November 2021 | The Indispensable Project Manager by Frank Saladis

Managing projects effectively has become essential in every organisation large or small. The uncertainties of the world business economy, rapidly changing technology, and the intensifying focus on sustainability has driven many organisations to develop specific methods for managing projects and to seek highly qualified and competent people to manage those projects. These driving factors require today’s project managers to accept and adapt to change, lead diverse teams, act as ambassadors for their organisations and deal with a multitude of challenging project stakeholders.

It is clear that Project managers are placed in a unique position. They must balance their roles as leader and manager, interface with multiple types of stakeholders, are often the "face" of their organisation to its customers, and must deal with a seemingly unending stream of challenges to be successful. These challenges and the ability to address them require the project manager to maintain awareness of personal brand of and the impact it will have on project assignments, career opportunity, and the willingness of project teams to work for and support the project manager. As the profession of project management evolves and the demand for competent and value driven project managers increases, personal brand and reputation have become major factors in the criteria used to select and assign people to project leadership positions.

Indispensable Factors

The project manager must develop skills and competencies in several areas to be considered for an assign. In addition there are 4 major factors a project manager must address and continue to develop:

• Accomplishability: your ability to achieve and deliver valued results.
• Value/cost: the value delivered perception relative to the cost.
• Supply/Demand: the market dynamics of your position, skills, etc.
• Likeability: how others perceive you.

This presentation addresses the importance of the professional project manager in today’s business environment and the need for the project manager to continually enhance existing skills, adapt to a changing environment, and become a “go to” person in the organisation.  Emphasis is placed on understanding the business needs of an organisation, clearly and visibly creating value from a client and supplier view point, and continually developing and managing personal brand.

Frank P. Saladis, PMP®, PMI Fellow, is a Consultant and Instructor / Facilitator within the project management profession. He is a Project Management Professional and has been a featured presenter at the Project Management Institute ® Annual Symposia and World Congresses and many other project management events. Mr. Saladis is a graduate of the PMI Leadership Institute Masters Class and has held several positions within The Project Management Institute including President of the NYC Chapter, President of the Assembly of Chapter Presidents and Chair of the Education and Training Specific Interest Group. Mr. Saladis held the position of editor of the nternationally distributed newsletter for allPM.com from 2004 to 2011 and is the author of several project management books and numerous articles about project leadership. He is a contributor to the monthly publication “PM World Journal”, and co-author of the books – Keys To Our Success, issues one and two, published in 2015 and 2020, and “How Successful Organizations Implement Change published by PMI ® in 2017.  Mr. Saladis is the originator of International Project Management Day and was recognized as PMI® Person of the Year for 2006. Mr. Saladis received the prestigious award of PMI Fellow in October 2013 and was the recipient of the PMI Distinguished Contribution Award in October 2015.