So you want to be a project manager. Why? No, I am seriously asking. What brings you to this profession...or more likely...what brought you to this profession?
Was it an opportunity that was too good to pass up? We're you tired of being a spokesmodel? A game show host? A nuclear scientist? This came to my mind today because a friend on Facebook posed the question "what makes someone decide to be a rodeo clown?" I find that one more difficult to answer for some strange reason. But seriously...what brought you to project management in the first place?
I find it is usually one of three scenarios:
A contractual opportunity. You are bid in a Project Manager position because of your background or expertise on a government contract or business deal. Your organizations wins the business, and you are either forced to accept it or you are offered it and decide to take it. That was the case for me - in ever increasingly responsible PM-type roles on large government contracts starting in the late 1980's.
The assignment. You are a department manager asked to lead a new creative project. You succeed at least as well as hoped, so you are now christened a Project Manager (TADA!) – along with everything else you do. You may like this - or like many you may hate this - but you're stuck with it…especially in smaller organizations or in companies where project management is a separate key focus or where no PM infrastructure exists yet. The first organization I ever worked for – the one I mentioned where I first became a project manager (almost more of a “program manager”) was like that for a long time. How you proceed with this is up to you – but if you resist you may be replaced so that is always something you have to consider.
The experienced leader role. You’re a technical person on a technical project or a design person on an ad campaign or design project or other creative capacity and you’re the most experienced person available. You get tabbed as the “project lead” and that may become your frequent mantra from that point on just because you have the most client-facing skills, you are the best decision-maker and you’re well trusted by both your management and your project clients or clients. It’s certainly not a bad role to be in – you are the one everyone looks up to for leadership and you’re good at getting others to follow your assignments. The problem is, you may not relish the tasks that go with it like leading client status meetings or agile standup meetings with your team, performing status reporting duties, managing the budget and issues and risks, and keeping track of the project schedule, the team and assigning tasks. You may just want to do your job and not worry about everyone else.
Summary
Of course, I’m leaving out the ones who sought this type of role out right away, took courses for it, knew it was what they always wanted to do, etc. Tell us your story. How did you find yourself in the project manager role? Was it voluntary? Was it forced? Are you happy? Do you want to shoot yourself…or someone? Your anonymity will be protected…
