Whenever you want to become a project manager or you want to get better in leading projects you will lack a crucial thing:

Clarity.

In this article, I will decompose career development from junior project manager to mid-level PM.

It will give you the clarity you need.

[I will outline the main areas you need to focus on to fast-track through the initial periods. Two more stages from mid-level to senior level are beyond this article.]

Everything starts with a correct mindset

There is only one that I want to focus on here:

A Project Manager always keeps to ethical and professional conduct.

There are many ways you can build up your career.

Sometimes you will get an opportunity to make a shortcut or take a project that you are not ready for.

My roadmap is not the only possible option.

However, it is built on principles that will not put you in a need to do something unethical.

Overview

OK, now here is the overview of the whole roadmap. I have marked major milestones and just some interim steps. It shows the path from a junior project manager to a senior PM and beyond.

In timeline perspective, this journey takes about four to six years.

Sometimes it may take less time.

If you want more in-depth guidelines on how to become a better project manager I suggest you to check out my full Masterclass. It is available only until March 25.

Click here to Enroll for the Masterclass.

Here is a crucial aspect.

No matter at what level you currently are:

You do need to close up all interim checkpoints from previous levels before you move on.

Otherwise, you will not see the growth I’m talking about here.

1. The First Stage: Junior Project Manager

The first stage of your career is Junior or Assistant Project Manager.

And if you are not a PM yet the same steps apply to you. It will simply improve your chances of getting your first PM job.

On this stage:

* You most likely do not have enough authority to make serious decisions.

* You help a senior project manager to lead the project and cover some routine tasks.

* The amount of information at this stage is enormous.









Here are the crucial steps you need to take:

1.1 Find a mentor

It can be your senior manager or any other of your colleagues. The only requirement is that he or she should have more experience than you do.

1.2 Select a profound book on project management for reference

Many PMs will recommend you to use PMBoK guide. But I suggest you to find something easier to read like Rita’s book or Headway.

You need to do these two steps as a first priority.

Because the sooner you do it the greater cumulative benefit you will get.

And it will speed up your progress because you will have a reliable source to refer to.

1.3 Set up career goals and objectives

Now you need to set up goals for your initial period and your objective for the career in general.

Why is it important?

From time to time, you will feel like on a highway speeding from one project to another. It will consume all your time and energy.

Unless you are intentional about your growth you will never get some free time to learn and push forward.

Losing the control over your career growth is the worst thing you can get.

I recommend you to set a very specific deadline here:

“Get to the next stage in less than one year.”

Let me warn you the next point may look similar to this one.

But don’t skip it!

1.4 Create Your Development Plan

You need to define the development plan on your project.

You need to know for sure what you need to learn, do or achieve so that you get a promotion and start managing projects on your own.

That is your ultimate goal.

You, your management, and your mentor should be clear about your goals and the development plan.

Failing to negotiate these terms usually leads to prolonged time you will waste on this level.

Then the long-term tasks are following.

1.5 Building relationships with project team

You need to learn to work with people in your team.

You can’t establish expert authority at this point, so you will have to develop a more personal approach.

And you need to keep in mind that on the next project you might be dealing with completely different people. So, your people management skills should be versatile.

1.6 Overtake Responsibilities at Your Own Initiative

Your next long-term goal is to overtake the project from your senior colleague or mentor.

One by one you need to take on responsibilities for different parts of a project.

And it is important that you do it proactively. Don't wait for his or her request to do so.

2. The Second Stage: Your First Solo Project

It is quite possible that your first experience as a project manager will be on the second stage at once. It is either a very small project or a company where project management culture is not yet formed.

In any case, you must treat your experience as if you are at the Junior PM stage.

So, finding a mentor, books, and the rest are the must have for you.

2.1 The Biggest Mistake

There is one big mistake I often see when PMs get to the second stage.

They try to create a project management approach they like from scratch.

And they fail.

Your priority number one is to replicate the approach you learned from your mentor first.

You need to ensure that your project is moving towards its goal from day one. There is no time for experiments and learning.

You are a real project manager already, remember?

And here is your objective:





2.2 Your ultimate goal is to finish the first project successfully.

You need to understand that project success is not just finishing it somehow.

It means you need to meet stakeholders’ expectations, keep the project team happy and motivated to work on the next project, deliver the results on-time and within budget.

Let me warn you.

You will have to work more than 8 hours a day from time to time.

It is not the period where you can create a lot of margins if you want to build a rapid career. All your free time should be dedicated to development.

Also, you will be firefighting a lot. That is normal.

What else do you need to achieve?

2.3 Get a Buy-in From Key Internal Stakeholders

It means inside your team and in the organization, you work in.

You need to prove that you know what you are doing.

You need to show that you are in control of the project.

And most importantly you don’t need extra supervision.

2.4 Build a strong team.

You need to build enough authority to earn their trust.

If you ever want to build a high-performance team you need to make them believe that you are capable to solve their problems at work, protect them from external disruptions and politics and that you do know how to lead this very project to a successful end.

2.5 Knowledge Focus: Stakeholders and Project Goals

If you are not jumping over your head your first solo project will be relatively small and simple.

You can finish them successfully by focusing on:

Project Goals. If you define project goals correctly you will be able to focus on delivering tangible results. Small projects rely on getting things done. So other knowledge areas will be less important until you demonstrate progress towards the goal.

Project Stakeholders. They can help you to deliver the project together. Close communication and good relationships with key stakeholders will reduce the negative impact of your mistakes.

It is a difficult period. And it may take 1-2 years and several projects to close it up.

At some point, you will finish one project successfully and with a portion of confidence. And here I mean a project about 6-8 months long with a team no less than 10 people.

3. Next Stage: Replication

Here is a secret:

To jump on stage three, you need to change your environment.

The best case is to change the company. Make a fresh start. It also pays off if you are able to find a job with better terms and compensation.

Another variant is to change department within the organization, but it is not as much effective.

It is difficult, it is scary.

I get it!

But staying in one place will dramatically slow down your progress.

And I believe it should happen earlier rather than later.

It might seem counter-intuitive but sitting in one place won’t give you more confidence. It will just drag you deeper into the comfort zone.

3.1 Keep Wheels Turning

Once you get into the new environment, you need to replicate all your knowledge and skills there.

Then you need to adapt it to align with new processes and policies.

From day one you need to have a plan to learn your project team, build motivation, and engagement.

For the first time, it should not be an ad-hoc activity. You must approach it strategically and measure your progress.

It will be real verification of your soft skills and leadership.

3.2 Your Management and Leadership Styles

At this point, you need to finalize your leadership style and develop your project management approach.

The ultimate goal is to adapt all your knowledge and skills to the realities of the new environment.

That will verify your capabilities to take on any project for your level.