Project Management Competency Development: Tools, Games, and Exercises
In its investigation into which project management skills will be most needed by industry in 2022, CII Research Team (RT) 281 found that significant long-term shifts are occurring in PM duties and responsibilities. The research team identified 14 competencies that will allow future PMs to successfully address emerging workforce configurations, new demands imposed by rapid globalization, the already overwhelming amount of information generated by ever-advancing technologies, and untraditional organizational structures imposed by new business models and multiple customers.
The broad term “competency” describes the combination of behaviors, knowledge, skills, and techniques, learned and honed over time—normally months to years. The competency blend that needs emphasis will change as times and circumstances change. The 14 competencies identified by RT 281 are the ones that should be acquired, mastered, applied, and emphasized over the next decade. This blend should also be applied to educational and on-the-job training (OJT) efforts.
There is considerable synergy and some overlap among the competencies. Nevertheless, each competency on the list was chosen to emphasize a specific area that the team deemed essential to overcoming the disruptive trends that lie ahead. The PM competencies of the future fall into four primary areas: 1) technical/virtual, 2) management, 3) cognitive, and 4) leadership.
IR281-2, Project Management Competency Development: Tools, Games and Exercises
Provides tools, games, and exercises that will support the development and growth of future PMs.- Hassles in Construction Exercise – A PM needs to develop good facilitating skills to be an effective problem solver. In this exercise, PMs work together in teams using a seven-step, improvement model to improve their facilitator skills and find solutions to reducing job hassles while revisiting current and future skills, competencies and attributes.
- Who’s on Your Molecule? Exercise – Effective leaders have great interaction and relationships with everyone in their network. This self-diagnostic tool helps PMs understand how they fit into an organization. The six-step evaluation process measures the quality and importance of the PMs relationships with the people encountered daily and helps them recognize where to best focus their efforts to become a more effective project leader.
- Magic Deck of PM Action Card Game – Engaging in these games is educational and intensely thought provoking for all participants. In this particular card game, the PMs work together in teams to propose, defend, and agree on corrective actions that address the issues plaguing a “project from hell.” After the game session, the PMs are able to explain the influence of their actions, recognize and articulate their own leadership styles, and ultimately find the correct balance between management and leadership that will drive the most successful project performance.
Meta Tool: Project Manager Competency Development Tool Selection Guide – A Matrix that recommends curricula for seminars covering specific PM competencies. The curricula should be created in response to general challenges that an organization foresees. Each curriculum lists a number of specific individual or team (class) activities and gives their duration. The Meta Tool maps Disruptive Trends, Challenges, Competencies, and Learning Tools into a single matrix. Since the resource needed for each activity is by itself an implementation tool, the team termed the chart a “meta-tool;” it is a tool about tools. (IR281-1, Appendix B, p. 37)
