| June 2007 |
| By Annette Suh |
I am an IT Project Manager. I work in a highly-competitive environment where I'm expected to be able to lead and guide technical staff, while also being required to communicate with non-technical people - the business side - and being able to make everyone happy. I joke that I get paid to talk all day long, and it's not far from the truth! Every day is spent largely on the phone, email, or IM communicating with team members. I have to know at the drop of a hat what is going on with my project. If there are any issues, I need to address how they’ll be resolved.
As I'm considered a non-technical staff person, it is my job to win over the technical resources to the idea of what the business is requesting & paying for. Sometimes, this can be tough as many technical workers are a different gender, and several years older than I am. Other times, it is tough because the business' request is not standard, or approved for the IT environment the team is working in. I have to be able to break thru their biases, win them over. I also have to be able to communicate back to the business when their request is impossible, with options that can work. Knowing the right questions to ask is vital, as most technical staff will not volunteer any information to you.
Skills that will make or break your ability to be a project manager:
- Ability to lead
- Ability to negotiate
- Ability to read people and speak to them in their language
- Ability to keep track of the work / cost / timeline
- Ability to communicate - both with techies & business / stakeholders
- Ability to learn technical jargon & repeat it back in plain English
- Ability to learn the companies' standards (reporting, documentation) and use them
- Ability to do things the way the companies ask them to be done
Most commonly, I maintain a sharepoint site for the SOW, WBS, Project Statement, Schedule, and specific technical documents that relate to the type of project I'm managing. Common tools for me: MS Project, P3e, CQ or some other kind of ticketing / tracking tools, excel, power point, conference lines & webex or other desktop sharing tool. I also have learned how the 7-layer OSI works (though some argue that it should really be 5 layers nowadays) as many projects involve adding infrastructure to existing systems. This model explains how different things interact with each other to make an overall network system work, and the applications within the system. It's also good to learn System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) as many projects are governed by the Sarbanes-Oxley methodology.
As a contractor, you are never guaranteed a position within a company. I have managed up to 9 projects at a time, some worth more than a million dollars, and still found that even with a top-notch performance, factors outside my skill and ability often dictate whether or not I stay in a position for long. You have to develop a tough skin and remember that it's business, not personal. No matter how good you are, you're going to get cut from the team at some point, and sometimes it's without warning. The payoff is that you make a lot more than the companies' regular employees, but the downside (if you see it as one), is that turnover is much higher than someone who is a permanent employee of the end company. Most family members think that I'm going down a very unusual career path, because I have a new job every 3 months to 6 months to a year. I see it as an opportunity to manage my career how I want, and work where I want, always growing in my profession. I am a risk-taker by nature, so this is a great way for me to learn new things that I'd never be able to learn if I just sat at a desk with one company for years.
Some tips: The market is booming, so there's never a lack of work. In Seattle, telecom and aerospace are huge industries, as well as software development. Read up on these and become familiar with the jargon. There are several free publications that will help you, as well as websites. Keep your resume up-to-date at all times, and keep numbers of recruiters close by for the next time you need a new assignment. Guarantee that if the layoff is zero-notice, you'll have a week or two sitting at home applying for jobs, at a minimum, so knowing the right people ahead of time will make things happen much quicker than if you're starting from scratch on your job hunt. Make friends in the industry. Join PMI.org and obtain as much information from the group as you can.
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