PM Network - December 2016

Pay Bump

The right skills are just as important as the right industry when it comes to project managers’ careers.

These are the most valuable project management skills— and the average salary rate increase organizations award for each.

4.4%

Strategic project management

4.3%

Strategic planning

3.9%

Risk management

3.8%

Business analysis

3.5%

Forecasting Source: The 21 Most Valuable Career Skills Now, Money and PayScale.com, 2016.

Results based on an analysis of 54 million
U.S. employee profiles.
NAVIGATING DISRUPTION
I see a huge demand for project man- agers in financial services. The entire industry is going through a major
overhaul due to changes in technology, new
regulatory requirements and the need to rebuild
trust with customers. These significant disrup-
tions are causing financial services companies
to spend tremendous amounts on regulatory
and IT projects. Many banks are launching
initiatives to update legacy systems, cre-
ate mobile apps or harness new technol-
ogies such as blockchain. These projects
are often very large and can quickly go
over budget.
Most financial services companies
have reached a solid level of project
management, but many are in need of
project leaders to ensure that signifi-
cant change occurs. In order to justify
increased project spending, all financial
services projects should have a clear,
measurable payoff. Currently, there is little
follow-up to determine if benefits of these
projects are realized. Practitioners should be
ready to track the benefits of projects and prove
that real change did occur.”

—Patricia Kroondijk, project portfolio controller, Folksam, Stockholm, Sweden

ON THE RIGH T TRACK

The product development industry increasingly needs strong project man- agers due to growing requirements and shortening implementation lead time with each new project. Product development companies operate with constant pressure to be the top supplier in the market, working with strict budgets and time frames to beat competitors.

In order for these companies to grow and
maintain a strong position in the market, each
strategic action must be executed correctly. And
many of these actions depend on new opportuni-
ties made possible by project management. In
product development, the product is like a train,
and project management is the railway for this
train to reach its destination and arrive on time
and on budget.”

—Mantas Karlonas, project manager, Stansefabrikken Automotive, Ukmergė, Lithuania

CREATING VALUE

Within the IT industry, I believe there will be a surge of projects—and emand for project managers—related to cloud computing and data and analytics. To deliver these projects and meet organizations’ goals, project managers who have people skills and experience in these technologies will be highly sought after. Practitioners will need to exercise critical thinking and display customer and market knowledge to create value and differentiate themselves in the IT industry.”

—Dennis Brantley, PMP, IT project manager, NASA, Houston, Texas, USA

TURNING ON AUTOPILOT

Any industry that needs automation projects will have more demand for project managers. We are living in the age of digital revolution, which means that the widespread adoption of automation is inevitable. These tech-based projects allow organizations to maximize profits and minimize labor costs. This will not only transform the types of projects that practitioners will be working on in the near future but also the actual project management tools used to complete the projects. In order to keep up, project managers must be able to adapt quickly, cope with high stress and always have a plan B ready. With change and decisions occurring rapidly, no company investing in automation can afford to overlook project management.”