A Case of Implementation

An exercise in introducing
Project Management into an organization

YOU
You are Phil Campbell. You were hired three months ago into a newly-created position, Project Manager, by this industrial materials supply company. You’ve worked for several other organizations over your 10 years of employment, and this is the job you consider your first real career-builder.
You’ve held various jobs in recent years as a lead worker and supervisor in retailing and construction. You originally got interested in Project Management because of a presentation at your Young Leaders Society meeting. Since then, you’ve taken a couple of Project Management courses and have become a regular attendee at programs of the Project Management Institute chapter.

The HIRE
You weren’t really in the job market, but they announced at a PMI meeting that Accurate Materials Company was looking to hire a project manager, and it sounded interesting.
Until then, you hadn’t really thought of yourself as a project manager, but the information you’ve been learning at PMI has made it clear to you that project management is what you’ve been doing for years. It hasn’t been all that high-level and sophisticated, but you’ve found that adapting project management practices on the job really does make things work better.
You also hadn’t realized how interested you had become in project management. When you heard about this opening, you were quite intrigued by the idea of actually going into a job with the title and status of “Project Manager.” It crystallized in your mind as something much more meaningful than just another job.
So you sent in your resume – and got the call. The interview was unlike any you’d had before. It became apparent that Dan and Simon, the two executives who met with you, did not know a lot about project management. They liked what they heard, though. They exchanged glances and nodded in satisfaction several times as they listened to your comments and answers.
Accurate Materials had some ideas about expanding its lines of business into product innovation and development, rather than remaining a distributor of basic goods from bulk suppliers and original equipment manufacturers.
Dan and Simon knew some of the specifics about what they wanted to develop, but acknowledged that they had no idea how to organize and execute innovative processes. They had heard enough about project management to identify it as the way to do the organizing and executing.
They were impressed with how well you fit their job description. The offer, with a nice bump from your previous salary, came quite soon.
It's been an interesting 90 days. (Click to read more.)