Knowledge gap between PM software skills and PM managing skills

[Community]

I am a PMP and practicing PM who has used a variety of PM software, including MS Project. After reading books from Rick A. Morris and James P. Lewis, I realized that good PM software skills did not make me a good PM, and that PMI training had not given me enough practical skills to exploit PM software very well. I knew PM theory, and I had PM scheduling skills, but lacked effective integration of the two.

I was left somewhere in between and I saw a gap in practical knowledge. Each author give examples of where the gap exists (Rick speaks to the “whack a mole” problem that occurs when you manually enter dates for tasks, etc. and Lewis explains how 15 years of experience and a PhD lead to the BEGINNING of his practical PM education. Believe it or not, Dr. Phil plays a key role in his explanation).

These tid bits helped, but I am afraid that they are not enough to get me past the PM “journeyman” plateau. Short of shadowing a “Good PM” for month, are there tools/books/courses available for PMs who want to integrate the entire skill set?

John Beltrami

[Community]

I agree John,

I do a fair bit of training and have to say that I seem to concentrate most of my time teaching PM skills rather than demonstrating the tool. You cant show people how to perform EVM if they dont know what EVM is. 😉

I would suggest looking for a company that "gets Project Management" and knows the Toolset very well. That way they will look to tailor the training to what the organisation is looking to achive and use the training as a process to mature the PMO not just a technical dump

Simon Newton

[Community]

Simon,
Thanks for the insight. I will look out for training opportunities from companies that “get it”.
– John –

[Author]

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