M02_02_DIG3521

Project Management vs. Project Managers

[00:00:04.34] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:00:13.02] Hey, what's up, everybody. Welcome back to class. And in this class, we are going
to talk about project management and project managers, what is the official definition for this
class that we're going to go over about what is project management and what is the role of a
project manager. In the last video, we talked about scope and scope triangle. Check it out. That
was a banger.

[00:00:32.70] And in the next video, we're going to talk about six questions to assess a project
problem or opportunity. But for this class, let's jump right in to project management and project
managers. Now in the last module, in the last sprint, we talked about what is a project. And we
defined it.

[00:00:51.54] And officially, we looked at projects through the landscape of the professional
industry of project management. Now remember back to class 1 video 1, I know is a long time
ago, we were talking about how projects sometimes can be seen as a hobby, which is great,
renovating my house, painting my room. But projects for this class take on a very unique
definition and context.

[00:01:17.01] Now, we talked about how this project term and definition was coined and where
it came from. And so I wanted to officially discuss that in this class and support it, where the
project management term and definition comes from with this thing called the Project
Management Institute. Now, it's called PMI.

[00:01:36.51] Now the Project Management Institute is the world's leading association for those
who consider project, program, or portfolio management their profession. Now, this is
everything we kind of discussed in that first class. I just want to make sure that we had a nice
forum where it was officially stated and overseen.

[00:01:54.48] Now I would let you know, just kind of hint, hint, wink, wink, nod, nod, when you
see acronyms like PMI, it's important for you to memorize those and think of those properly, you
may see those maybe in a quiz, so that it's more fluent. Because for example, when you may take
something called, and we'll go the next slide here, the Project Management Professional
certification in the future that may be you one day, you're going to know these acronyms.

[00:02:23.08] You're going to have to know these acronyms for the examination. And when
you're talking to people in the industry, it just gives you a next level element of cloud and
professionalism. So the Project Management Institute is the organization that gives out this PMP
credential.
[00:02:38.44] We talked about this again in that last class. But that's that Project Management
Professional credential. And this is a globally recognized certification. And what this does is it
allows employers, like Pixar, DreamWorks, Lucasfilms, or wherever you want to go in the
future, to officially see, OK, you are nationally certified to run these large scope, very
professional enterprise-based projects.

[00:03:05.50] It's great that we ran a project in school. It's great that we might have ran them for
our internship or for our homes or as entrepreneurs. But if we're going into the industry of
project management, there has to be some level of a standard across the board.

[00:03:20.11] Again, we talked about this being similar to the SAT test. How do universities
know different credentials of what students may be able to come in for, let's just say something
like STEM, science and technology and all that stuff, well, they use the SAT test as a
standardized formula or a way score to look at who can come in at certain credentials. That's
very similar to this PMP.

[00:03:44.02] Now, does this mean you're not a good project management-- manager if you don't
have a PMP? No. It doesn't mean that at all. It's just the way that can help set a standard across
the board for a global industry.

[00:03:54.86] So if you are interested in this, maybe you want to be a project manager for video
games and you're doing it now, or maybe you want to be a project manager for films or
animations or documentaries, you might want to look into that. Now a note, by the way, a note,
because I want to make sure if you go look this up, that you don't get discouraged too quickly.

[00:04:11.86] The PMP certification does require some years of professional experience before
you can even apply to take the exam. You actually have to apply and then they say, yup, you are
allowed to take the exam. So it's not just you pay the money, you can take the exam. They
actually look at an application pool to see who is welcome to take the exam.

[00:04:34.49] So you get a couple of years under your belt. It is rather costly exam, just to let
you know. Sometimes industries or companies will pay for you to take that exam. Then you go
ahead and you study really hard, maybe you start with an intro class like this one. And you might
take a more advanced class.

[00:04:49.39] Or you go read some books. By the way, our book is a PMP certified book. You
can use this book for your studying towards that exam. So if this interests you, go check it out.

[00:04:59.50] This is the Project Management Professional certification. And this is all supported
by the PMI. What does that stand for again? Come on, a little more, little louder. Exactly, Project
Management Institute.

[00:05:11.97] You might want to log that one away for maybe a future assessment in this class.
So what is the Project Management Institute say about what is project management? If they're
the one setting the bar, let's take a look at what they have to say about it.
[00:05:27.28] So project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and
techniques to project activities to meet the project requirement. That can kind of be weird
sometimes when you read that. So it's the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques
to project activities to meet the project requirements.

[00:05:49.38] If you really break that down and think about it, it makes sense. It's all the things
we're going to need to make sure we meet and provide a healthy, successful project. All right.
Well, that's nice and fluffy that we can memorize for the PMP exam. But what about something a
little more practical, a little more digestible?

