In Colin Ellis' article, he suggests that successful project managers need to be mentored in order to truly understand their position and how to properly manage a project. Everything from building relationships and managing risk in the project is not something that can be learned through reading and research -- it takes anecdotal and customized teaching to become a competent project manager.
The author breaks down mentorship into an acronym: Motivator, Empowers, Nurture, Teacher, Originator, and Role model. In order to share knowledge from a veteran project manager to a new one, these are the attributes the mentor must possess. The article discusses that big companies like IBM are creating and implementing new programs to encourage mentorship and the exchange of knowledge between all of its project managers.
Relevance to Class
The article discusses one of the biggest concepts in this class: project management and the development and implementation of new systems software. Ellis expands on what we have learned in class about the cycle of software development by suggesting that mentorship is a key part in project management, although that has yet to be discussed in our own lectures. It provides a different way to approach project management and even states that learning it from the textbook, similar to how we are currently learning about project management, is not the best way to learn about project management -- mentorship is.
Importance as an MIS Professional
This article written by Colin Ellis is particularly useful as a future MIS professional because it provides an alternative opinion as to how project managers become successful in their occupation. As I am soon to enter the workforce, I want to understand the best techniques to quickly learn and grow in my career. It reinforces an idea that has been mentioned to me many times before: what you learn in the first few months of the workforce if you are fortunate enough to have a complete training will greatly outweigh everything that you learn in college.
William,
ReplyDeleteHaving a mentor is important. I agree with you and Collin Ellis in that the best way to learn something is to do it and have experienced people teach you in a hands on environment. Teaching others how to interact with clients can be difficult. Some people have a naturally outgoing personality and classic charm that makes speaking with clients easy. Others need to be coached and taught different strategies. Having future project managers shadow experienced managers is crucial. The new comers can be inspired by the talent of the predecessors and learn proper skills and techniques. Training a project manager can be likened to training a new server or hostess how to interact with customers.
One question I did have was, how are mentors helping to train future project managers utilize and control online platforms. Project managers won't always be face-to-face with their colleagues. How do you mentor someone for that instance?
Trying to answer your question, while it would be good to have an experienced project manager as mentor, I think a mentor does not necessarily have to be involved in the day-to-day activities of your project. I see this person more as a soundboard, someone you can trust and who can help you at a more personal level with questions you might not be able to ask people on your team.
DeleteYou could for instance go up to your mentor and tell him or her about a situation you encountered with a team member and ask what this person would have done if (s)he would be you. A good mentor will also be able to guide you in your career and help you make the right career decisions.
I appreciate the comments, but where are you reading this article? I don't see a link. Are you just commenting on what William said? I want read the article. Please.
ReplyDeleteHi Suzie,
DeleteSorry, I guess I completely blanked and did not include the article link in the post. The article can be found here:
http://www.cio.com.au/article/593049/why-every-project-manager-needs-mentor/