James Fennessy President ESI Greater China

You too could be a project manager - at least, that's according to James Fennessy, the President of ESI Greater China, a leading international training and consulting solution-provider specializing in Project Management and a sister company of AchieveGlobal China.

What does this job mean? "The person who makes a project happen, which can be as complex as leading a nuclear plant or as simple as internal accounts," Fennessy explains. "It's a lot wider than just the term ... A project manager should take over everything from delivery to customer satisfaction, cost and research control. As a result, people might not have the title of project manager, but introduce project manager functions."

Thanks to significant structural changes within organizations world-wide over the past decade, many functional groups are already project-driven. "IBM became a project-focused organization some ten years ago and most of the world's leading organizations have followed suit..." Fennessy notes. "It's critical for bringing in projects on time, on budget and delivering customer satisfaction, both internally and externally."

Project manager professionals

Project management studies could be a wise move. "Few people have experience and education in this area and so there's a great opportunity to move up to senior levels in this field in a reasonably fast period," Fennessy says, explaining that, for example, all US federal government work is now being placed in projects.

The Project Management Institute (PMI) was established in the United States in 1969 and today boasts roughly 90,000 members worldwide in 125 countries. PMI's rigorous, examination-based professional certification, known as Project Management Professional (or PMP), is achieved once a candidate has satisfied all educational and experiential requirements established by the institute. "In Hong Kong itself, a few academic programs are available leading to Masters and PhD degrees in project management. However, PMP is a more professional qualification, which can only be attained through taking PMI's PMP exam," Fennessy stresses.

"ESI offers a Master's certificate program in project management in conjunction with America's George Washington University. It is made up of seven modules totaling 25 days," comments Fennessy. "Most professionals have taken one to three years to complete, while typical duration is 18 months." Alternatives include study within a company - IBM and Motorola, for example, hold Masters Certificate programs for their staff members - or taking a public course in either Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing or Guangzhou.

Hone your skills

But why undergo vocational training if you're already a project manager? "To distill best practices," emphasizes Fennessy. "People learn through trial and error, but this costs money and time. Organizations would do much better bringing projects on time and on budget."

Project management accreditation as a PMP is designed to provide a significant amount of hands-on experience, as well as formal education. "In other words, there are mandatory hours of experience every year," explains Fennessy, adding: "That's really helped improve the level of awareness of the profession. Plus you'll get much more senior-level jobs having PMP accreditation - and more money!"

While Hong Kong mulls it over ...

Hong Kong companies are beginning to give project management due recognition. "People are of course open," notes Fennessy. "They realize it's a core skills set, so in the past decade people have come across Project Management, but China is more eager to catch up. If Hong Kong wants to keep its competitive advantage, it will need to spend on these skills." The Hong Kong government is encouraging professional qualifications, via schemes such as its Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme program which sponsors professional organizations and non-profit organizations in Hong Kong to heighten awareness and enhance standards of some professions. Project management is one of these.

... demand in China is already huge

To date, 600 people have already sat their project management exams in mainland China and demand is seemingly insatiable. According to Fennessy: "We're told that the central government wants another 5,000 people certified as PMPs within the next 12 to 18 months. Just imagine all the infrastructure in PRC projects, including dams, IT, telecoms and roads."

Take note that many Chinese organizations are also hungry for those with "best in class" practices: "The government is using the 2008 Olympics to drive a lot of change," he continues. "Hong Kong's advantage at the moment is in so-called soft skills and management skills - but China is aware of this, eager to catch up with soft skills and ready to invest."

Project management courses provided by ESI:

- Associate Certificate in Project Management (3 modules, taken over 6 months)
- Master's Certificate in Project Managment (7 modules, taken over 18 months)
- Advanced Master's Certificate in Project Managment (4-5 modules, taken over 12 months)
- Master's Certificate in InfoTech - project management tailored especially for IT (7 modules, taken over 18 months)

For further details about the courses, please refer to the website at www.esi-intl.com

Taken from Career Times 2002/09/13