Design by Steven Goeman | © 2021 GAPS BV
32 (0) 474 984 388
Molenveldstraat 26, Lebbeke, 9280 - Belgium
info@gaps.be
PROJECT MANAGEMENT MENTOR
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
MENTOR
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
ASK IT TO THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT MENTOR
WHO IS YOUR PROJECT MANAGEMENT MENTOR?
The project management mentor role is fulfilled by Steven JP Goeman. He is a very experienced and renowned project manager who has more than 20 years on field experience, in ICT, construction, business re- engineering projects. He combines his pratical experience with theoretical and methodological project management knowledge and his skills as a licensed Master in Neuro-Linguistic Programming.
HOW CAN YOU BECOME A PROJECT MANAGER?
Becoming project manager is not easy and takes time. You cannot become project manager when leaving school. If you aspire becoming a project manager, you should first become a subject matter expert that takes up roles as project team member. Once you are good at being a team member, it is time to grow in the role of a project team lead where you will be confronted more with the application of project management processes. At this stage, you should also seek to get more knowledgeable about project management by studying methodologies and following training classes. In a later stage, as you grow in project team leadership, you will automatically roll into the project manager role, first of smaller projects, later into multi-million euro super projects. At this stage it is also time to seek project management mentoring to help you grow further.
WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT MENTORING?
Mentoring is a practice where not only knowledge is transferred, but also behavioral change is searched for. The (project management) mentor will not “tell” what needs to be done, but will ask you a lot of questions to guide you in the right direction. It is quite similar with the coaching practice, however in mentoring, often the solution is also shown. It applies the principles of “leading by example”. The project management mentor will focus on the project management discipline and will often work with the actual project that the mentoree is working on at the moment of mentoring..
WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?
Project management is a discipline where a project manager organizes an one-time temporary initiative to realize one or more specific deliverables which will allow the project sponsor to realize (business ) benefits. Project management is about “organizing”, not about being the technician on the project. Compare it with being a conductor: you assure that all artists and instruments play together, but you don’t play yourself! Processes are often defined by methodologies like the Project Management Body of Knowledge, a.k.a. PMBOK and the Projects in Controlled Environments, also known as PRINCE2.
HOW TO MANAGE A PROJECT?
Managing a project is organizing an initiative which will bring change. You need to apply several processes that initiate a project, plan a project, monitor & controls a project, and processes to end a project in an orderly manner. To be able to manage a project in a professional way, one need to have project management knowledge and skills, but he or she also needs outstanding people management, communication and motivation skills and experience.
HOW CAN YOU STRUCTURE A PROJECT?
Managing a project is organizing a change initiative. You need to apply several processes which initiate a project, plan a project, monitor & controls it, and processes to end a project in an orderly manner. It focuses specifically on the principles of managing complexity which are often based on the “decomposition” technique. In such way, the scope and the timeline of the project are decomposed/ broken down in smaller more manageable parts, respectively making use of the work breakdown structure (WBS) and the project life cycle (PLC). A further breakdown will ultimately result in a so-called Gantt-chart as part of the overall project management plan.
HOW CAN YOU BECOME A PROJECT MANAGEMENT MENTOR?
Without doubt, you first need a proven track record as a program manager and as a project manager. You cannot have any credibility without “having lived” project management yourself. To boost your project management credibility, it is necessary to obtain a leading certificate in project management. The Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) credential or the PRINCE2 credential of the Association of project Management (APM) are highly recommended. As a step-up to your coaching and mentoring skills you also need to prepare for the mentorship by increasing your coaching skills. A first start is becoming project management trainer/educator. It will allow you to increase your skills of transferring knowledge to other people. A next step is to become more knowledgeable and skilled in influencing people’s behavior. Following some coaching trainings might be very helpful. Getting experienced in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a recommended coaching and mentoring technique that proves very helpful in guiding typical “project management profiles”.
HOW TO MENTOR A PROJECT MANAGER?
