Why Leadership Should Look to PMPs for Collaboration in Post-COVID-19 New Reality —
When organizations encounter adversity, leadership teams must surround themselves and seek counsel from Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) or highly-skilled professionals that can provide sound advice for navigating through rough terrains. Likewise, seasoned Project Manager Professionals (PMPs) in the Telecom industry should step up to the plate and deliver on those knowledge-based areas in which they have been trained and tested on to help lead through complex projects facing telecom providers today.
This article aims to remind leadership teams that the PMP could be their best partner to provide support during challenging times. It also calls for PMs to unleash knowledge-sharing, creativity, and problem-solving strategies, to help with business continuity and new telecom network realities post-COVID-19.
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April 1, 20223 Specific Benefits of Leveraging the Expertise of PMs
Benefit 1.
They can share expertise and lessons learned from past project experiences.
When companies encounter crises, quick reaction and effective implementation of contingency strategies are critical for ensuring continuity of telecom services. Qualified Project Management Professionals and seasoned PMPs in the Telecom industry can offer methods to quickly implement assessment strategies and agile responsiveness for reconfiguration and recovery.
Project Management is not always as straightforward as it sounds. Experienced PMs most certainly have been involved with complex and unexpected situations impacting their projects. That makes them acquainted with chaos management, and gives them the ability to lead through uncertainty, and to deliver projects on-time/on-budget.
Benefit 2.
They can help leadership teams to develop and implement effective communication plans.
The primary role of PMs is to communicate across stakeholder groups, making members of the PMO ideal allies for helping design and implement communication management plans to share information among internal and external stakeholders effectively.
During crises, effective communication and information sharing channels can enable faster problem-solving solution creation, making these critical elements for leading through uncertainty. Strategically disseminated information and clarity could either increase or kill the odds of organization survivability during hard times.
Benefit 3.
They can strongly collaborate in risk management and decision-making processes.
An example of the criticality of effective decision-making can be seen as telecom operators implement reactive strategies for maintaining critical internet infrastructure and prioritize resources for delivering services to health care facilities, national security agencies, first responders, and residential users working from home, while managing risks related to public health and technical workforce safety. To protect all stakeholders while operating under these circumstances, effective risk management strategies must be developed in collaboration with those who have effectively led through adversity, for controlling and mitigating any known and unknown potential risks.
To help with difficult decisions, leaders should consult with experts in risk management. Project management experts who have worked on large/long-term projects should be proficient with identifying risks and implementing measures against unforeseen events. Even though dealing with crises of great magnitude is something that no one is ever truly prepared for, seasoned Telecom PMs could lend tools and experience for crafting and implementing plans to support business continuity through dark times.
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Takeaway Thoughts
Knowledge and experience are invaluable for leading through times of crises. Leadership teams should not undertake complex and challenging ventures without surrounding themselves with industry SMEs and seasoned Telecom PM practitioners. They can offer sound strategies for quickly implementing situational assessments, communication, risks management, and knowledge-sharing strategies. More than ever, this is key for controlling and achieving business survivability and continuance. Their expertise can also help teams shape new paradigms for business as usual in the post-COVID-19 world.
This article is co-authored by Jerry Morla and Moira Villena.
Moira Villena, PMP, has more than 10 years of experience in general management and leadership roles in telecommunications civil construction and as a project manager for multinational companies in South America. Also, Moira has background in architecture and military science. In addition, Moira is a project management instructor, and is currently working towards her PhD in Business. For more information, please email [email protected] or visit knowledgeshots.com. You can follow Moira on Twitter @Ceilc, and on LinkedIn: Moira Villena, MSc, PMP.
