16.7 About Consulting Project Managers

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16.7 About Consulting Project Managers

I have labored in the IT environment as an employee, as an outsourced service provider, and as a consulting project and program manager. Each role has its interesting attributes, most of which I have commented on throughout the book. What I want to do now is to mention a few observations I think are valid for those of you who are learning this demanding profession or who are hiring or managing a consulting project manager as we speak.

Consulting project managers can be extremely effective because they are not plugged into the subliminal power struggle that typifies the corporate environment. Not that they are immune to it, but consider the attitude one adopts after doing this for a while. Experienced consulting project managers suffer few illusions about the tenure of their engagement, which may last for three months or three years but rarely longer. As a result, they try to earn their wings every day, motivated by the goals of:

  • Building that perfect resume

  • Earning great references

Intelligent consulting project managers do not try to show up anyone or steal jobs, either. Nor are they protecting the last 2 years that they need to become fully vested in the retirement plan. So, if they possess good judgment, they will take chances necessary for project success without undue obsessing over political fallout, not to mention career jeopardy. This can have an incredibly positive impact on the team and the project.

A good consulting project manager is there to behave responsibly, teach and mentor where appreciated, demonstrate a good work ethic, and share insights or knowledge gained prior to joining your environment. From a personal growth perspective, consultants seek to become experts in project management, not in the arcane skills of career advancement at Global Behemoth Ltd. Those are noble aspirations for employees, but these aspirations probably do not generate the skills and attitudes this tricky business of complex project management requires.

Not all consulting project managers follow this script, any more than all employees add consistent, selfless value to their job slots either. That is the nature of the world we live in. Most of the consultants I have known through the years are sincerely dedicated to doing a great job. Sometimes they must practice the patience of Job, because they must occasionally pause to let clients catch up with themselves. As a rule, the corporate environment does not encourage or reward lightning fast decision-making and execution. Nor are the indigenous rules of accountability and consequences all that clear or helpful from a consulting project managers perspective either. That is okay because the business of business, even in the IT world, is more about process, politics, and culture than it is about relocating active volcanoes overnight.



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Complex IT project management(c) 16 steps to success
Complex IT Project Management: 16 Steps to Success
ISBN: 0849319323
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 231
Authors: Peter Schulte

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