Productive Project Managers – how to develop them?

The global demand for significantly more project managers has been identified by a number of researchers and organisations. The question is: where will these people come from, and how can they become productive in a short time-frame? That demand cannot be met if organisations use the current approach, which is to go to market in search of the perfect candidate.

Organisations would do better to develop productive project managers internally. How could this be done?

Training or professional development alone do not develop productive project managers because a ‘knowing’ project manager is not necessarily a ‘performing’ project manager. Can on-the-job experiences alone develop productive project managers? Can anyone become a productive project manager?

This paper seeks to present an approach and framework, based on academic research and extensive practical experience, to develop individuals for organisations.

We describe a pathway for both individuals seeking to become ‘top of their game’ and organisations wanting to develop internal talent.