Project management mentoring involves providing sustained guidance, leadership, friendship and counsel to a project manager or a project manager wannabe. Project management mentoring eventually puts itself out of business, as the person being project management mentored no longer needs the project management mentor. This kind of project management mentoring may take years and is not to be entered into lightly.
It is not possible to become a project management mentor without first becoming a highly qualified project manager. Achieving such qualifications include:
Project management requires training in a number of management skills. According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), these management knowledge areas are:
Theory and book learning alone does not make a qualified project manager. Experience performing the management functions offers the opportunity to achieve a deeper understanding. Further, through an examination of this experience, lessons are learned and the experience enhances and augments the previous training. Note that experience alone is not enough either. It must be experience that is examined and understood.
One cannot become a qualified project manager without interaction with and support from those already qualified. As one progresses in their quest to become qualified, obtaining mentoring is essential for only the mentor can look beyond where the new project manager is operating and ensure that current actions are consistent with obtaining future qualifications.
Project management mentors are the result of a lengthy progression from novice to practitioner to teacher and finally mentor. During this progression, the future project management mentor acquires in-depth project management and mentoring skills, an understanding of how these skills relate to the rest of their body of knowledge, and finally insightful, intuitive, caring wisdom.
This is not an easy progression and cannot be achieved without personal examination and likely some struggling with ego and self-aggrandizement.
Becoming a mentor involves transition from Novice, to Practitioner, to Teacher and finally to Mentor. At each stage, the mentor-in-training is both using their abilities as well as developing new ones. Abilities involved include project management skills, understanding and examination of their experience, and seeking insight and wisdom.
The Novice stage is where everyone begins and has special characteristics valuable to Novice and Mentor alike.
The Novice has a fresh, unadorned view of the project management topics. This view may be empty and it may also be biased or prejudiced. Regardless, the Novice lacks sophistication and complication in their intellectual view.
Novices do not yet have the intellectual structure and discipline found in project management. They approach project management as an undifferentiated whole. Novices are more aware of the forest and its context rather than the individual trees and their details.
The Novice is sensitive to the practical applications of the project management concepts and techniques. They do not yet have insight to the consequences of many situations, e.g. scope management, and are most interested in the usefulness of each project management step.
These special Novice characteristics challenges the mentor to focus on what is essential, has broad usefulness and has immediate value for each Novice. Of course this challenge is unique to each Novice.
The project management Practitioner is a fully qualified project manager and has special characteristics valuable to Practitioner and Mentor alike.
Projects can only be managed on time and on budget if there is a constant emphasis on the facts as they emerge during the project. Practitioners expose the facts so that they may be dealt with in a timely manner.
Awareness of the many groups and their, usually, cross purposes is balanced by the project manager much like a circus high wire act. Stakeholder analysis is integrated with every daily activity.
Project management is simultaneously a predictable process as well as a dynamic series of unexpected events. The practitioner weaves these together into a tapestry that supports the project and expands on what the project group can accomplish.
The project management Teacher is not only a fully qualified project manager but also has the interest and people skills to teach project management. Here too there are special characteristics of note.
What needs to be learned first and what comes next is clearly understood by the teacher. The teacher is aware also of how to measure where the student is in their learning.
There are many learning styles across many personality types. This diversity challenges the teacher to offer different approaches to learning that are appropriate to this milieu.
Students have unique needs based on their experience, culture and values. In partnership with the student, the teacher finds ways to facilitate the students learnings.
The mentor stage has all the capabilities of the previous stages and additionally has these skills.
Mentoring takes a long-term view of the person being mentored and applies tailored teachings, disciplines and challenges. At all times, the mentor is also a friend, supporter, confidant and protector of the person being mentored.
No profession like project management remains stagnant. It grows and evolves like a living organism. The mentor contributes to this process and participates actively and publicly.
Intuitive insight and vision is required of the mentor so that those being mentored can be ready for what is to come but not yet here. This may be the most difficult challenge for the mentor.
Yes, there is no way to skip or shortcut the progression and attendant learnings. Becoming a mentor is not an easy process and does require an unusual desire and energy to make way to this point. And as being a Mentor is a trip and not a destination, continued effort, contribution to the project management craft and proven caring for those being mentored is required.
The minimum time to develop a mentor is about two years though for many the process takes longer and for some the progression is too challenging.
The mentor-in-training needs as much support as possible from all sources. But ultimately, it is the mentor-in-training and their mentors that make the process work. Lack of support outside the mentoring context is never sufficient cause for failure of the mentor-in-training to achieve their goals.
No. Mentoring is possible regardless of formal structures.
But if the organization sees the value of flexible, well-trained project managers then a formal mentoring program will provide predictable and reliable business results.
A mentoring program can be established in three to six months. Proof that the program works will take until mentors are produced and graduated.