Mixed news and fortunes surround recruitment activity in project management at the moment, there are winners and losers across all sectors. Specifically within project management, the volume of requirements is down year on year by 50%, and we have also seen some pressure on day rates and salary levels over the last six months.

 
The good news is that when requirements are released from organisations, we're seeing much better qualified roles which have budgets signed off and approved. Time to hire is also becoming much shorter as well qualified requirements are released; contractor hiring is typically turning around at 5-7 days, whilst permanent recruitment requirements are coming down from the traditional three month period.
 
Demand for project management professionals within the public sector is still holding up and we are now starting to see enquiries (green shoots?) about future requirements from organisations as they work on their resourcing plans for visible and potential orders.
 
In the general job market there has been increased complaints from candidates about "phantom" jobs. You may have experienced something like this yourself, you apply for an advertised position to find your details have disappeared into a black hole and no feedback or contact received back about your application. Phantom jobs or sometimes known as speculative advertising is a frustrating element of recruitment for many candidates; It is a legal form of advertising, BUT only if the adverts follow these guidelines from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation;
 
"Speculative adverts can be used when a recruiter needs to build up their candidate database for future positions. However, there are several things to be mindful of when doing so. The advert must:

• Not state a salary - as the advert would then be classed as a specific advert for (a position)
• Not mislead potential work-seekers - it should be clear to readers that the advert does not relate to a specific vacancy;
• Be justified - a speculative advert should only be used for roles that (employment agencies) are regularly asked to fill.

 
So bear this in mind and read the adverts carefully before sending along your details!
 
We have also seen increased frustration from experienced PPM professionals that PRINCE2 is mandated on most project management positions advertised today, even though the hiring organisation does not use Prince or is PINO (Prince In Name Only). Our feelings are, let's get over it! PRINCE2 has won the marketing war, it's a large industry in its own right and they've managed to convince many people and organisations that PRINCE2 = Project Management. This is also supported by key word matching recruiters who can exclude candidates very easily against a very simple criterion. In many ways as an emerging profession is it valid to say that I've got loads of experience but no formal accreditation? Moving forward hopefully something else will replace the marketing muscle around PRINCE2 and it will then take its rightful place amongst other PPM accredited methods.
 
We also believe that it is not a hirers market in project management. Typically when there are more job seekers available than roles it is said to be a hirers market, the hirer has the pick of good talent on their terms (salary, benefits on offer etc). What we're actually seeing in the project management market is that there are fewer quality candidates in the market for a move. During this downturn, project professionals currently working are staying put and weathering the storm. It makes sense to stay in a role rather than leave and potentially be the "last in first out" employee of an organisation they move to. Times are different and the feelings of uncertainty have led many to play a waiting game. So some organisations looking for fresh talent need to be aware that they may have to up their game if they want to attract the best.
 
Although we mentioned that there has been pressure on day rates and salaries, we have not seen any significant drops since the beginning of the year, in fact niche players can still demand a premium. In project management that specifically means roles where specific domain knowledge is required alongside the project management skills, for example business transformation within the public sector or facilities management within the retail sector. If you have a niche in a particular business sector or function that is in demand now you are probably one of the professionals who gave a high personal confidence in our Green Shoots survey. Read on to find out how others in the project management industry are doing.

Arras People, the Project Management Recruitment specialists recently polled PPM (Programme and Project Management) visitors to our web site to gauge the economic temperature. We were keen to check out with PPM professionals at the halfway stage of 2009; how they saw the economy in terms of their employers' position and also their own personal position. We were looking for "green shoots", the much talked about indicator that things are on the up!
 
The first question we asked visitors was Compared to Jan09, my employer's business is;
Based on our own experience the response to this question was not surprising, with 56% of UK based respondents reporting that they were either still in a downturn or significantly worse than six months ago. 34% of respondents reported no significant change, whilst 2.4% reported that times were booming to confirm that there are always winners in any economic cycle. Green shoots, yes 7.5% of UK respondents reported that they can see some, the next key question will be do they have roots?
 
Interestingly when the data includes non-UK based respondents the overall picture is a little more positive. Is this reality, it's hard to tell, although it may also be a reflection of the psyche of the UK workforce?

When we then cut the UK data across employees and contractors we again found a significant difference in the response which aligns with the data collected for the Arras People 2009 Project Management Benchmark Report.


It would appear that the contractor population sees the position as a lot more gloomy with 75% reporting that they were either still in a downturn or significantly worse than six months ago. The contractor group reported a comparable percentage (6%) seeing green shoots with none reporting that times are booming. In contrast 44% of employees who responded were seeing no significant change, with 44% reporting that they were either still in a downturn or significantly worse than six months ago.
 
