Welcome
Welcome back to ValueKey Labs, the newsletter that turns up more often than your Sponsor to a Steering Committee meeting. In this episode we cover how to :
- Treat your career like a Project
I recently presented on this topic at the New Zealand PMI Conference and it seemed to resonate with plenty of PMs. So, I'm saving you the Conference entry fee and giving it to you for free.
Treat your career like a Project
Most Project Managers suck at planning their most important project.
Their own career...
I will admit, in the past I wasn’t particularly good at planning my own career either. I often drifted from project to project, mostly chasing the money or the next rung on the job ladder. All without any real sense of where each project role was taking me. I would often tell myself:
• I’m too busy delivering projects to think about planning my career, or
• I would simply kick the can down the road and say to myself, “I will get on to that when this project is finished” or
• Shouldn’t career planning be up to my boss”
For me that all changed in 2007 when the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) meltdown hit. The project I was working on got shelved and I found myself pushed back out into a grim job market.
Licking my wounds, I met up with a colleague who was a project veteran and a bit of an industry legend. After quietly listening to me complain about my misfortune, he leaned in and in a gruff voice gave me some advice which stuck with me.
"You're a half decent Project Manager, use your Project Management Skills and treat your career like your most valuable project”.
Nearly 20 years on that advice has held me in good stead. As Project Professional we spend hours honing our craft in designing, planning, collaborating, communicating and much much more. We often overlook the fact that this amazing skill set can be put to work on planning and managing our own Project Management careers.
I would encourage you to start treating your career like a project, one worthy of your time, skills and energy.
Like any project there are many elements that need to seamlessly combine, here are 4 things to consider:
Have a Vision
(but be micro ambitious in your pursuit of it)
Some of you reading this may be lucky enough to already have a clear vision of your dream career. Maybe it's becoming “Project Director of Nano Implant Technology – at Stark Industries (one for the Marvel nerds there).
That’s great – go for it, but what I would say is this.
Life has an unusual way of throwing up other amazing opportunities along the way. If you are solely focused on only following the plan in pursuit of your dream career without any deviation. You may very well miss some amazing career opportunities or adventures that present themselves out of the corner of your eye.
I advocate for being “Micro Ambitious”
The dedicated, passionate, pursuit of short-term career goals. Much like running your career in small 6-month sprints. You can still hold that longer-term vision in your head, but turn your focus to the next micro-ambitious step in your career 6 months from now.
It could be to run a Transformation Programme or confidently run a Project Kick-off session, or even get PMI Certified. Whatever your next micro- ambitious career step might be, focus on that in the short term, then once its achieved review/ reset and go again.
These small, identifiable and measurable actions will accumulate into affirming and sustainable career success for you in the long run.
Define the Scope
One of the incredible things about a career in the Project Profession is that it transcends industries, sectors and continents. Which means you have an incredibly large scope of opportunity in your professional journey.
Which is brilliant, but you can’t do it all in one lifetime, even if you wanted to.
So much like a Project you need to define the scope of where to put your career focus. When thinking about refining the scope of your project career, here are 5 areas of scope that you may want to consider.
- Do you want to grow the size, risk and complexity of projects that you deliver?
- Do you want to focus on delivering more than one project at a time?
- Which Domains are you truly interested in? The domains can be broken down into Industry, Sector, working with a specific Technology or specific location (i.e. Mahia peninsula for Rocket labs).
- Which Delivery Methods do you need to be competent in? is it one delivery approach, multiple methods or even industry specific delivery methods
- Credentials – which foundational / specific credentials are required for the next step.
By defining the scope areas that you wish to pursue in your career, enables you to consciously plan and focus on gaining valuable experience and skills in those areas.
Build a Plan
I recently ran an online survey asking Project Professionals whether they had a documented career plan. 65% of respondents replied "No - they didn’t have a plan beyond their current role".
Without a plan, you are most likely to experience significant career drift.
As the saying goes, "if you don’t know where you're going, any road will take you there". You can needlessly waste years of your career drifting without specific direction in the absence of a career plan.
But there is a simple fix …..
· Have a plan that’s more than just the next job title on the career ladder
· Have a plan that includes gaining a broad set of knowledge and skills
· Have a plan that’ visible and in a place that you can look at least weekly
· Have a plan, be that a one-page canvas or a glossy slide deck
· Simply and most importantly have a plan.
Engage your Stakeholders (Network)
One of the fundamental skills of Project Management is Stakeholder Engagement. In the context of your own career your stakeholders are your Network.
I know it sounds cliché but your network truly is your net worth. I have lost count of the number of times career opportunities have arisen from people in my direct network.
I recommend PM's use your well-honed stakeholder engagement skills to build a meaningful network of people around you. There are 3 types of networks PM's should look to build:
Operational Network:
This is all about the people in your immediate work environment—colleagues, teammates, even clients. The people in your Operational network help you get stuff done. They’re your go-to’s for resources, information, and collaboration.
Personal Network:
Your personal Network is broader and often outside of your work environment. Think friends, sports teammates, mentors, or people in completely different fields to your own.
Strategic Network:
Finally, your strategic network is composed of senior leaders, industry experts, potential collaborators, and people who are outside your immediate circle.
It has never been easier to build a useful Strategic Network right from the comfort of your own armchair. The rise of social media and networking platforms like Linkedin have opened the door for project professionals to connect with thought leaders and industry leaders anywhere on the globe with a few simple clicks
Ok so there you have it.
As Project Professionals we all possess a unique set of skills that can be easily applied to help drive our own career progression. I would encourage you all to think about your project career as your most valuable project.
Guy Thorpe - aka The Project Guy