Project
Management Vs MPP, Tools and PMP
One of my early observation as I entered the field of
project management is that: One who knows how to work with Microsoft Project
Plan (MPP) or other similar tools, including Microsoft Excel is a good project
manager. So, to perform my role better, I attended a training on MPP. But the
training was very disappointing for me. We were told ‘how to’ stuff using the
MPP, but never ‘when’ or ‘why’ certain actions needs to be taken as a project
manager. I hoped some of the other participants would echo my feeling during
the training, but all seemed to be very happy and asked questions about more of
‘how to’ like for example how to integrate MPP into an in-built version of
another project management software. The organization mandated the use of MPP
only to baseline the plan, and the same was uploaded into an enterprise
application which was used to manage projects. Although I learnt the ‘how to’
use MPP, it appeared knowing MPP or any other software was never going to make
me a better project manager. This understanding, coupled with my interactions
with others, I realized that IT projects, especially those done under managed
services by a vendor to client, rarely needed a dedicated project management
tool like MPP. Not all the features of the tool or project management
principles were used. It was ‘fit-in’ need that satisfied certain
organizational practices, to align with organizations Quality/SEPG/CMMi
requirements to bring a consistent approach, and also help in sales and
marketing teams to mention about the expertise in those tools. And most PMs, apart
from use of such organization mandated tools, rely on using their own plan and
tracker using MS Excel, as it provided a means to bring their thought and make
it simpler for them to handle their daily needs. As I grew in my PM role, managing
projects for clients, I learnt by experience different aspects of project
management and the key capabilities for someone moving from a technical role to
a PM role. And furthering the growth in the project management career, I was
made to believe that doing a PMP certification would help me better gain
control of the projects. I made my
attempts to get some concepts from PMP materials as well. I also had a mandate
by the organization I worked at that time to complete certain internal
certifications, including one on project management. But in my experience, I
did not find from many of the theoretical concepts that these certifications
provided into useful practice – either because they weren’t really required for
such projects or there wasn’t an opportunity that arose during the project
lifecycle. My take, on a qualitative level, is one should develop the following
key capabilities as one enters the PM field:
- Develop a mindset that PM should as a
facilitator for his team
- Communicate well – verbal and written
- Understand project members, their roles and
bridge them whenever required
- Making sound judgements, decisions when required
in-order to sail the ship
- Manage stakeholders – internal and external
While each one might have his own experience, and learning
curve, as in any field, the challenges are plenty as one enters the project
management field from a technical field. And in many cases, the person who
performs better the technical role moves into the project management role for
the same project. While such persons might succeed in the role, as they are
aware of the project context better, they get either stuck into the same
project for a long time or when an opportunity comes to manage a newer project,
they face difficulties due to the gap in capabilities they bring from their
earlier roles. For such persons to advance in the project management role, few
other capabilities are necessary that I will explore in detail later in another
blog.
