Once I was lucky to get through the professional assessment by one of my previous employers. This hadn't happened to me for quite some time. Moreover, I had been evaluating others on my own for the last 4 years before I got a project-management position. So, that was a quite interesting experience to for me to feel myself an examination "victim".
Besides a formal calculation based on some "points" for the completed projects an assessment of personality traits was applied through a tête-à-tête meeting with the examiner. That's why I can't help but share my observations and after-thoughts on that very raw evaluating "matrix". Here is a full list of criteria used to evaluate character traits that comes along with my comments describing why I am a bit far to support such subjective scoring.
1.Results-oriented
As a rule, main project goals are to accomplish the approved scope and to get paid for the work done. Oh, yes, including schedules, quality metrics and within the approved budget. So, can "goal orientation" be measured other than having a satisfied customer and successfully completed projects? Is this a subjective criterion or can be interpreted in another way?
However, as it turned out the company scale also contained such points as number of team building activities, new future projects from the customer and team's professional skills development. In my opinion if a company requires some additional project goals, a project manager should be notified about this during the project initiation not at the closure or audit. All these internal objectives should be listed and detailed in some internal project charter. And ideally a project manager should be motivated to such goals accomplishment. Naturally, an additional budget must be assigned for team development. You must admit that it is almost impossible to develop your team having $0.00 for this.
2.Acumen
I am serious. This metric was applied to measure how a project manager is fast in decision-making. In my humble opinion, speed is good in blood-suckers catching, but project managing. Project manager is neither a hockey-player nor a Formula-1 pilot. PM "class" does not depend on a flash-like speed. I think a timely decision is better than a quick one.
3.Responsibility
A cowboy cannot accomplish projects. Hence, there are no other criteria except described in paragraph #1.
4.Self-dependence
If a project manager is smart enough to make somebody pull the chestnuts out of the fire for him, then his or her managers should follow suit delegating authority and thinking of their professional aptitude. Yes, the statement sounds a bit rough notwithstanding honest enough at the same time.
5.Stress resistance
Are you able to appraise such person's trait not having passed through the mill with him or her in "Survivor" show or being hostages by Somali pirates?
6.Wavelengthmanship
Over the last decade of my "manager" status that was only once when I met a project manager who was afraid to give a ring to his customer. Do you know any formal procedures that are not subjective and that can appraise inter-personal skills? There are no such tools. All of them provide results that should be interpreted through the personal paradigm.
Therefore, let's look at the first paragraph again as the exclusive criteria and metrics of true project manager qualification.