Project Management Mentoring is hard work for both the mentor and the mentoree. Mentoring has the sole purpose of growing the project management skills, rather than only project management knowledge. This growth can be realized by “doing”. Therefore, project management mentoring is always case-based with a particular project in mind. The project management mentor (Steven Goeman) has developed an unique agile and cyclic project management mentoring approach. This 12-step approach has a proven track record of successful results. Discover it here.
WHAT ARE TYPICAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT MENTORING TOPICS?
Typical project management mentoring topics can be anything as long as they are related to, you guessed it, project management. Project Management Mentoring and coaching is only useful when you are actually working on a project at the moment the mentoring or coaching is performed? We call that “case-based” or “project-based” mentoring and the topics are retrieved from that project practice on those topics where the mentoree struggles with at that moment on that specific project. The big advantages is that it makes the project mentoring session relevant and to the point. Typical project management mentoring subjects include all project management areas, but we see that most project managers struggle with scope management, structuring the project, creating an overall project strategy and certainly how to manage project team members when having no hierarchical power.
WHAT ARE GOOD PROJECT MANAGEMENT MENTOR QUESTIONS?
Project management mentoring and coaching sessions only become valuable when they are relevant for the mentoree and when the mentoree actually is motivated to try out newly learned tools and techniques. Mentoring and coaching have the purpose not only transfer knowledge like in traditional learning, but also to change the project manager’s behavior in the way he/she acts as a project manager. As good project management mentoring and coaching session therefore limit itself to one or maximum two specific questions that are discussed within a time frame of 45 to maximum 60 minutes for one mentoring and coaching session. A project management mentoring session is therefore fully structured around that one or two questions that are deepened out. Good and relevant questions that you can ask your project management mentor come from your practice on the project. I always give my mentorees “observation homework”. It is, they have to keep a log book where they briefly write down situations they encountered and where they found they struggled with. Out of that log book, the mentoring topics are selected and handled.
32 (0) 474 984 388
Molenveldstraat 26, Lebbeke, 9280 - Belgium.
info@gaps.be
PROJECT MANAGEMENT MENTOR
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
MENTOR
Design by Steven Goeman | © 2021 GAPS BV
FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
ASK IT TO THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT MENTOR
WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?
Project management is a discipline where a project manager organizes an one-time temporary initiative to realize one or more specific deliverables which will allow the project sponsor to realize (business ) benefits. Project management is about “organizing”, not about being the technician on the project. Compare it with being a conductor: you assure that all artists and instruments play together, but you don’t play yourself! Processes are often defined by methodologies like the Project Management Body of Knowledge, a.k.a. PMBOK and the Projects in Controlled Environments, also known as PRINCE2.
HOW CAN YOU BECOME A PROJECT
MANAGER?
Becoming project manager is not easy and takes time. You cannot become project manager when leaving school. If you aspire becoming a project manager, you should first become a subject matter expert that takes up roles as project team member. Once you are good at being a team member, it is time to grow in the role of a project team lead where you will be confronted more with the application of project management processes. At this stage, you should also seek to get more knowledgeable about project management by studying methodologies and following training classes. In a later stage, as you grow in project team leadership, you will automatically roll into the project manager role, first of smaller projects, later into multi-million euro super projects. At this stage it is also time to seek project management mentoring to help you grow further.
HOW TO MANAGE A PROJECT?
Managing a project is organizing an initiative which will bring change. You need to apply several processes that initiate a project, plan a project, monitor & controls a project, and processes to end a project in an orderly manner. To be able to manage a project in a professional way, one need to have project management knowledge and skills, but he or she also needs outstanding people management, communication and motivation skills and experience.
HOW CAN YOU STRUCTURE A
PROJECT?
