Given to the PMI Central Mass chapter on 2015-01-13. Can also be downloaded from here: https://pmicmass.org/document-repository/meetings-archive/2015-meetings-archive/381-2015-01-13-perceptions-of-pms-in-the-job-marketplace-bruce-kozuma

1. Perceptions of Project
Managers in the Job
Marketplace
And What to Do About It
Bruce Kozuma, PMP, CPIM
2015/01/13, v6

2. Topics
 About me
 Common (mis)perceptions about PMs
 What you can do about it
 References and acknowledgements

3. About me
(or what makes
me think I have
something you
want to hear)
 Industries
 Consulting
 Pharma/biotech (big, mid, small
pharma, academic biomedical
research)
 Optoelectronics
 Publishing & related tools,
software development,
manufacturing
 Employers
 Startup to multinationals,
volunteer organizations
 BostonComputer Society,
Marcam,Axsun,Wyeth,
Alkermes, Ceiba/ PerkinElmer
(Synta, UMMS, Broad Institute)
 Roles
 Consultant
 Manager
 1 – 10 direct reports
 Project teams up to 100
employees, consultants,
& contractors
 Individual contributor
 ProgramProject
Manager
 ManufacturingR&D IT
 Software DeveloperQA
 Technical
Communications

4. About me
(or what
makes me
think I have
something you
want to hear)
 Professional qualifications
 B.S. in Physics, Bates College,
1989
(surprisingly useful, finally)
 Master ofTechnical and
ProfessionalWriting,
Northeastern University, 1991
(ditto)
 MSCS, Boston University, 2002
 PMI PMP, 2005
 APICS CPIM, 2010
 General chemistry, Organic
chemistry, Oregon State
University, 2012
 Relevant work experience
 Consulting
 Discovery, business
analysis, SDLC/PLM,
support, change
management
 Enterprise software
implementation
 MES, ERP, PDM,
integration, SCM, QMS,
CDS, ELN, SDMS
 Development
 WordBasic,VBA, C++,
STL, Perl, Java, EJB, SQL,
OLE, LAMP
 Architectures using
UNIX/LINUX/Windows,
client/server, web
More at www.linkedin.cominbkozuma

5. About me
(or what
makes me
think I have
something you
want to hear)
 I’m one of you!
 What follows has been gleaned from experience:
 Being a PM
 Hiring, managing, and working with PMs
 Being interviewed as a PM
 Talking with recruiters and colleagues

6. Common
(mis)
perceptions
about PMs
Hiring
managers’
POV
 They’re tactical, not strategic
 PM with PMP > PM without
 It’s a profession, not a skill
 “A good PM can manage anything”
 Project jockey versus subject matter expert
 Risk management isn’t important

7. Common
(mis)
perceptions
about PMs
Hiring
managers’
POV
 They’re tactical, not strategic
 Perception
 Only think about day to day matters
 Don’t think about the project in the overall scheme of things
 Myopic
 Reality
 Yes, because someone has to sweat the details
 Two words: Program management
 Absolutely, especially at critical junctures of the project, but you can’t
stay in the trenches all the time

8. Common
(mis)
perceptions
about PMs
Hiring
managers’
POV
 PM with PMP > PM without
 Perception
 PMP is required for PMs, PMP holders hired more easily, etc.
 Reality
 Experience trumps certification, but “Experience by itself teaches
nothing” –W. Edwards Deming
 Certification gives you tools and puts management of projects in
context and ensures PMs have exposure to the breadth of the field,
but doesn’t guarantee executional capacity

9. Common
(mis)
perceptions
about PMs
Hiring
managers’
POV
 It’s a profession, not a skill
 Perception
 Once a PM, always a PM
 What growth path?
 Managing projects is all they can do
 Reality
 We didn’t get bachelors degrees as PMs, but developed skills over
time
 Four words: Program management, portfolio management
 Really? PMs employ a lot of skills: risk management, people
management, working across groups, working up and down
management hierarchies, etc.There’s no other jobs that require
those skills?

10. Common
(mis)
perceptions
about PMs
Hiring
managers’
POV
 “A good PM can manage anything”
 Perception
 Projects in different areas aren’t that different, so they should be able
to manage projects in different areas with equal ease, e.g., a PM can
with a background in Quality Management Systems can manage
projects in Supply Chain
 Reality
 Sort of, if you want to cut out one of the PMs most important roles,
i.e., risk management

11. Common
(mis)
perceptions
about PMs
Hiring
managers’
POV
 Project jockey versus subject matter expert
 Perception
 Job is to update the Gantt charts, status reports, issues lists
 Only concerned with metrics
 Doesn’t know much about the subject area/cannot contribute to
technical discussions
 Reality
 “There is no substitute for knowledge” –W. Edwards Deming
 Good PMs know their subject area, connect people, facilitate
conversations, keep people focused on customer needs
 Good PMs look at the big picture and help manage trade offs (avoid
gopher holes)

