Project Manager Competency Assessment - Essay Example

Project Manager Competency Assessment Project Manager Competency Assessment Project managers are very important people in any organization. This is so because their actions may lead either to the success or failure of their organization. Some of the duties of the project manager, according to Dow and Taylor (2010), include building clear and attainable project objectives, establishing the requirements of the project, and managing all the constraints of the project such as scope, cost, quality and time.

Effective management of these elements is crucial for the success of an organization. As a result, a project manager is required to posses certain skills and experience to be able to perform all these functions effectively. Wateridge (1998) notes that effective project managers should possess the following qualities: they should be able to inspire shared vision, be good communicators, and be persons of high integrity. Other desirable qualities as noted by Wu (2005) include enthusiasm, empathy, competence, the ability to work under pressure, as well as problem solving and team building skills.

This paper will provide a brief summary of my experience of an assessment and discuss areas which emerged as my strengths. It will also discuss areas which showed some weaknesses which I would like to remove and the things that suppressed me with regard to the results of the assessment. The paper will describe the steps that I will take to strengthen my project management competence. Finally, I will conclude with my opinion regarding the use of the instrument as a measure of project management competencies.

Assessment Instrument Skills Assessed Unsatisfactory Satisfactory Very Good/Excellent Project conceptualization The student is able to design and execute a project incorporating reasonable timeline to solve a problem Project delivery The student is able to draw and defend conclusions made concerning results of the study Team work skills The student is able to collaborate effectively with other employees on team projects or able to work on the project goals and missions individually and in a timely manner.

Communication skills The student is able to communicate effectively with others Cool Under Pressure The student is able to work under pressure in executing project goals Enthusiasm Project manager has a can-do attitude My experience when taking the assessment It was indeed scary for me to take an assessment procedure with the aim of determining my competence as a potential would-be-project manager. During the assessment, I was taken through a number of questions by the senior project managers of the organization regarding the qualities required from a project manager to be able to manage projects effectively as shown in the assessment instrument according to Enterprise Information Insight, Inc. (2007). The assessment involved giving max depending on how best I was able to meet the requirements of project management competence.

Despite being nervous at the beginning of the process, I was able to compose myself and do the assessment as required. This assessment has proved beneficial in my career as a possible future project manager since it helped bring out the good qualities that I have, which may help me become a successful project manager. It has also helped unearth some of the areas that I need to improve on for me to become a successful project manager in case I become one in the future. It is said that one may not easily notice his strengths and weaknesses until being told by someone else.

Areas that emerged from the assessment as my strengths From the assessment, it emerged clearly that I am competent enough as regards the skills required to conceptualize a project by designing and executing the project within a reasonable time line to address a problem. This was made clear as I was able to come up with a problem scenario in an organization, which I was able to solve using my project management skills. This is the reason why it ranked excellent as shown in the assessment instrument.

It also emerged that I have the team work skills required from the project manager according to Maredith and Mantel (2011). It was ranked excellent because even during the assessment it was clear to those who were carrying out the assessment that I have team work skills. Furthermore, I am an outgoing person, and, therefore, like working in team as opposed to working individually. It finally emerged that I am enthusiastic enough, a quality which is required from the project manager. It is argued that most organizations do not want pessimistic managers as they bring down organizations.

Instead, organizations need enthusiasm and a can-do attitude. This quality was found in me during the assessment, which I consider a significant boost to my aspiration of becoming a project manager in the future. Areas that emerged from the assessment as areas in which I would like to strengthen my competence The assessment clearly indicated that I did not perform so well in terms of project delivery and communication skills which, were only ranked as satisfactory. The fact that these areas did not rank excellent shows that there is something lacking which I should improve.

As such, I would do everything possible to ensure that my competencies are improved in these areas. The other area that ranked poorly is my ability to work under pressure. It is true that I don’t have this quality, and, therefore, need to improve it, since project management involves working under a lot of pressure to be able to meet the deadline successfully. Second person assessment of my skills To establish whether the first assessment truly reflected my skills, I sought an opinion from my supervisor, with whom I have worked.

Even before he could see the result of the first assessment he was quick to assert that I can make an excellent project manager in the future. In this regard, he concurred with the first assessment result concerning project conceptualization skills, which he said is excellent. He also concurred that I am enthusiastic and that I have team work spirit, which is suitable for project management. Nevertheless, he was quick to advise me to improve my ability of working under pressure, which he pointed out as wanting on several occasions.

It is worth noting that nothing surprised me in the assessment results, since I believed that I have the admirable qualities required from a project manager, and these were just a confirmation. Nevertheless, having noticed areas where improvements are required regarding project management qualities, I will take the following steps to boost my project management competence. Firstly, I will consider advancing my education and training, as this will help me acquire more knowledge in project management, as proposed by Ghorbanali et al. (2011). This will also help me improve my communication skills, which did not prove excellent in the result of the assessment.

Secondly, since project management requires team work, I will do everything to ensure that I cooperate with other members of the staff as well as senior managers in planning and executing the project. I believe that this will help me improve my competence in project management. In conclusion, despite the assessment being suitable for measuring competences of an individual, especially those related to communication skills, enthusiasm, ability to work under pressure, and project conceptualization, which it measures effectively, this kind of assessment is not effective in measuring team work skills, as these skills can only be measured by other people.

References Dow, W., & Taylor, B. (2010). Project management communication Bible. Upper Saddle River, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Enterprise Information Insight, Inc. (2007). Project manager competency assessment. Retrieved from http://www.eiicorp.com/pmca.cfm. Ghorbanali, A., Khosravi, S., Afshari, H., Borzabadi, M., & Valipour, M. (2011). Improving project management competency by using an OPM3 approach. 2010 international Conference on Economics, Business and Management. IPEDR, 2, 166-170. Maredith, J.R., & Mantel, S.J. (2011).

Project management: A managerial approach. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Wateridge, J. (1998). Training for IS/IT project managers: A way forward. International Journal of Project Management, 15(5), 283-288. Wu, J. (2005, May 1) Characteristics of an outstanding business intelligence project manager. Information Management Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.information-management.com/issues/20050501/1026063-1.html.