[00:06:08.61] Well, let's look at this working definition. Project management is an organized
common-sense approach that utilizes the appropriate client involvement in order to meet sponsor
needs and deliver the expected incremental business value. Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. I can
memorize that. Great. But I may not understand it.

[00:06:29.88] So I want to make sure we're all very clear. Project management is organized
common-sense approach. What does that mean? It means that-- I'm a jump to the screen real
quick, it means that no two projects are the same.

[00:06:43.27] We talked about this before. I'm going to go to the chocolate cake example. Maybe
you've made a chocolate cake your entire life. Everybody buys the same chocolate cake from
you. So someone comes to you and asks, hey, can you make me a chocolate cake?

[00:06:54.63] That project, you know exactly what you need to do. It's very low stakes. So it
makes sense, it's common sense for you to implement a project management method that is very
much the formula you've always used to make this chocolate cake. You've done it for a million
years. Everybody wants the same result.

[00:07:13.66] So the most-- the biggest common sense element would say, however you made it
last time, well, all the steps you did, A to B, B to C, do the same thing this time. It's common
sense. But what if a client comes to you and says, we want you to make banking software, crazy
banking software, using blockchain and VR and AR. No one's ever done this before.

[00:07:37.89] Well, you probably wouldn't make a project like that using step A, B, C, D,
because you really don't even know what step C and D are. You've never done it before. I don't
know what step C and D is. So why would I make a project management process that goes A, B,
C, D.

[00:07:55.53] What I really need to do is A to B, B to question mark C. I don't really know what
it is. Oh, I screwed up. Go back to B. Try to figure out what C is. Try it again, C.

[00:08:06.00] Oh, screwed up again. Go back to B. And you make it more of an iterative cycle.
That's just common sense.

[00:08:11.70] If you don't know what's around the corner, don't plan for something that's so
linear. You need to do something that allows there to be trial and error. So all we're saying here
in this definition is, project management is an organized common-sense approach that utilizes the
appropriate client involvement.

[00:08:30.27] Client involvement, remember, we talked about if it's iterations, we have to trial--
do trial and error. It means client involvement needs to be higher on certain projects. But for the
chocolate cake, I've done it a million times, everybody knows the result, I don't need a lot of
client involvement.

[00:08:44.56] So the appropriate client involvement in order to meet the sponsor or our partner,
our stakeholders, to meet their needs, all the things that they said. Not just their needs though,
but actual business value. So our goal is to figure out what's the common-sense approach to
solving this problem.

[00:09:01.51] What makes the most sense? How much client involvement is needed? And our
ultimate goal is to get value to the company or to our project owners, whoever they may be.

[00:09:12.30] And not just what they want, but we really ought to think, remember, about what
they need. What gets them to the place they want to be in the future. That's really what we're
talking about with project management.

[00:09:21.94] So what about what is a project manager? Well, pretty much just makes sense. A
project manager is a person who implements the project management. So this is a person who's
responsible for the planning, the procuring, the execution, the delivery, you fill in the blank, of
the project.

[00:09:41.91] This person defining and communicating project objectives. They sit down with
the project stakeholders. They sit down with the project owners. And they figure out what's
important to them.

[00:09:51.36] What are the objectives we need to meet? When is it due? What's our budget? Are
there any requirements? Does this game need to be on iOS or Android?

[00:10:00.48] Does it need to be on Mac or PC? What are the requirements? They sit down and
they figure out and they communicate the project deliverables, the objectives. They figure out all
the different elements. And they have to be clear and useful and attainable.

[00:10:13.20] They have to make sure that they're reasonable things. We're not promising the
world. That's what a project manager does. They also look at procuring the project requirements
like workforce.

[00:10:23.98] So we need to go build a video game. Great. Do we have all the people we need to
build the video game? Do we need to shop things out to vendors? Or do we need to look at
freelancers to help do some of the art?

[00:10:35.88] We have to figure out the workforce. We need to figure out the technical
requirements. We need to figure out the various agreements and all the materials and the
technology used and the things that are going to make the project successful. What are they? We
have to define all these things.

[00:10:47.91] And then the managing the constraints of that scope triangle. What's the cost?
What's the time? And what resources? And inherently, around all of that, what's the risk?

[00:10:58.23] So we're trying to figure out all these things as project managers. And we see the
project, by the way, from ideation to completion. We figure out all the steps, from the beginning
of when we had that first conversation of, Hi, my name is Tim. What are you looking to do?

[00:11:12.33] What are you trying to accomplish? What's the project that you're looking to
figuring out the scope? All the way to, hey, it was great working with you. Here's the project.

[00:11:20.07] Final deliverable, it's successful, they love it. We've got measurable things there.
That's what we're talking about. The project manager sees the entire pipeline.