12. Common
(mis)
perceptions
about PMs
Hiring
managers’
POV
 Risk management isn’t important
 Perception
 How often do you see risk management mentioned in job
descriptions?
 Reality
 THE most important thing project managers do to help ensure project
success
 Many PMs could use more training in conducting (somewhat)
formalized risk assessments and identifying mitigations

13. Common
(mis)
perceptions
about PMs
Other roles’
POV
 Perception
 Don’t produce anything
 Controlling, process bound, bureaucratic
 See themselves as having all the answers
 Why have PMs if we don’t have FTEs to do the work?
 Reality
 Reports show where things stand; metrics let us make data driven
decisions, not ones based on emotions
 Processes help keep projects on target; flexibility needed, to a point
 PMs are supposed to have the big picture and keep things balanced,
but we do need input from all quarters
 PMs are force multipliers, ensuring we do the right work

14. What you can
do about it
 They’re tactical, not strategic
 Think broadly
 Understand the wider mission of your organization and the place
of your project in it
 Seek out related projects and understand how they do and do not
affect your projects
 Conduct lessons learned activities throughout the project, not
just at the end, to improve future projects
 PM with PMP > PM without
 Educate yourself about PM processes
 Get certified: CAPM, PMP, PgMP, PfMP, etc.

15. What you can
do about it
 It’s a profession, not a skill
 Talk with your management about career growth paths
and think about multidimensional growth
 Up in the hierarchy
 Different subject areas
 Different professions
 Different industries
 “A good PM can manage anything”
 Take on new challenges, but be up front about what
knowledge you lack
 Seek out experts and enlist their help in education
yourself
 Turn down the “opportunity” to manage a project
significantly outside your area of expertise

16. What you can
do about it
 Project jockey versus subject matter expert
 Become a subject matter expert in your field, your organization’s
market, your department’s mission, the mission of your internal
stakeholders , etc.
 Widen your organizational and business knowledge
 Risk management isn’t important
 Become a local risk management expert, it pays dividends (including
PMI-RM)
 Include risk analysis/mitigation as part of your projects and when
appropriate, highlight how it helped the project succeed or reduce
costs
 Have a risk burndown plan tied to schedule milestones and project
costs

17. What you can
do about it
 “When professionals work with ease and rapidity, it is the
result of long years of practice and discipline. There are no
secrets or tricks, only feats of skill (tours de main) acquired
with prolonged effort.Through endless repetition, these
techniques will become so much a part of you that you’ll never
forget them.” – Jacques Pépin
 “I tell a student that the most important class you can take is
technique. A great chef is first a great technician. 'If you are a
jeweler, or a surgeon or a cook, you have to know the trade in
your hand.You have to learn the process.You learn it through
endless repetition until it belongs to you.” – Jacques Pépin

18. References
and
acknowledge
ments
 Awati, Kailash. “Project mismanagers – some sterotypes” Eight to Late, 12
September 2007 <https://eight2late.wordpress.com/2007/09/12/project-
mismanagers-some-stereotypical-caricatures/>Accessed on 01 January 2015
 Fiorido,Vanessa. “Three Common Project Management Stereotypes and WhyThey
AreWrong .“ Project Community. 12 April 2013.
<http://projectcommunityonline.com/three-common-project-management-
stereotypes-and-why-they-are-wrong.html> Accessed on 01 January 2015
 Hunsberge, Kelley. “Paper Pushers and Process Police.“ PM Network, February
2012, http://www.pmnetwork-
digital.com/pmnetworkopen/201202?sub_id=uS7HscDcg5N3#pg68Accessed on 01
January 2015
 Kayal, Michele. “For Pepin, cooking is about technique, not stardom.”YahooTV. 3
August 2011. <https://tv.yahoo.com/news/pepin-cooking-technique-not-stardom-
133419748.html> Accessed on 01 January 2015

19. References
and
acknowledge
ments
 Ken. “Tech Stereotypes:Can’t we all just get along?.”The Most Interesting Blog In
The World, 31 July 2011 <http://kahlstrom.tumblr.com/post/8318401825> Accessed
on 01 January 2015
 Deming,W. Edwards. The essential Deming: leadership principles from the father of
quality. NewYork:The W. Edwards Deming Institute, 2013 p. 204, 12
 Pepin, Jacques. Jacques Pépin New CompleteTechniques. NewYork: Black Dog &
Leventhal, 2012. Introduction
 Sanches, Fabiano. “Fighting Project Manager Sterotypes” PM Office – Brazil. 23
February 2012 <http://pmo-br.blogspot.com/2012/02/fighting-project-manager-
stereotypes.html?m=1>Accessed on 01 January 2015
 With thanks to Patricia Coffey, Kathleen Dooley, Livia Racz, and Mark Sweet for
their input to this presentation