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Project Management Thread - Page 2

post #16 of 32
3/14/11 at 2:51am
Not an understatement to suggest that a PMs life can be hell if dealing in an environment with a poor PM culture, poor accountability, and of course poor people.
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post #17 of 32
3/14/11 at 4:47am
Thread Starter 

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Edited by merkur - 7/31/11 at 5:40am
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post #18 of 32
3/14/11 at 5:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by merkur View Post
Are PM's employed by companies as a permanent position or are they like contractors (kind of like how management consultants are contracted for a specific engagement) who are only employed on a project by project basis and once theproject finishes, they are out of a job? I guess, in other words, do PM's have job security?

Some are hired on contract for the project. Some are full time employees that are part of a Programme Management Office (PMO) .....you finnish 1 project and they throw you onto the next one on the list (the list is a programme of work).
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post #19 of 32
3/14/11 at 5:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Artisan Fan View Post
Technical aspects of PM are easy.

Managing client relationships takes a lifetime to learn.

Amazing how bad some of them are. Manager at my current client mentioned recently that a certain solution proivider's PM must have a social disorder, specifically Asperger's Syndrome. Guess that one isn't working.
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post #20 of 32
3/14/11 at 7:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Star View Post
Not an understatement to suggest that a PMs life can be hell if dealing in an environment with a poor PM culture, poor accountability, and of course poor people.
An environment like that is probably the rule and not the exception, unfortunately. In my experience -- I've never been a PM, but have known quite a few of them -- firms usually bring PMs in en masse only after the shit has hit the fan (overspending, poor accountability, etc.). The PMs are expected to magically fix the broken processes, even though compliance with their solutions is often unenforced and heavily resisted. Given that many of the broken processes are cultural and systemic, and given that everybody resents the new processes, the PM's job becomes something like fixing a gunshot wound with a pack of band-aids -- all while being shot at himself. I don't mean to paint an overly dramatic picture, but that's a more or less accurate representation of the stress levels that await you if you don't absolutely, 100% freaking love this kind of stuff. If herding angry cats is your thing, by all means, rock it out. The world could use more of you.
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post #21 of 32
3/28/11 at 3:35am
Project management is a very important business concept; it helps in the smooth flow of the project. Doing project management is really very beneficial for business people; it will help them to maintain a track on things going on in the project. There are number of project management service providers out there.
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post #22 of 32
3/28/11 at 11:50am
In my experience, PM role can be productive when tasks are highly repeatable. However, it becomes harder, and even counterproductive, as the task becomes more dynamic and innovative.
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post #23 of 32
3/29/11 at 6:27pm
The PM overseeing my current project starts at 8.00am, leaves at 5.30pm. We've been hitting all our deadlines and are looking on track to wrap up on schedule. Former PM was often staying up until 1.00am getting involved in the minutiae.

Seems that if you can distance yourself from the small matters, and negotiate realistic delivery timeframes up front, you're on the track to being a decent PM.
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post #24 of 32
2/7/12 at 1:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cross22 View Post

In my experience, PM role can be productive when tasks are highly repeatable. However, it becomes harder, and even counterproductive, as the task becomes more dynamic and innovative.

Meeting Minutes - nuf said

anyone here have a PMP cert? Im looking at doing my CAPM next few months (been elegible for a while)
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post #25 of 32
2/7/12 at 2:19am
I've been pretty knee deep in the shitstorm that is operations, logistics and project management in general. I have to say that of all the systems that I've been exposed to, I like scrum the most. By separating the role of the babysitter from the whip cracker you get great compliance from both teams and management.
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post #26 of 32
2/7/12 at 3:51pm

what kind of a project costs a bil dollars?  I've worked on some very large ones but 100 mil is big in my book
 

the worse PM is one that tries to manage a process he does not understand better than the people executing it or paying for it, subcontractors, suppliers, regulatory agencies, etc....you will be walked all over

in engineering this is particularly critical...an engineer that does not like engineering will not succeed in the engineering field

whose decision was it for you to move from engineering the PM? yours or managements?

 

to get into PM in your field get your PE (in canada they call them something else)

take grad classes in business and PM, there are certifications available in PM, not sure how much they are worth though

 

 

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1up View Post

On this note, I've got a question. I'm a young engineer working with a very large EPCM company (Engineering Procurement Construction Management). I've worked for about a year in a technical engineering role, and have now made a shift to Project Controls. Essentially for the capacity of these projects (~ $1 billion dollars) they require an entire team to assist the Project Manager, which is the Project Controls team. Unlike most engineers I have very well developed interpersonal skills and have always envisioned myself in a client communications/sales role. I've never enjoyed the technical aspect of engineering, and feel like my skills would be better utilized in a different facet, more so towards business logistics. What should my next step be to get to a PM role? MBA or CFA? Or should I focus on getting back to an engineering position for a while to develop a better technical foundation. I went to a pretty prestigious and competitive University and being in a faculty I never really enjoyed resulted in me having a sub-par GPA (2.7). I'm worried about being unable to get into any good MBA schools because of this, despite how I perform on the GMAT. Should I consider taking classes to boost my GPA? Or just try to score really high on the GMAT? Sorry OP, didn't mean to hi-jack this thread, just thought my question would fit well in here rather than making a new thread. edit: My apologies, had posted this in here before seeing the MBA thread.


 

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post #27 of 32
2/7/12 at 7:48pm
Maybe the kind with several million in goodwill and the rest as per normal? I know there must be some kids here who've worked on satellites. foo.gif
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post #28 of 32
2/7/12 at 7:55pm
Other than: dam's, military projects (and only then its submarines, aircraft carriers or attack ships; technically a 'new' b-2 would cost $1.01 Billion), spacecraft, and the international space station, cross-country pipelines, and nuclear power-plants, what else costs a billion dollars?
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post #29 of 32
2/7/12 at 8:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by imageWIS View Post

Other than: dam's, military projects (and only then its submarines, aircraft carriers or attack ships; technically a 'new' b-2 would cost $1.01 Billion), spacecraft, and the international space station, cross-country pipelines, and nuclear power-plants, what else costs a billion dollars?

semiconductor fabs
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post #30 of 32
2/8/12 at 2:46pm

10 most expensive

10. The Panama Canal (375 million)

9. The Chicago Spire (750 million)

8. Taipei 10 (1.75 billion)

7. Burj Dubai (4.1 billion)

6. Akashi-Kaiyko Bridge (5 billion)

5. The Ford Aircraft Carrier (8.1 billion)

4. The Large Hadron Collider (9 billion)

3. Boston’s Big Dig (15 billion)

2. Three Gorges Dam (30 billion)

1. International Space Station (80 billion)

 

I've done PM on some large projects (AK pipeline, Mon-fayette expressway, Imclone faciltites, both pilot & production, pfizer/groton/viagra facility, among others) usually the electrical construction, and 20-50 mil under one guy is a lot of fiscal responsibility....

 

the new One World Trade Center is ~4 bil, but bil projects are generall far and few between

 

Shell is looking at a 3 bil investment in my area and I want a piece of that work

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