[00:11:29.43] So let's look at some characteristics of a project manager. So I want to take a

moment, take a pause. I want you to step back just a little bit, maybe lean back in your chair,
look at the ceiling. And I want you to pontificate for a little. I want you think a little bit.

[00:11:44.70] What characteristics come to mind when you think of a project manager? All right.
Come on. Come on. Let's try this. Let's try this. Close your eyes.

[00:11:54.96] When you see a project manager, what do you see? Who do you see? What skills
are there? What attributes are there? What are they good at? What fuels them?

[00:12:07.71] What are the characteristics of a project manager? You may say, oh, type A
person, very detailed. They love their calendar. They love their email. They never go to sleep.
They stay up all night.

[00:12:18.78] And they check when a little task bar goes from working on to done. And they get
really excited. Maybe that's what you think.

[00:12:25.74] Maybe it's someone who is really just super detailed and on top of things. And
they like to micromanage. Maybe that's what you think. Who knows what it could be.

[00:12:35.73] But what I'd like to do is I'd like to propose to you, I'd like to submit to you, five
core characteristics. And there are more, by the way. I just let you know maybe five core
characteristics of a project manager. And we're going to go one at a time and take a look at these.

[00:12:51.03] So the first one, characteristics of a project manager, is they must have this
element of a technical prowess. They must understand the knowledge or have knowledge of the
field that they work in. So project manager isn't just someone who's super detailed and loves
Excel spreadsheets and stays up all night checking to see if a task bar moves from one position to
the other.
[00:13:14.58] Yes, we are 4% done over a seven-year project. Throw a party. Note, these people
actually have to have technical knowledge of what they're trying to build. So maybe it's a
program. Maybe it's an animation.

[00:13:28.74] The project manager has to know the pipeline. They don't have to be the world's
best programmer. They don't have to be the world's best artist, illustrator, 2D animator. But they
have to know the skill. They have to know the pipeline, or else, they're going to be making poor
estimations.

[00:13:43.05] They're not going to be able to gel with their team. It's going to be a fish out of
water. So this person, a core characteristic, one of my top five, is technical understanding
because that's going to allow them to schedule, understand what we call the critical path. We'll
talk about that in the future.

[00:13:57.42] And they're also going to be able to measure performance. When do we ever know
when we got to where we want to be? Let me say that again.

[00:14:03.96] Let's say we set a goal, a stretch goal, how would the project manager know if we
got there? How would they know if we did it well? How would they know if we did it poorly?

[00:14:12.09] So they need to understand the technical aspects of our jobs, of our field of
industry. So they have to have some technical experience. And usually, a good project manager
actually comes from those fields. Maybe they were an artist and now they've worked their way to
being a project manager. So this is the first one.

[00:14:28.20] The second one, problem solver. You can't Google everything. You can't just look
to your neighbor and ask for the solution. A project manager is going to come across things that
they've never seen before.

[00:14:41.31] We talked about projects and how some are very clear. Their goals are clear. Their
solution is clear. So we know exactly what to do, build the chocolate cake, build the strawberry
cake.

[00:14:51.15] But you're also going to come across projects that the solution is not clear. The
goal is not clear. The client doesn't know what they want just yet. So you have to be a problem
solver. You need to understand change and accept change.

[00:15:02.76] You need to come up with a plan for change. You need to understand schedules
are going to move. Staffing may change. People may retire. All these things, budgets may
increase, decrease. We go overbudget, we underspend, we overspend.

[00:15:16.08] Technical things, we go from Unity 4 to Unity 5, SCORM 1.2 to 2004. Java
changes. Code language changes. Requirements, EPA changes. The environmental protection
elements in our world may change.
[00:15:32.61] And you need to change-- what if you're building a car and all of a sudden, new
environmental laws come into place where your car doesn't meet those requirements? You need
to change and make problem solving solutions. You need to be able to pivot really quickly. So
problem solving, one of my top five. Check this one out.

[00:15:48.63] Hey, my third one, business expertise. I know a lot of us may be coming from a
technical design background or a technical programmatic background or a journalistic
background. But understanding the mechanics and the laws behind how business is run is
essential for a project manager. Why? Because at the end of the day, you're not just delivering a
video game. You're delivering business value.

[00:16:13.11] Video games are built to support businesses. At the end of the day, they do have to
bring cash flow, they do have to meet budget. Movies are only successful realistically in our
world when they hit the box office. Those-- we have to pay Tom Hanks millions of dollars,
which means we have to make millions of dollars.

[00:16:32.95] So as a project manager, you need to understand the people coming to you to make
something are not just artists who want to express a really cool, dynamic idea to the world, but
they're also stakeholders that have financial investment in this that need to understand that
business value is not just a completed cool project, but it may actually be valuation, dollar bills.

