Who is afraid of project management

I often find myself reflecting on the difference between people who meet abstract academic requirements for a PM career and the real world contenders that one encounters on live project environments on client sites. What comes to notice first is the skewed preference that organizations maintain for certified professionals. On the other hand, I discern unvoiced fears and unconscious fantasies related to a project management career.

Many times I have come across good technical engineers who come to a decision point in their careers. They are required to either move to a managerial role or continue as technical champions. To outsiders, the choice may seem to move frictionless in a managerial direction. But there are anxieties connected with this fork in the road. One important fear is that of losing the functional and technical competency.

Also, the budgeting and scheduling tasks related to managerial competencies are known to scare off many technical leads. Of course, choices are also driven by future prospects, newer challenges and experiences.

My advice to technical leads is that they should by all means take their leap of faith. PM is an exciting profession, involving decisions and building networks; and I can say from personal experience that it really brings out another side of personality.

In fact, I wrote a whitepaper recently that goes about the current context of project management as a career in detail. You can download it right here