In any industry, a mixed management style is required for successful project management to keep complex projects running smoothly, within budget and on time, says founder of the German Project Management Association (GPM) and the International Project Management Association (IPMA) former president Klaus Pannenbaecker.

He coined the phrase ‘demoautocratic management style’, which he says is a balance between democratic and autocratic project management styles.

“This is relevant to all management posi- tions, including those in mining. A true manager is somebody who manages according to project management principles,” says Pannenbaecker.

Along with his colleagues from the Associa- tion for Project Management South Africa (APMSA), Pannenbaecker hopes to increase project management knowledge and experience and improve attitudes toward project management, particularly of those who have the necessary talent and aptitude.

“While the IPMA and the APMSA offer project management training and certification, together with the GPM, the associations have come up with new ways to test people for the right attitude and aptitude before training and certifying them.

It is no good taking their money if they do not possess the talent to be good project managers,” he states.

Pannenbaecker says personal preference profiles are used as the first step in testing the prospective project manager’s preferred behaviour style.

“From there, the certification course will test their competence and determine whether they have the skills to carry out certain projects. Project management complexity is also determined and the project manager’s competence will be matched to the complexity of the project,” he says.

Pannenbaecker points out that the current state of project management in South Africa is below average, as skill levels are below the requirements for a developing country.

“Skills have to do with qualifications and experience. To improve the situation, academic institutions must align their academic offerings with current worldwide practice, rather than personal definitions and non- standard descriptions.

“Project management standards, as defined by ISO 21500, have been published and adherence to agreed definitions in aspects of project management, such as scheduling and cost engineering, is fundamentally important,” he says.

Project management is constantly evolving and, therefore, training can easily fail or fall behind, says Pannenbaecker.

“It is important for the trainer to identify the gaps in the project management skills and adjust training to fill these gaps.

This has to be done diplomatically, as project managers are typically older. In South Africa, project managers are, on average, older than 45,” he says.

 

Education, Training and Coaching

It is important to note that project management is not just about education, says Pannenbaecker.

“It also involves training, where a person with the correct education is taught how to do things practically. Education and training are required to develop project management skills.

“Coaching is also an important aspect, as educated and trained people will be guided in the right direction until they have enough experience to successfully manage complicated projects [alone],” he states.

Pannenbaecker adds that the vision of the IPMA and the APMSA is to move further into project management consulting and coaching, rather than just training.

“The challenge with project management is that there is little routine in the life of a project manager. Each and every project entails different resources, environments, sizes, levels of complexity and cultures.

“It is a challenge for project managers to standardise the level of project management globally,” he states.

Mining projects take place in specific and unique contexts, where health and safety is a focus area that needs specific attention with respect to behaviour and cultural change, he adds.

“Particularly challenging for project managers in the mining industry is the regulatory environment. The level of competence in oversight is questionable and the law is used on an ad hoc basis to encourage particular behaviour.

“To achieve sound project management, managers will have to navigate around these kinds of regulatory challenges,” Pannenbaecker says.

Ultimately, project management should be built into the strategy of a company, he notes.

“Projects fill the entire world. Even at school level, learners should be taught to manage schoolwork as projects.

Humans intuitively know how to manage projects, yet globally companies invest so heavily in project management training. If these skills were developed at school, the world would be a much more organised place,” says Pannenbaecker.

 

Outlook

The future for project management in South Africa is bleak, unless government’s infra- structure programmes are launched, support is increased and foreign direct investments (FDIs) into the country are made, he states.

“Without FDI, project managers will have little or no work. The maturity of the profession can be linked to the support of professional bodies. In reality, membership to professional bodies is low, which indicates a lack of support for the profession from those working on projects.”