Hey everybody. This is NJ here, the host of the NJ podcast, and this is thriving project management, Thursdays. This is part of the everyday series where we share inspiration and insights for you to become the best project manager in the world. Project management is important as joint gums eloquently. Well, when the operations keeps the lights on strategy provides light at the end of the day. And it is project management. That is the trade engine that drives the organization forward. And everybody wants to be a project manager, but not everybody wants to do the hard work that's because you read, we need to love project management in order for you to be successful. And of course you love project management because you're listening to this episode of five and five measure Thursdays. And today we're going to talk about focusing on a career. Focusing on a career. And this is geared towards those people who are starting out in project management, or are considering a move to the project management field and those who, once you recruit project managers, as part of their business, as put out a part of the organization and want to mentor people in the disciplines of project management and one of the mistakes. I made early on and I'm seeing you, people in the profession make is you're taking the short-term view. You're looking for instant gratification. And when things don't pan out in the timeframe that you thought it would pan out, Then you give up and then you think that this is not for you, where that in essence is not necessarily the case, but sometimes you, you end up feeling disbanded because your mindset is not focused on building a career. And this needs you to take a long-term view and long-term perspective, because this is not. It is a marathon. You use sprints and agile software development with delivering a project, but your overall endeavor and project management journey is a marathon. So take the long-term view, have a 5, 10, 15, and 20 year time horizon associated to the career that you want to build the best project managers, project delivery managers, directors, PMO leads CEOs, or have time in the game. Worked for between 10 to 20 years. And they are able to build that experience and that insight, which does prove to be invaluable. There are those who are brilliant in a shorter space of time. On average, you do need a more skin in the game and time on the field. For you to become proficient and to be rewarded. So we need to start taking the long-term view from the very beginning and people normally fail because they do not have a map out for math. They don't have that career mapped out for where they want to go. Now, I did not say a detailed, comprehensive plan that you are stuck to how I'm talking about mapping out, mapping out. Uh, what your different milestones will be and the general track that you need to get there and being able to adapt where it is that you'll go. And then you need to take some time to think of the skills. And the competencies that you need to build the skills and the competencies that you need to build. And project management you'll need a variety of skills, a patellar triangle, beautifully maps out what is needed. You need your technical skills, ability to plan and execute races issues. So assumptions, dependencies, and attire understand the technicalities of your industry and domain. You also need strategic and business management skills, being able to understand the business around a business. Yeah. Uh, during the operations as well, then you need to have leadership and human in occasions. And based on the type of project manager, you want to be based on the industry that you were in. Take time to list the skills that you need. And also it will be good for you to enlist outside, help get yourself a coach. Get yourself a mentor, get yourself, uh, an authority figure who has, is currently where you want to be. In my experience, I've had PMO directors, PMO leads, PMO, uh, PM instructors and business, just general business and life mentors who would take time. And, you know, as guide you and the things that you need to learn and grow, and you cannot do this by yourself as a project manager. You need a multidisciplinary team to effectively deliver a project and you'll need a multidisciplinary team to be in your ear and to guide you, uh, Nova Djokovic's the greatest tennis player of all time by nine. I don't want to hear any excuses. He has a nutritionist. He has a sports psychologist. Therapist. He has an entire team that assists him in raising his game to the highest level possible. So you, as an high-performing project manager, like in YouTube being a high performing athletes, you need to get yourself some outside, help and stop you from being desponded. When things don't work out the way that you've always wanted them to work out, it would be good for you too. Be married to the goal, what your outcome is that you want to achieve and then date the plan. You know, what that means is stay set on the type of project manager. You want to be the skillsets that you want to grow. And when things chop and change, external forces chairs out there. Be sure that you are nimble enough to adapt your plan. And as you work as a project manager, things are definitely going to change. And I believe that this is the best one, the best professions in the world, but you need to have a starting point and let's talk about the career path. So if you decided to stay. You may be asking yourself what's what's next? What is the longterm trend? Well, how the demand is the demand of the market looking out there? I know it's definitely growing. Uh, so, you know, it's easy to think of which industry that you'd want to be in and how the, how things would look, look for you, just where the customer benefits out there. So we want us also look at what, what skills and competencies would you need to be the greatest project manager in the world? You will do things. As I spoken to the talent triangle, you need to have a combination of high skills and soft skills planning and risk management and communication negotiation, and being able to evidence your team members and stakeholders. People will definitely look to you for guidance. I liken this to being a parent, and you need people to look to you to guide them. You will have to be able to strategize. Before during and after the project and have an adaptable prior plan and be the person that raise risks and issues before they happen and being able to have a solution to the problem you need to lead yourself, lead the team members and lead yours, the stakeholders because of looking to you for guidance and. A good base of just, just hardcore management skills and manage all the risk B no, no, every single part of the process that you can from the cost structures to the schedules, the dependencies, uh, what the start date is and what the end. And please know the difference between a project and operations. So the project has a start date and an end date operations is ongoing and for project doesn't have an end date. It's not a project. Okay. I just pick people mind and then build a knowledge base to separate yourself as an expert in the industry that you end such as the tools. And the project management methods that you can use from waterfall to agile practices, build that expert knowledge. And as you grow and as you learn, and as you progress, then you, things