Are you up to date? | Wim de Gier

April 19^th 2016, I gave a presentation on behalf of ISES about the strength of the modern project manager at the Dutch Project Management congress. Please click here for the congress website.

Over a hundred visitors of the congress visited my parallel session, clearly showing that the topic was deemed an important topic for the congress audience.

I presented the following three items as crucial to use by the modern project manager:

Make us of new ways of communication via Social Business Tools
Look in the mirror to reflect on your role as a project manager on a regular base (am I still current?)
Consider certifying yourself and if you are already certified: work according to the certification competences!

Do you use Social Business Tools for your project communication?

By creating a project or program community you will be able to share knowledge easily and effectively across your (international) teams including the internal and external stakeholders. It will also help you to quickly retrieve expertise and to store/share your project files in a simple way. I referred to one of my global projects called: LinkedPeople. Please see the promotion video regarding LinkedPeople here.

Do you – on a regular base – look in the mirror to:

Check your competences
Check whether your internal and external network is still in a good shape
Check your energy level
Do you regularly ask feedback on your behaviour?

It’s important to look straight and not from an angle to be sure you truly check yourself and not others. 🙂

Next to that do your request feedback on a regularly basis. Not only from your own manager, but also from others in your network. I sometimes experience that people are complacent and never ask feedback. In my opinion it’s inevitable: if you want to grow, you need to ask feedback to check if you are really at the right track. If you keep on looking through your own glasses to your project you will not see the (project) world changing. I referred in my presentation also to the new ICB4 4.4.1. Self-reflection and self-management chapter as a key People competence. Click here to download the IPMA ICB4. (International Competence Baseline 4).

Are you certified or still certified at the appropriate level?

Certification will help you and your organisation to be beneficial to:

Career Advancement. Surveys consistently suggest increased salary and career advancement opportunities for certified individuals.
Professional Opportunities. Hiring managers and recruiters take certification seriously. A respected and widely accepted certification proves to prospective employers that your expertise is recognized.
Proven Professional Achievement. Documented evidence of your professional achievement leads to recognition and respect for your abilities as a Project Manager.
Greater Adaptability. Validating your knowledge means that certified Project Managers are more flexible and maintain a substantial advantage in rapidly changing business environments.
Increased Credibility. IPMA credentials increase your standing in the Project Management community by attesting to the integrity of your knowledge and skills and the reliability with which you can apply them.
Employer Confidence. IPMA certification helps employers match skills to job requirements and provides confidence that employees have the right skills for the job.
Industry Recognition. The high-integrity examination and certification process ensures that IPMA is the standard for Project Management certification.
Recognized Competences. In a broad field that demands many skills, IPMA recognizes specialization in several competences areas as Contextual, Technical and Behavioural Competences.
Validated Real-World Experience. Certification goes beyond conceptual and theoretical knowledge. IPMA demands real-world experience and the demonstrated ability to apply your skills.
Continued Professional Growth. Recertification requirements ensures that your knowledge keeps pace with a rapidly changing field.