I’ve come to realize over the past year that developing others at work is one of the next critical skills I need to develop in order to continue to advance my career. I’ve had some success at writing code, solving business problems, and eventually leading and managing larger scale IT projects. But there is a point where it is necessary to shift the focus from personal achievement to growing the abilities of others to lead.
One of my goals is to use this blog throughout 2011 to track the development of my action plans and then to track my progress against them. Consider this, then, my inaugral post for the year, with my first topic and area of development to be coaching other project managers. Luckily, one of my MBA courses is focused right now on the same topic. I will use some of the tools, concepts and processes from the class in my own current situation.
I will begin by looking first at competencies and behaviors related to project management. What are the basic, fundamental skills required to be a project manager? What behaviors can be seen by those who possess the skills reqiured to be a project manager?
Over the next two weeks to four weks, I intend to research this topic in more depth. To do so, I will consult with the following sources:
- The Project Management Institute – the leading professional organization for project managers
- Internal documents within my area
- Interviews with other project managers / PMO leads within the company
- Feedback to this post
My intent, once armed with this knowledge, is to become a better coach to one of my fellow PMs.
Your thoughts and feedback are always welcome.