will change for you. And the starting points of being a project manager is understanding what kind of occasions you will need. You can look at and. And invite universities, they will have your, your general and your commerce degrees and master's degrees. And they may have. Uh, programs where they will the teaching project management as a course, and as a discipline in university, and then post that we have a number of certifications and courses and online classes that you can take certifications such as the, um, the certified associates and project management. And then the project management professional, which is the gold standard certification that you can take. Uh, there's a wide source of them, but more important. Just think of the certifications that you will need to use out there. Those are the ones that are listed are the ones that are good to get started. So do your research then also think which industries do you want to work in? Which industries do you want to be exposed? And do you want to be exposed to. And infrastructure. Do you want to work in information technology? That will, I believe information technology is the hardest one, because things are less predictable, but you, but project management starts have a question. Any other industries, then it can be business improvements and transformation, and it can be health in our health and it could be insurance. It could be telecommunications. Think of the different industries that you have a strong passion for, that you want to grow in. And if you're not sure, pick one start off there, but project management skills are still transferable from company to company and industry to industry. So when you, if you starting out and you're not sure which industry what's started and don't panic, because as your career grows, you will be able to get the exposure. I mean to get exposure to and where you would normally start as a project manager. If we're going to focus on building a career, taking the long-term view, it would be good for you to start out, to build just the basic administrative, uh, Uh, competencies and experience. And then that role would be the project coordinator and the entry level to being a project manager is a coordinator and administrator, which is very vital and important support person to others in the project team. What they normally do is that they report to the project manager, assistant an admin tasks and projects. Uh, such as capturing the time, putting up the reports, how assisting with information and feedback, bunch of project managers. And this is important because information that is visualized with the start date, end date, risk issues, and the key metrics and success factors for the project. The project coordinates will be privy to. And so there won't be across all aspects of the project so they can coordinate and align with the short-term and long-term goals of the project. So what you'll do is that make sure that the day-to-day activities and tasks are taken care of so that the project manager can be more strategic in the. And they're in their endeavors, what you do as a part of the administrator, it may be hard, but this is you building the foundation, keeping the project pan up to day schedule and managing the meetings, collect and report data on a prescribed metrics, and also look at the budget tracking other important information. And so you'll be able to communicate, organize, do the time management that data capturing the data entry, focusing on the detail. Attention to detail is very important. And just assist in getting things done. Uh, this will allow you to build the foundation of planning, executing, and communicating as a project coordinator. The remuneration is lower than a project manager as you start off, but it will, um, it will, it will grow. And how you start off as a. As a project coordinator administrator, you start off in the relevant university degree. We'll look for an internship and look for a mentorship program and look for a certification just for you to get started and to start cutting your teeth and start off with the humble and a teachable spirit. Because when you have that humble and humble and teachable spirit, you are more. Prone to learning and they're growing and adding value to the people that are above you. Um, in this world of project management, if you have a huge ego, you're going to have a tough time because the end of the day, you need to focus on providing a service to others versus aggrandize. I see yourself from a project coordinator, you move to being a project manager. And now that you've got all the skills that you've acquired from your project coordinator, you can start using them and being a project manager. Um, this title seems very self-explanatory, but that's not necessarily the case either the day you own control and be the CEO and managing a project or a port for multiple projects from start to finish. At the end of the day, that's what it's about. You know, it's very difficult for us was a boss and you will take the lead on a project and oversee everything from the planning through to the completion of the project. And if you move up from a project coordinator to a project manager, you get more responsibility and you get compensated for it. But now you're starting to enter the major leagues. Day to day, you will be in charge of overseeing budget reporting progress of the, of the work managing stakeholder engagements. Nemesis say stakeholder engagement because you can't manage other people. Can't manage stakeholders. You can choose how you engage with them, communicating with your team members up, down sideways and planning for upcoming requirements of a project and be sure to make to, to before things happen. And what's more important is to take on responsibilities of project management is that you need to have the strategic lens and the leadership lens and understand how the project is progressing. And know as much as you can about the project. You are a project manager, not a postman don't deliver messages. You're not sure of what's going on. You need to know as much as. You possibly can. You'll communicate well with our team members and the stakeholders look at all the nitty-gritties of the project. You need to have that emotional grit and work well under pressure because things will go wrong and be comfortable with complexity, be comfortable being uncomfortable, and then operate to respond accordingly to changing and dynamic environments. And you need to make sure that you. Execute at the highest possible level, because the more you execute, the more valuable you'll be. And now this look at how you can be, I'm a project manager, and now that you've moved from a part of your coordinates administrators or project manager, again, you've really got the basis of the education from your tertiary institutions and starting to move towards a certifications. And you can go through the formal track. PMI is a very great source for you to, uh, look at, in terms of getting training out of sources out there. The best. I think one of the best certification for you to get started with is the certified association associates in project management. And then once you've got the experience, three, four and a half years, you've got the hours in. And if you qualify for the project management professional hours to do that, uh, in order for you. Can we show that the depth of your