We then asked visitors Compared to Jan09, my personal confidence is;
 
As can be seen in the graph below the UK respondents were once again slightly more negative than the overall group. However, in line with the data collected for the Arras People 2009 Project Management Benchmark Report, personal confidence does not directly correlate with how people perceive their employers business state to be.
 
44% of our UK respondents report that their personal confidence compared to January is lower or significantly worse, which is a major change from the results analysed in the previous survey. Less than 25% of the respondents reported that they were in a neutral state whilst 5% reported that confidence is booming. Interestingly 29% of UK respondents reported that their personal confidence is improving which is 22% higher than those seeing green shoots!

As we saw in the Arras People 2009 Project Management Benchmark Report, personal confidence when compared by employee and contractor shows a significant deviation this is again true with the latest set of data that we have collected.


As anticipated in the Arras People 2009 Project Management Benchmark Report, personal confidence amongst contractors is significantly lower than that of their peers who are employees. 19% of contractors reported that their personal confidence is significantly worse with another 44% saying it was lower than in January, compared to 16% in both categories for employees. 24% of employees reported no significant change against 19% of contractors. In the positive sphere no contractors reported themselves as feeling buoyant against 8% of employees, with 36% of employees feeling that their confidence is improving against 19% of contractors.
 
Summary
 
Based upon the responses received and our current levels of business we believe that there are some new opportunities in the UK economy, though we are not sure if we would classify this as being the all important "green shoots".
 
The levels of response in the negative spheres, especially those from the contractors suggest that we are still in a difficult position and this may continue for some time to come.
 
Our own experiences suggest that point hiring to fill specific targeted roles or replace/ cover existing roles is currently in the ascendancy over clients who are looking to create new roles in anticipation of future growth.

from Elizabeth Harrin

Does your project have a communications plan?  It's often something that less experienced project managers forget to do.
 
The purpose of a communications plan is to define all the people or groups who have an interest in the project and to document how and when they communicate with, or receive communication from, the project.
 
If that all sounds quite complicated, it really isn't.  The first step is to work out who your project interacts with.  You probably have a list of stakeholders already, so use those.  Don't forget any groups of people or external parties.  The marketing department, for example, could be one entire group - you don't have to list everyone in that team.  Equally, you may have to deal with a government body; an external stakeholder maybe represented by one named individual who is your main point of contact.  Make sure all these people and groups are on your list.
 
Establish for each entry on your stakeholder list:
 

• What information do they require?
• Who will provide that information?
• How often do they need it (or how often is it produced)?
• How will it be communicated?

 
So, let's take your project steering group as an example.  It is probably made up of 3 to 5 senior managers and let's say you all meet monthly to review progress.  We can answer the questions above for them like this:
 

• They require a status update on how the project is going against the agreed scope, timescale and budget.  They also require copies of the minutes from steering group meetings.
• The project manager will provide the information.
• They need to see the status update in advance of the steering group meeting, on a monthly basis.  The minutes of steering group meetings will be circulated within 3 days of the meeting taking place.
• The status update will be produced in Excel format and will be emailed to each member of the steering group.  The minutes will be produced in Word format and will also be sent out by email to each member of the steering group.

 
The more experience you have at managing projects the less likely it is that you will need to document every last thing that needs to be communicated.  However, even experienced project managers work to a communications plan.  You can put communications milestones in your project plan: send out steering group minutes, send out Marketing briefing, circulate user guide and so on.
 
Don't forget that not all communication has to be written.  You can also include on your communications plan people with whom you communicate verbally.  Face-to-face meetings count as communication.  Telephone calls count as communication.  They may not be so formal as a briefing note that you write and send out on email but they are more appropriate for some audiences.
 
Finally, establish who needs to communicate with you.  Your project sponsor should be passing down information that is relevant, and other people or groups will need to keep you informed. They may not be as organised as you are, so make a note on the communications plan to chase them for updates when you need them!

This article first published on PMTips.net


Elizabeth Harrin, BA (Hons), MA, MBCS is an author and project manager living and working in London.  She has a decade of experience in projects.  Elizabeth has led a variety of IT and process improvement projects including e-commerce and communications developments. She is also experienced in managing business change, having spent eight years working in financial services (including two based in Paris, France).  She writes the award-winning blog, A Girl's Guide to Project Management and is author of Project Management in the Real World.
 
Follow her on Twitter: @pm4girls

 

I have been working as a project manager for the last four years, I would like to step up to the next tier (senior level), however I do not have any formal qualifications in project management
Can you suggest a good all rounder, I have been previously advised to study PRINCE2 but some feel it is lengthy and can drag out a project. Obviously the qualification needs to be recognised nationally or internationally. Wayne B-R