As other authors in The PMO Journal have noted, resource management is one of our profession’s biggest challenges. In my recent presentations about the 2022 State of the PMO research study performed by PM Solutions Research, I focused on Resource Management as the most persistent challenge for project management, one which has showed up again and again in studies spanning two decades, and which looks particularly troublesome for PMOs when you consider that four of the top five biggest challenges reported by 2022 study participants are related to resource management headaches.
Source: The State of the PMO 2022: PM Solutions Research, 2022.
Fast forward to 2023, and a new study, Project Management Skills for Value Delivery, is under way. In the development of this new study, two ideas kept coming up:
- That today’s project resources – project, program and portfolio managers, as well as other more technical roles – may be lacking in the skills most needed by organizations in a market characterized by change, uncertainty and risk.
- That organizations look for the wrong skills and knowledge when seeking the talent they need to successfully pull off strategic and transformational initiatives.
In an interview, PM Solutions VP, Client Success, Eric Foss, PMP noted:
Working with clients, I often seen competent project managers thrust into roles they aren’t really prepared for. “Strategic value delivery” is quite different from just managing a bunch of projects. Both the organization’s understanding of project management’s role, and project managers’ aspirations about what their role can be will benefit from broadening the base of knowledge and the skillset. It’s a flag for me when an organization thinks they can implement transformational change simply by getting PMPs on board. The basic knowledge is golden, of course; but enterprise leadership requires more.
The study design, therefore, incorporates a broad range of skills that contribute to the profile of a new kind of project leader, one with the consultative, communicative, and collaborative skills to work at the highest echelon of the organization. The results will tell us which of these skills are most valued by executives, which are most lacking in the study population, and how high-performing organizations differ in their staffing and training profiles. Defining the right roles, hiring, or training for the right skills is a crucial first step in resolving our persistent resource management challenges.
The study closes on Friday, February 10. Readers are invited to participate; all answers will be held in confidence, and those who complete the survey will receive an advance, full-data copy of the results.
