Page 229 - Global Project Management Handbook

11-4 COMPETENCY FACTORS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

insurance companies, banks, hospitals, and research institutes also have a demand for
competent project managers who manage internal projects professionally. Thus the profes-
sion of project manager is established to formalize the status of project managers and to
promote project management.
In a society or an organization, a profession is based on a common body of knowledge,
defined entrance barriers, a code of ethics, and professional associations (Kuwan and
Waschbüsch, 1996). Professional associations such as the International Project Management
Association (IPMA) and the Project Management Institute (PMI) exist and also issue com-
®
mon bodies of knowledge, such as the PMBOK Guide issued by PMI, and competency
baselines, such as the International Competence Baseline issued by IPMA. Entrance barriers
are defined by certification programs offered by these professional associations.
Whether an organization considers project management to be a profession can be
observed. The profession of project manager is expressed, for instance, in role
descriptions. Project-oriented organizations that consider project management to be a
profession define a project management career path and competence profiles for the
different career steps.

Role Descriptions Lay Down the Project Management
Competencies Needed
In project-oriented companies, different persons need project management competen-
cies to fulfill their roles. Project roles performed by individuals are project owner,
project manager, project management assistant, project team member, and project con-
tributor. This also means that not only the project manager needs project management
competence but also, for instance, the project owner needs to understand the project
management methods; otherwise, the project owner cannot communicate with the
project manager and the project team.
Further, managers who perform roles in permanent functions in a project-oriented
company must have the competencies to carry out their roles. Obviously, a member of a
project portfolio group needs to have knowledge and experience to carry out the assign-
ment of a project or a program, project portfolio coordination, and project networking.
The project management competence of a project manager is the capability to fulfill
all functions specified in the role description (Gareis and Huemann, 2006). An example

of a role description of a project manager can be found in Table 11.1 What are considered
to be the functions of a project manager very much depend on the project management
approach applied in the particular company—whether they are the traditional ones that
only emphasize costs, schedule, and scope or a systemic approach that also considers the
context of the project, the project organization, and the project culture.

Competency Profile of a Project Manager

Besides having project management knowledge and experience and a certain self-
understanding (attitude), a project manager needs product, company, and industry knowledge.
In international projects, cultural awareness and language knowledge are also prerequisites.
Depending on the project type and the culture of the organization, the project manager also
may need technical competence to get acknowledged by the project team, the customer, and
the organization (Huemann, 2002). The more project management is considered a profession
in the organization, the fewer technical/content competencies will be asked for.
The competency profile shown in Table 11.2 illustrates the minimum competency
requirements of a senior project manager of an engineering company as an example.