Chapter 13: Mentoring

Overview

Mentoring provides the means to impart the art and science of modern project management through transfer of a mentor's knowledge, skills, and experience to a prot g or group of prot g s in the project environment. In most project management environments, the prominent prot g s are project managers and project team members. The mentors are highly skilled and generally senior level individuals who bring to bear their broad experience in project management, and possibly professional certification, in the guidance and assistance they provide to prot g s.

Mentoring within the project environment presents a powerful means to transfer not just project management skills and knowledge, but also leadership techniques, business values, and professional ethics. A strong project management mentoring program is an excellent way for the PMO to support professional development for project managers and promote the consistent use of sound practices across project teams.

This project management "mentoring" function enables the PMO to:

• Promote and demonstrate use of preferred or best practices in project management

• Endorse professional development standards through mentor qualification

• Identify mentoring opportunities advantageous to business and project purposes

• Provide quick-response, expert guidance to support real-time project management needs

• Facilitate introductions of new project managers through recruitment and advancement

• Build confidence and camaraderie among project managers and project team members

Project management mentoring can be a significant investment within the relevant organization. Sometimes the returns on this investment are almost immediate. Other times, the realization of project management mentoring benefits takes a longer time as the prot g gains confidence in applying new tools, techniques, and perspectives learned from the mentor. The benefits to be realized are in the individual professional development that occurs through the mentoring processes undertaken. A project manager becomes more capable on the current project and uses this expanded capability on the next project.

The success of project management mentoring certainly depends on each mentor's personal skill. However, success also relies on the participation, interest, and learning abilities of the project manager and project team member prot g s in the mentoring process. To that end, it is important to note that the mentor is not assigned to perform project management. The mentor should not direct the project team, assume project outcome responsibility, or make project management decisions. These activities must remain with the project manager, who is ultimately responsible for project success. Rather, the project management mentor provides advice, guidance, experience-based recommendations, facilitation, concept support, and personal encouragement.

The project management mentoring program should not lead to undue reliance on project management mentors or their availability. Project management mentors are needed only until either the prot g 's individual need for mentoring support subsides or until the supported activity, event, or situation prompting mentor involvement has passed. A mentor's assignment should always be viewed as a temporary one, and successful mentors will always be working themselves out of a job on every assignment.

This function requires senior management support and endorsement as a primary success factor. As a minimum demonstration of support, a senior level sponsor is needed to establish and maintain a viable project management mentoring program.