Generic Approach
- Experience is essential in other environments such as for a technical project manager to have an appreciation and capabilities of the technology.
- Getting the break.

Consider if you really want to become a Project Manaeger.
- Technical people do not have to move to Project Management to progress their career. There are other career paths that people can take. Research and ensure that this is the right move for you…

Key Skills for a Project Manager:
90% of Project Management is Communication. This can be reports, status and getting the information from technical teams and essentially reporting to the project board. Also, being a Motivator is essential to get the best out of your team. And finally, be Thick Skin’d as you will have to deal with people from all backgrounds and all environments. You will get the praise for success, but also the blame for failure (and yes customer failures too)

I love deadlines, I especially like the SWOOSHING sound they make as they fly past




To move in to project management it is essential to Prepare by either taking classes or read books if not both. Position yourself by being in the right place at the right time. You make your own luck. Be up front and let the management know of your interests. Let the management help you progress. And finally Perform, begin using the skill learnt straight away and deliver results.

I know that you believe that you understand what you think I said but I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant.

Any task can be a project, so you do not need to have a multi million pound deliverable for it to be a project. A simple example - making coffee for the team.

Step 1: Define – Document the requirement, identify risks, issues and assumptions.

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.

  • Requirement - Making coffee for 5
    • Jim - White no sugar
    • Alan - Black 2 sugars
    • Helen - Hot water
    • Tom – White 1 sugar
    • Yourself – white no sugar

Issue – Health and safety states ‘you cannot carry more than 4 cups at any one time’ Action to mitigate, make two trips.
Step 2: Plan – Lay down a schedule

  • Boil the kettle - 2 minutes
  • Make drinks - 2 minutes
  • First trip – Get the drinks for others – 1 minute
  • Second step – Get yours – 30 seconds

Step 3: Track – keep effort, how log it takes (actual effort)

  • Boil the kettle – 2 minutes 30 seconds
  • Make drinks - 1 minute
  • First trip – Get the drinks for others – 3 minute (as chatting)
  • Second step – Get yours – 30 seconds

Step 4 Report
Status reports for your team or yourself if your company has no reporting mechanism. For this example it would be the task was successfully completed.

A project is complete when it starts working for you, rather than you working for it.

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