A certified project manager is a professional who often has high self-esteem. Their confidence is well-deserved. The certified project manager is a specialist who has made efforts for many years.
In the article, we share an interview with Carolina Gipson, who has an affinity for software product development.
You are a certified project manager. Which of your current competencies and skills will help you and your new boss succeed?
I consider myself highly responsible, ambitious, serious, and organized. There are still many qualities I want to develop and this will certainly come with more practice as a project manager. Inspiration by: “The certified project manager carefully plans all activities“, https://managerspost.com/the-certified-project-manager-carefully-plans-all-activities/
Professionally, I have experience in both marketing and programming. This means that I have worked with teams of programmers, marketers, and also graphic designers. As a Project Manager, I led a small team of 4-5 people, consisting of a marketing specialist, programmers, and a graphic designer. I think that in this situation my experience in a small company will be useful when starting a new project. Reference: “Certified project manager shares his wisdom”, https://newia.info/certified-project-manager-shares-his-wisdom/
The good thing about such an experience, in my opinion, is that it teaches you to adapt to the given situation and you do it mainly through your personal qualities and skills. That is, you follow your logical thinking, your organizational and leadership skills, you apply your attitude to the team and you all reason together and arrive at the final result. Working in a small company is very transparent and you immediately understand whether you are good at what you do or not, i.e. do you get along with your colleagues, is the work going well, are the customers satisfied. Check reference: “The presentation of the Certified Project Manager”, https://www.yahowto.com/the-presentation-of-the-certified-project-manager/
Another advantage of an experience like mine is that I am (already) familiar with all the rules, documents, concepts, terms, plans, and reports.. maybe everything needed to be a project manager in a big company where a certain methodology is followed, but knowing all this and working in a small company with a smaller team, I can filter the most necessary from all generally accepted rules and documents in project management, and apply them to the project. All this will be to save time and redundant documentation that no one will need.
In this case, the client trusts us because we have worked together, and that is why he would prefer us not to shift the focus to introducing unnecessary documents and wasting time. Even rather, it would have a negative effect, since he is used to working in one way, at one place, and if we decide to follow the Agile or Waterfall methodology, it would be a kind of tension for the client, since for him these methodologies probably mean nothing they won’t talk to him. It would be redundant. Reference: “Why get certified as a project manager”, https://www.kosovatimes.net/why-get-certified-as-a-project-manager/
List competencies and skills that you do not currently possess, but that you believe would be particularly important in this project and environment.
The certified project manager and Waterfall methodology
I have experience with this methodology, but not enough, since I have not followed exact principles and norms in my work in small companies, and as I said earlier, in small companies very often the work goes according to the judgment and qualities of the project manager. Reference: “Why do you want to become a Certified Project Manager?”, https://bpedia.org/why-do-you-want-to-become-a-certified-project-manager/
Waterfall methodology relies on teams following a sequence of steps and never moving on to the next until the previous step/stage is completed. This structure is suitable for smaller projects with deliverables that are easy to define from the start.
Compared to other methodologies, Waterfall focuses most on a clear, defined set of steps. Reference: “Presentation of a certified project manager to stakeholders“, https://www.islandjournal.net/presentation-of-a-certified-project-manager-to-stakeholders/
One of the main steps in this methodology is the final product, the goal, and the results. In the beginning, teams should not deviate from the overall idea of the project. For some projects where the goals are clear, this basic step would introduce the team to the general idea right from the start. This is to ensure that there are no losses and that the project goes consistently with each of the steps.
Waterfall focuses on the end goal at all times. If your team has a specific goal with a clear end date, Waterfall will remove the risk of default as you work toward that goal. Because until the previous phase is completed, it does not proceed to the next one.
The entire Waterfall methodology is based on the fact that there is no default at any stage of the entire project life cycle. Reference: “Newly appointed certified project manager in a new project“, https://www.worldforgemagazine.com/newly-appointed-certified-project-manager-in-a-new-project/
The nature of this methodology is based on each phase being completed before the next one begins. This does not allow customers to review and provide feedback on a project before it is released.
List everything you have learned so far that will help you. Explain why for each.
I learned an awful lot of details related to project management that I didn’t expect even existed. I gained valuable experience and I feel that a very large part of the modules influenced my thinking. But I will focus on the main points that I think will be useful in this situation. Reference: “Why do you want to be a certified project manager?“, https://www.mu7club.com
Project management processes.