Managing a project is organizing a change initiative. You need to apply several processes which initiate a project, plan a project, monitor & controls it, and processes to end a project in an orderly manner. It focuses specifically on the principles of managing complexity which are often based on the “decomposition” technique. In such way, the scope and the timeline of the project are decomposed/ broken down in smaller more manageable parts, respectively making use of the work breakdown structure (WBS) and the project life cycle (PLC). A further breakdown will ultimately result in a so-called Gantt-chart as part of the overall project management plan.
WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
MENTORING?
Mentoring is a practice where not only knowledge is transferred, but also behavioral change is searched for. The (project management) mentor will not “tell” what needs to be done, but will ask you a lot of questions to guide you in the right direction. It is quite similar with the coaching practice, however in mentoring, often the solution is also shown. It applies the principles of “leading by example”. The project management mentor will focus on the project management discipline and will often work with the actual project that the mentoree is working on at the moment of mentoring..
WHO IS YOUR PROJECT
MANAGEMENT MENTOR?
The project management mentor role is fulfilled by Steven JP Goeman. He is a very experienced and renowned project manager who has more than 20 years on field experience, in ICT, construction, business re- engineering projects. He combines his pratical experience with theoretical and methodological project management knowledge and his skills as a licensed Master in Neuro-Linguistic Programming.
HOW TO MENTOR A PROJECT
MANAGER?
Project Management Mentoring is hard work for both the mentor and the mentoree. Mentoring has the sole purpose of growing the project management skills, rather than only project management knowledge. This growth can be realized by “doing”. Therefore, project management mentoring is always case-based with a particular project in mind. The project management mentor (Steven Goeman) has developed an unique agile and cyclic project management mentoring approach. This 12-step approach has a proven track record of successful results. Discover it here.
WHAT ARE GOOD PROJECT
MANAGEMENT MENTOR
QUESTIONS?
Project management mentoring and coaching sessions only become valuable when they are relevant for the mentoree and when the mentoree actually is motivated to try out newly learned tools and techniques. Mentoring and coaching have the purpose not only transfer knowledge like in traditional learning, but also to change the project manager’s behavior in the way he/she acts as a project manager. As good project management mentoring and coaching session therefore limit itself to one or maximum two specific questions that are discussed within a time frame of 45 to maximum 60 minutes for one mentoring and coaching session. A project management mentoring session is therefore fully structured around that one or two questions that are deepened out. Good and relevant questions that you can ask your project management mentor come from your practice on the project. I always give my mentorees “observation homework”. It is, they have to keep a log book where they briefly write down situations they encountered and where they found they struggled with. Out of that log book, the mentoring topics are selected and handled.
WHAT ARE TYPICAL PROJECT
MANAGEMENT MENTORING
TOPICS?
Typical project management mentoring topics can be anything as long as they are related to, you guessed it, project management. Project Management Mentoring and coaching is only useful when you are actually working on a project at the moment the mentoring or coaching is performed? We call that “case-based” or “project-based” mentoring and the topics are retrieved from that project practice on those topics where the mentoree struggles with at that moment on that specific project. The big advantages is that it makes the project mentoring session relevant and to the point. Typical project management mentoring subjects include all project management areas, but we see that most project managers struggle with scope management, structuring the project, creating an overall project strategy and certainly how to manage project team members when having no hierarchical power.
HOW CAN YOU BECOME A PROJECT
MANAGEMENT MENTOR?
Without doubt, you first need a proven track record as a program manager and as a project manager. You cannot have any credibility without “having lived” project management yourself. To boost your project management credibility, it is necessary to obtain a leading certificate in project management. The Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) credential or the PRINCE2 credential of the Association of project Management (APM) are highly recommended. As a step-up to your coaching and mentoring skills you also need to prepare for the mentorship by increasing your coaching skills. A first start is becoming project management trainer/educator. It will allow you to increase your skills of transferring knowledge to other people. A next step is to become more knowledgeable and skilled in influencing people’s behavior. Following some coaching trainings might be very helpful. Getting experienced in Neuro- Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a recommended coaching and mentoring technique that proves very helpful in guiding typical “project management profiles”.