understanding of all project management tools, techniques, and methodologies, are there get as many certifications as possible? It's to, um, the girl for program management, uh, certifications and start learning about the and just take as many courses as my project manager, because you cannot learn enough as a project manager. More importantly than the certifications is the practical application of the knowledge that you have a quiet. Now we've moved from being a project manager and we want to have our own project management team and directorship. Now you move to that project. Director. Now, when you move to, from a project manager as part director, you are in the big leagues. Now this is, this is the professionals, you know, you're no longer an amateur. This is, uh, this is, uh, we with the big fish now and, uh, the scope and the challenge and responsibility of being a print director. Is has not expanded. Now you're moving towards C O type of levels. And now at this level, it's no longer about the day-to-day execution. It's more about strategic, uh, digit, uh, execution. It's about meeting your deadlines and your project management skills are high, but now you focusing more on strategy. The business management and leadership, a project directors. This, you have to have a broad understanding of the company's objectives and the different projects and programs that are running simultaneously. And what the priorities are the difference between the key difference between a project manager and a project director as a PM. You dedicate your time. To one project or multiple projects and the final details of the job. Whereas the project director, you often across multiple projects and programs. I know as a PM, you can have multiple projects, but now the level is increased. As a project director, you can oversee highly complex business critical projects at that are mutual, exclusive. Or they are linked by achieving the high impact on strategic outcome. Key was their strategic outcome. You need to have more of a strategic lens and the weight of your decisions are heavy. It's good to take time to make sure you make decisions based on as much information, data, and intuition as possible. That's why you need that. Project director is the senior member of all projects and essential leader within an organization. You will see a lot of project managers report to you. You will sit on the same level as a C-suite or your report to a C suite member, typically a chief operating officer or a chief risk officer, and you'll be required to manage. As executives and board members will look to you for direction. They will look to you for direction. They no longer are they asking you, how is the project doing? They will be asking you which projects should we prioritize, which projects will status. You should the project goal. And what is the impact of that decision? That'd be, we'll take it's very high and this is a very good start to aim towards. Now you will need to have an overview. If you have all stages of the projects and notified of any potential risks and issues. And the project director does not get involved to the day-to-day running of a project, a project you lead through others. It's no longer okay. About how well you deliver it's about how other people who are under you are able to deliver. And the project director has exactly. Level ownership and you will need to manage insane. Sometimes to the millions of whatever currency that you operate in a major reallocation of resources and organizational transformation, you can dictate where the resources go and whether I need to, and also be accountable for that decision. And you will achieve the overall strategic and transformational goals of the organization. Most important thing is alignment with the organizational strategic goals. Project directors get back right to the multiple sources that you can look at that to how much they can get paid a pay scale. Says, I'm not too sure how reliable the says, but I'll throw out. The number is between $109,000 to $258,000, depending on the industry, there are sources where you can look up for the salaries, but I don't want that to be the major focus. The focus is the longterm view and the skills that you need to, that you need to build a, what would you need to get there? You need your decades of experience. Uh, you can, uh, get program management certified PM. Again, PMI has got certifications related to, uh, program management, which is very good. And also at this level, it'll be great to be a specialist in whatever industry that you are in at this moment. When you move up, you start to specialize more. And when your knowledge is now special, you charge a higher premium because your knowledge is that focus. And with that, you will need to specialize. And as a project coordinator and a project manager, you can't be more of a generalist, but as project director, you may, once you start moving towards being a specialist, it's not a harder and a fascial, but that's is what the, the, the case is. So. Just to look through and recap what we've talked about, right. To be a project manager, uh, Greg, you need to have emotional grit. You need to have the high skills, this soft skills and reporting, budgeting and planning, and you be able to good leader, motivate the team and communicate like a bus. And. Well, in terms of the industries, construction infrastructure, uh, the dominant industries with project manager roles, it is and business improvement, definitely on the rise. And if you are interested, you might want to pull a specialization there I'm a bit biased because. I've got some skin in the game. And then if you, oh, is it good for the traditional project manager career path? You will start as a project coordinator, administrator move out to a project manager then to a project director, and then this is not set in stone. Remember I said, marry the goal and then date the plan. You can also go into main specialist. Program manager and a PMO manager. And though they are sometimes typically on the same level as a project director, sometimes some of the sometimes roles that you use it to change your plea. And that's completely up to, uh, how, what it is that you have an appetite for. And remember that. A mistake that you can make when you're starting out and provide advice to other people. As people don't take the long-term view, you don't have a map where you want to go. You haven't taken time to list the essential skills that you need and you haven't enlisted outside help. And remember that you should marry the goal and date without plan. I hope that you enjoy this episode of thrive and project management, Thursdays, we talked about focus on a career and if you enjoy this episode, please like share comment, subscribe. And if you are interested in any merchandise, please head over to the websites and have a great Thursday. They have a thriving project management Thursday. Take that time to focus on. A career in project management is worth it. And it's important as Joe gums eloquently said, operations keeps the lights on strategy, provides light at the end of the tunnel, but project management is a train engine that drives the organization forward. And you were focusing on a career in project management because you like. Everybody wants to be a project manager, but not everybody wants to do the hardware. And I will see you on the next episode.