Project Management and Life Lessons

Project Management and Life Lessons

I am a life-long learner.  Recently, I have focused a lot of my evenings and weekends to gaining more knowledge (and certifications) in more areas.  I recently added the PMP certification to my list of certifications.  I spent some long evenings studying and memorizing things I thought I knew from years and years of experience.  There is one thing that holds true of about almost every certification I have obtained.  That thing is that regardless of how much you know (or think you know) and how much experience you have, you always have to study for a certification exam.

I would like to share with you a small, but (to me) significant revelation I had while I was working on my PMP studies.  The revelation came to me one night when our instructor said that a project is a living and dynamic entity that must be taken from its beginning to its end.  To me this seemed to be giving projects way too much in the realm of personal traits and since I was recently reminded by my sixth grader is that personification is used too much these days, I was hesitant to take this information to heart.  But, then I gave this a lot of thought.  I realized that if we as project managers did just that (give our projects a persona), we would be more inclined to properly guide and develop the interests of the project and protect the project in ways that we wouldn't otherwise. 

If we approach our projects with a sense of needing to address the projects needs and developing its path to success as if we were dealing with a living thing, it would enable us to feel free to defend its best interests even in the face of having to disagree with or offend others.  If we look at project management as our responsibility to always do what is best for the project, we can direct it efficiently, interact with resources and customers clearly and manage the outcome effectively.  In this mindset we can even close the project early if needed to so we would be doing what is best for the project and not necessarily what is best for ourselves.

When I gave this more thought, I found it was a logical and effective way to address projects and I decided it was worth sharing.  I hope this helps someone out there who is struggling with a conflict in their project.  I now have a better understanding and respect for the passion project managers have for their projects.  Some treat their projects as “their baby” and now I see why.  Great project mangers give their projects a persona.  They develop and guide that persona and have hopes to one day, watch it grow and flourish under its own power.

To me that is a project management life lesson.

The author:

Max Kopsho, CTS-D, CTS-I, PMP, CQT, CCENT, CCNA, CCNA Security,  MCSE, DSCE 
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

Max has worked in the AV industry for over 15 years in various management and technical roles.  Over the last 26 years Max has acquired an extensive background in supporting A/V systems, computer networks, telecom, and VTC systems.  Max developed one of the industry’s first networked AV solutions and that product is now deployed in a single network with over 15,000 network attached AV devices.  Max has made considerable contributions to the InfoComm Education area in AV/IT and CTS preparations.  He was awarded the 2010 Educator of the Year for InfoComm.