping boy treated like a helldesk operator.

Translating into a project manager's career, you can be a very successful junior- to mid-level PM by having a narrow but deep skillset, to move into the big leagues (e.g. 8-figure budgets or "bet the company" projects) you need to have a T shaped skillset, hugely deep in PM skills but also have an appreciable knowledge of general business skills. Sector knowledge becomes less important the wider your general business skillset gets.