Project Manager as Generalist: Project Manager as Obsolete

1. Project Manager as Generalist:Project Manager as Obsolete Jack P. Ferraro, PMP Grow Your Profession

2. Change the World? Grow Your Profession

3. 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! Grow Your Profession

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6. The Generalist • A project management generalist is a practitioner who is able to do all the general tasks in the area of project management. Grow Your Profession

7. Domains of Project Management Generalist • Technical– project management activities • Contextual– business or subject matter activities • Behavioral– personal and team activities Grow Your Profession

8. 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 Grow Your Profession

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11. Mega Challenges Facing the Generalist • Increasing project complexity, internationalization and shorter timelines • Practitioner education / expectation paradigm • More structure, methodology, knowledge management • Information overload Grow Your Profession

12. Mega Answers • Industry answers • More standards • Higher education / research • Expanded certifications Grow Your Profession

13. Certifications Research Grow Your Profession

14. Practitioner Solutions in Project Management Education • What is your answer? • Know your customer • Differentiate yourself Grow Your Profession

15. Project Management as a Professional Service • Project team performs economic activity Traditional Project Management as a Service The Project as an Economic Activity – Adding value directly to Economic units Interested Parties Sponsor Primary Economic Unit Grow Your Profession

16. 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. Grow Your Profession

17. Value Chain High High Experiences Customization Services Customer Interest Differentiation Goods Commodization Materials Adapted from Pine and Gilmore Value Chain Low Low Margin High Grow Your Profession

18. Project Management is Global • And your services compete with other providers on a global basis! Grow Your Profession

19. Global Services Are Commoditized when… • Communication becomes cheaper, faster changing traditional interactions between consumers and service providers, Grow Your Profession

20. Global Services Are Commoditized when… • Producer’s organization relocate, Grow Your Profession

21. Tata Consultancy • Atlanta • Boston • Chicago • Cincinnati • Denver • Hartford • Houston • Detroit • Florida • 35,000 consultants • 33 countries • Clients include 6 of top 10 Fortune 500 list of largest corporations in the US • Indianapolis • Los Angeles • Minneapolis • New Jersey • Pittsburgh • San Diego • Bellevue • Sunnyvale • Washington DC Grow Your Profession

22. Global Services Are Commoditized when… • Communication becomes cheaper, faster, • Producer’s organization relocate, • The consumer moves to the supplier’s location. Hufbauer, G., Warren, T. (1999) “The Globalization of Services: What Has Happened? What Are The Implications?” Grow Your Profession

23. PMP® Regional Percentage Growth Grow Your Profession www.pmi.org

24. Disruption in supply and demand Grow Your Profession www.itjobswatch.co.uk

25. Decomposition (Vertical Disintegration) of Services Grow Your Profession

26. IBM Computer Story Grow Your Profession

27. The Rise of Specialty Component Suppliers Grow Your Profession

28. Vertical Disintegration • Increased “codification” or dissemination of formerly tacit knowledge within the industry’s value chain. • The development of technical standards that promote stability and codification across interfaces. • Reduction of barriers to market entry. • A growing market that attracts large numbers of new entrants which intensifies competition. • Availability of highly-educated, low-cost labor. Macher, J.T., Mowery, D.C. (2004) Vertical Specialization and Industry Structure in High Technology Industries, Business Strategy Over the Industry Lifecycle, Advances in Strategic Management. Volume 21, 317–356. Grow Your Profession

29. Codification • Codification of tacit knowledge • Terminology (Lexicon initiative) • Project management processes (i.e. PMBOK®) • Best practices; work breakdown structure, scheduling, risk etc. Grow Your Profession

30. Standards • Technical standards • Project management information system standards • Database and interface standards • Internet and network communication standards • Educational and certification Grow Your Profession

31. Open Markets • Reduction of market barriers • Reduction of trade barriers with China • Increase globalization trends Grow Your Profession

32. More Competition • New market entrants • Certified practitioners growing faster in regions outside of North America Grow Your Profession

33. 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) Grow Your Profession

34. 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… Grow Your Profession

35. Summary The generalist is becoming irrelevant and specialists providing superior project management service expertise to customers. Grow Your Profession

36. 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 Grow Your Profession

37. Initiate Transformation Create Experiences Providing Services Steps to Specialization • Know your Strengths • Be aware of Environment • Define Your Purpose • Create Experiences with your customer • Initiate Transformation Grow Your Profession

38. Know Your Strengths Strengths Finder® List Grow Your Profession Buckingham, Marcus (2001) Now Discover Your Strengths. New York: The Free Press.

39. Leaders Industry needs each role. Value proposition is unique to customer Transformation provides the greatest value proposition to customers but also entails greater risk Initiate Transformation Create Experiences Providing Services Be Aware of Your Environment – Emerging Roles Knowledge Experts Administrators Grow Your Profession

40. 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. Grow Your Profession

41. 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. Grow Your Profession

42. Leader “The whole discipline and art of project management is going to be the essence of management training, operational excellence andvalue 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 …And your people skills! Grow Your Profession

43. 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 Leader Grow Your Profession

44. Model for Service-based Project Leader Users / Customers The Project as an Economic Activity – Adding value directly to Economic units Interested Parties Sponsors Project Team Grow Your Profession

45. Define Your Purpose Alignment Equation Convictions (Values based) + Purpose (Outcome based) = Effort Expended Significance = Effort Expended Grow Your Profession

46. Create Experiences • Efficiency • Seek high value work • Master low value work and turn it over • Embrace customization • Discover customer use • Discover customer desired experience Grow Your Profession

47. Initiation Transformation • Initiation of transformation is the critical new responsibility of the project leader. • Project leaders cannot bring about transformation wholly of their own power. • Transformation requires willing participation from others. • Transformation starts with • Yourself, • Then others, • Their processes and systems, • Their organizations. Grow Your Profession

48. Initiation Transformation • Write down a list of desired values or personal characteristics Grow Your Profession

49. List 3-5 desired values Grow Your Profession

50. Write down a list of desired values or personal characteristics. Write down things you care deeply about in your job what you desire to transform. I desire to create or transform ___________________ Initiation Transformation Grow Your Profession