Addressing Skill Gaps and Positioning Projects

The way that organizations view and utilize projects as a means of improving their business is changing, and as a result, organizations need to assess their skill gaps and abilities in this regard.

Today, it is important for business leaders to have a strong understanding of change, including their goals and how to effectively implement it. This requires improving their ability to successfully sponsor and deliver projects and programs.

However, it is necessary to recognize that simply delivering a product and concluding the project is not sufficient. The “dump and run” approach is ineffective in achieving the complex, evolutionary, and behavioral change businesses now require.

While C-suite members don’t need to be experts in project and program techniques, they must be able to advocate for the vision of change. This is becoming a clear trend.

Developing the right skills and capabilities to avoid skill gaps

If your primary role is to lead change, it is crucial to understand the future vision, including the desired outcomes and benefits of the change.

This involves keeping a clear vision of the overall goal, knowing the desired destination, identifying skill gaps, and guiding people toward it. It is like a compass that provides direction without needing to know the specific details of how to reach the goal.

As a result, high-level executives can benefit from having a general understanding of technical best practices such as PRINCE2, Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), and Management of Portfolios (MoP).

For mid-level managers, who may have previously overseen small projects within the organization, their learning and development needs are more specific. For instance, understanding the concepts and how to effectively use best practices to manage programs and portfolios.

Assessing skill gaps may also involve recognizing the belief that anyone can be a project manager without having the necessary experience or understanding of best practices. This includes having the appropriate approach and language.

In the end, this is about establishing the consistent project and program management within organizations and being clear about the desired benefits of change.

The impact of best practice learning and certification in skill gaps

Which aspects of best practice from frameworks such as PRINCE2, MSP, and MoP will be most useful for professionals to have in the year 2023?

While obtaining knowledge through training is important, the key is developing the ability to apply the principles and change your thinking. This is what allows professionals to progress from Foundation to Practitioner level in various best practices.

For example, when working with MSP, the case study in the guidance helps to provide a broad overview, such as why the company is seeking strategic change. The MSP framework guides the process, but it is also important to critically evaluate the organization’s context to understand the value of change. By combining theory with experience, the practice becomes more than just a checklist.

From a leadership standpoint, it is important to clearly communicate the organization’s priorities, available resources, and acceptable risk profile. Afterward, leaders should expect their teams to follow best practice principles unless they can justify using a different approach. However, it is not about blindly following processes but rather using judgment and skill to apply the knowledge appropriately.

It is also important to consider how other complementary approaches, such as stakeholder management, can be beneficial in the project setting.

A holistic approach to change and improvement

A lot of current management is based on creating detailed plans and managing downward.

An alternative approach that may be more effective today is to clearly define the goal, constraints (such as budget, timeline, and quality), and desired outcomes, and empower people to achieve them in the way they see fit, rather than dictating the specific process they must follow.

As the role of projects evolves, there needs to be a greater emphasis on program and portfolio management to prioritize projects and allocate resources accordingly.

It is the leadership’s responsibility to maintain a focus on valuable outcomes and to structure for a strategic future while empowering qualified teams to do so.

Here at CourseMonster, we know how hard it may be to find the right time and funds for training. We provide effective training programs that enable you to select the training option that best meets the demands of your company.

For more information, please get in touch with one of our course advisers today or contact us at training@coursemonster.com