Download Strategically Evolving Project Manager

The Strategically Evolving
Project Manager
PREPARED BY: MONIQUE DI SALVO, PMP
JANUARY 2017 – WESTCHESTER NY, PMI CHAPTER MEETING
QUALITY SIG
Evolution Revolution
The Project Manager’s role has evolved from a technical discipline to a strategic partner role
within the organization.
Today’s PM Mindset:
Strategic
Global Thinker
Agile, fast, adaptive
Leader
Influential
Negotiator
Change Agent
Agile – A Project Management Solution
Agile methods are at the forefront of strategic project management and are playing an ever increasing
role in the way companies do business, producing quality results with quicker turn-around times.
Agile Project Management:
”Smart” companies help employees adopt flexible project management methods.
Future-oriented companies look for balance between traditional and flexible methods.
Strategic Influence
Project manager’s today are required to think strategically.
What does it mean to think strategically?
Think of the needs of the company as a whole vs. a linear project.
Requires fast decision-making.
Ensure a project’s positive influence on workflow.
Go from Project Manager to Value Stream Manager, responsible for financial results and value growth.
Shift from the costs POV to creative more value and achieve company goals.
PM Talent Development
Business-like thinking is an absolute must for value stream managers. Projects have become inseparable
with a company’s strategy and requires special skills:
Analytic Thinking
Technical Skills
Business Mind
PMI’s talent triangle reflects the balance required between Leadership, technical, and strategic skills.
Managing Change – A New Mindset
A successful project manger can seamlessly manage change. Change management is based on strategic
skills and companies who rely solely on the technical skills of their project manager’s will find it difficult
to adapt to radical changes.
To be successful and competitive in today’s market place companies must
seek talent who have managed change and are open to it.
provide support and resources for learning how to adapt and adjust to changing environments.
Project Managers must
Encourage out-of-the-box thinking within their teams.
Become a change agent and influence teams to adapt to these changes.
Design Thinking Approach
A design-thinking approach is a tool aimed at the consumer who helps companies make decisions,
inside and outside the business process.
Design-Thinking process allows developing solutions using engineer and development practices and
combines them with elements borrowed from art, social science, and business.
Used to develop project management content, determining requirements, and solving unusual
problems.
Virtualization – A Global Approach
The new way of thinking for the evolving and strategic project manager is to become a global thinker
who can be agile and work in virtual team environments.
Project managers must be adaptable to this ever-changing work environment.
Team work is more important than the success of any one individual.
Language, culture, and time barriers in communication take place. Managers must be able to provide
out-of-the-box solutions to deal with this. This is a 24/7 working environment.
Stay culturally and politically aware of outside environments that may influence the way a project is run
and the way teams interact.
Conclusion
New ways of working require new ways of creative thinking.
Smart businesses are providing the tools to allow their employees to be more successful in their roles.
Companies as a whole must adapt a more flexible way of thinking.
Project Managers must become more strategic leaders and global thinkers with a vision.