Does the Mis-Use of the Project Manager Title Dilute Our Worth?

As I travel around, working with people from a large variety of private and public sector organizations in various cities, I am dismayed to see the various forms that the Project Manager title takes. Personally, I have had to overcome the perception of what a Project Manager does. Maybe you have had a similar experience. You’re at a party, someone asks you what you do, you tell them you are a Project Manager, and their face either goes blank or it lights up and they excitedly say, “Oh, like on the Apprentice?” (Heavy sigh.) Or they ask if you work in trailers at construction sites. (Some may, but not me.)

More disconcerting is when I am conducting PM training and a person approaches me and says, “I was given a project on Monday, and since I am in training all week it will be implemented before I’m even back in the office!” Or even worse, you turn in a print job at Kinko’s and the name tag of the person behind the counter has their name with ‘Project Manager’ below it. Are these last two really Project Managers? I think not.

When did the lines between project management and operational processes get so blurred? While they have always been blurred a bit, I see this as increasing. Part of it may be because of the prevalence of projects in the IT world. So many things in IT are projects. Some would say that almost everything in IT is a project. Once you have that mindset, that effort includes the smallest of activities, including help desk functions and/or customer tickets. Unfortunately, I see this over and over again.

The problem I have with this is overcoming the perception of ‘the uninformed’ as to what Project Management really is, and why I am commanding the price that I do. Or in having others appreciate the skills that you and I have, with all the complexities and nuances of our job. While many people within the corporate environment do understand (and appreciate) what Project Managers really do, many still do not. Does this mis-use of the PM title make it more difficult for us to get ahead among and with the uninformed (and there are plenty of them)? While we have made great strides in promoting project management as a profession, I think in the end, the answer is ‘yes’, another obstacle has been put in our path.

What do you think? Let me know.

by Vicki Wrona