[00:16:55.23] So as a project manager, it's important for you to understand how the business
works. You need to understand how payment gateways work. In a video game, micro payments.
You need to understand how box office works.

[00:17:06.81] You might need to understand how licensing works. You may need to understand
the organizational value. Like if Johnson & Johnson comes to you to make something, you might
need to understand the value that Johnson & Johnson is looking for decision making and all of
these things.

[00:17:21.37] So the fourth characteristic from my top five is interpersonal skills. A project
manager has to have the ability to communicate, to set culture, to understand the background that
companies are coming from, the emotional intelligence of what's going on in the room or in the
world, to make sure that they're relevant with their team and the staff.

[00:17:45.12] Nothing's worse than a project that's moving forward but everybody just feels like
they're beat, everybody just feels like they're worn out. It's a real thing when people just feel like
they're exhausted. Burnout is a real thing. Teams that come together are going to have issues.

[00:18:01.53] And we're going to talk about team dynamics later in this class about how teams
go from forming each other, understanding who each other is, and then they go into the storming
stage where no one gets along. And then they slowly mature into a norming and performing
stage.

[00:18:16.98] We need to understand as project managers how can we move our team members
from a place of struggling with each other if there's issues to a place of thriving with one another.
And that comes with understanding who each person is, recognizing the uniqueness of your
team, the skills they bring, understanding their professional goals.

[00:18:37.87] Where do they want to go in six months. Where do they want to be in six years.
And not only just looking after the health of the project, but looking after the health of your team
and investing in your team. That's talking about professional development.

[00:18:50.01] It's talking about communication, clearly setting goals and not making them that
are so unattainable that your team just gets burnt out, making realistic goals, goals that are
achievable, goals that are SMART, goals that are time sensitive, understanding culture and
culture and the value that culture brings in and the uniqueness of every person, and
understanding the culture and the dynamic that we're creating in the workforce here in our studio
or on set or wherever you may be and what project you're working on.

[00:19:20.64] Interpersonal skills, presentations are huge. If you're a project manager, you've got
to pitch your ideas. So being able to communicate in a public forum is key.

[00:19:30.60] And the fifth one-- strong leadership. The most important thing a project manager,
more than organizational skills, more than being on task and on time, strong leadership. We are
looking for people who understand and can inspire and can unify and can bring together team
members so that the project can flourish.

[00:19:52.44] A team-- a project comes to you, a stakeholder comes to you, a project owner
comes to you and trusts that you can get a project to where it needs to be, which means the
people that are going to get it there need to be unified and brought together and inspired. They
need to be behind the vision of the project.

[00:20:10.69] And they may not always be there. So your job is to bring them all along. Your job
is to help be like the tide. As the tide goes up, all the boats go up. And that's your job.

[00:20:20.25] And you've got to make sure people are accountable too. It's not just pie in the sky,
fluffy, bringing cupcakes every morning, and make sure everybody feels good about themselves.
If people aren't doing a good job, you need to hold him accountable to that. But you can only
hold people accountable to set standard goals.

[00:20:36.00] If you haven't clearly communicated those goals, you really can't hold somebody
accountable to them because they didn't know about them or wasn't clearly communicated. You
need buy in from the team. And a true success metric of a project is not only a project that meets
the business value that a client comes to you, but also that the team feels like it was a win.
Across the board, everybody feels like there was success.

[00:20:59.83] So in this class, in this video, what do we talk about? We talked about what is
project management. We looked at the Project Management Institute. We looked a little bit more
at the Project Management Professional certification. And then we talked about what makes up a
project manager. Five core characteristics or attributes a project manager should look to take on.
[00:21:19.44] Now, what I want you to do is I want you to assess maybe a project you've ran.
Maybe you've been with a team. Maybe it could be two people, it could be three people, four, or
five. However big the team, I want you to look through your experiences and say, how well did I
match up on those five attributes?

[00:21:36.84] Maybe you'll find you're an all-star technical expert, but you can work a little bit
on the communication. Well, it's a good moment to just do a retrospective, to reflect
interpersonally. Look at yourself and say, where can I grow? Where can I get better?

[00:21:51.00] This is called lifelong learning. It never stops. We always need to reflect on how
can I improve on my skill, on my character, on attributes that I bring to the table, on things I may
be lacking. So take a moment, lean back, and assess and say, where are some things that I do
great in and where are some things I can improve in?

[00:22:11.68] It's a great thing to do. Go ahead and see if you can do that for yourself as well.
Check it out and you're going to find it's going to make you a better project manager in the end. I
will see you in the next video. And I'll talk to you soon. Thanks, everybody.

[00:22:24.57] [MUSIC PLAYING]