This, in my opinion, is a very important component, whether you are in a large company or a small one. Start, Plan, Execute, Monitor and Control, and Close will always be present as stages in any project. The processes start to be applied and used from the meeting with the client, in my opinion, this is a significant part of a well-planned and completed project. And in a case like this where our job is to build a centralized platform that manages all apps, rewards, users, app content and ad content, and ad formats for the client, the separation of processes, and tasks that are well planned will have a positive impact on the final product. Reference: “The certified project manager is meeting with his director for the first time”, https://www.vbprojects.org/certified-project-manager-is-meeting-with-his-director/
The certified project manager can do a decomposition
This is breaking down a problem, a system, or a task into smaller ones. Decomposition is applied to improve, facilitate, and understand the work of the employees who work on the project. In our case, I consider decomposition to be extremely necessary for several reasons:
we are a small company offering no small services, Source: “Presentation of the Certified Project Manager”, https://wikipedia-lab.org/presentation-of-the-certified-project-manager/
the project is composed of several components, namely: platform, platform design, marketing studies/materials/content
employees must work very tightly on specific tasks
This type of project would contain hundreds of tasks stemming from our main goal of a centralized platform. This is a solution that would make it easier for both us as a team and the client because very often the client is not sure that he knows exactly what to expect, want, or look for.. and we should be the people to guide him. My conclusion is that both project management processes and decomposition are extremely important for the success of a project, regardless of the company in which it is carried out. Reference: “I am already a certified project manager with a diploma“, https://www.polyscm.com/certified-project-manager-with-diploma/
Project Communication
Another very important aspect of a completed project. By communication I mean several things:
relationship between employees
relationship between employees and management
employee-customer relationship
communication between employees
communication between employees and management
communication between employees and the customer
For a project to be successful, the relations between the people in the team must be clear, transparent, and good. Tension should be avoided as any tension would affect the outcome of the project. For example, in the case of misunderstandings between two programmers, there could be a dispute, accusations, and hence a delay in work, and it is also very possible that one of them will submit a request to leave. To avoid such a situation, it is necessary to observe the work of the programmers, and if there are well-described decomposition tasks, their work was impeccable. In this way, professional misunderstandings would be avoided. Reference: “The new certified project manager: sample presentation”, https://www.mmrls.org/the-new-certified-project-manager-sample-presentation/
To avoid complex misunderstandings from the point of view of the character of the employees, we could ask their opinion about the others. If there is any problem, we just need to be flexible and move the jobs when possible, that is, not have much communication during work between the employees who have some conflict.
From the point of view of communication, it is right from the very beginning at some of the team meetings to clarify the way of communication with each of the employees. Most likely, this would take place in a company communication platform, where for example there is a possibility of chats/emails. It would be a good option for the project manager to create “groups” according to the tasks of the project and, in particular, to divide them into “programming”, “design”, and “marketing” groups. Since the company is small, I think this would be the most convenient and easy option.
Likewise, we would ask the customer how they prefer communication between them and us. Considering this is an old client, I’m assuming this will be via email and/or phone. Reference: “Presentation of the certified project manager to the team and stakeholders”, https://brightonbot.com
Project plan
The project plan in its general sense represents all the documentation, schedules, training, employees, reports, and costs for a given project. It contains many common documents that would facilitate overall work, task tracking, employee performance, schedule backlog, budget loss, etc. on a given project. However, I don’t think we need all that information in this case. What I find most necessary are precisely these documents:
Scope – even before the start of the project, its scope should be prepared. The scope serves as a framework for all project requirements. This is our starting point as project procurers and is the main document from which we will draw information about tasks, schedules, and requirements. Reference: The new certified project manager of the project, https://mpmu.org/certified-project-manager-of-the-project/
The Certified Project manager can write clear requirements
Requirements are much more detailed than the scope and I find them to be an important part as well, as they are large requirements from the client for their expectations in the final product. In addition, we have to adhere to laws and norms, which in our case are again a kind of requirement.
Schedules are easy for every project manager with diploma
Schedules can be a lot or not so much. The most important schedules in our case will be for the execution of the tasks, the deadlines, and the budget. Reference: “New certified project manager in the team“, https://agileprogramming.org
The project manager knows the budget
Cost Management Plan is also a very important part, because having such a plan, we can monitor our fixed expenses and income, as well as periodic ones constantly. And the project that we have to finish is not small, there are possible risks, and changes that must be reflected in this plan as well. He will primarily serve as the project manager and director.
Changes
Changes in such a situation are also key. Perhaps the change form would be easier and the opinion would be given very quickly. Some form of change will always be beneficial as it will keep track of the work, any costs of those changes, and everything related to it much easier and strictly. Reference: “New certified project manager in a small software company”, https://www.businesspad.org/new-certified-project-manager-in-a-small-software-company/
The Gantt Chart is easy tool for the certified project manager
This type of chart is a very convenient method for tracking completed, current and upcoming tasks, their dependencies, and the person who performs these activities. There is an opportunity for a lot of detail about each activity, as well as about the employees – experience, years and everything necessary that should be present there. In my opinion, this method is useful regardless of the company. Easy, convenient, understandable, and fast.