I think that project management in any industry can be broken down into the PDCA cycle outlined in lecture. For different projects, you might need to emphasize or concentrate on one part of the cycle more than another but that basic outline can be followed to output a quality product. The main difference would of course be the background knowledge but most companies provide so much training and resources, I believe one can pick it up.

Do others feel that if you are a good project manager in one industry you can easily transfer to another and be just as good? Or do you believe there is no substitute for experience and there is no way to manage a project without a degree in the field and experience?

I think project management differs in different industries is in terms of regulations involved on a project. For instance, projects in the biomedical industries need to take into consideration the FDA regulations, such as 510(K) clearance. While construction site has to fulfill safety and health regulation established by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
If I were to be a great PM for medical devices project, it does not necessitate that I would be a great PM in a software company. Yes, there is one book that covers the fundamental elements required for project management. However, a PM needs technical knowledge in the field he or she is working in to ensure how the project will unfold. A great PM in medical devices project most likely has some technical knowledge in the projects he or she is managing. However, if that PM is thrown into a software company to work on a program like Microsoft Office, the PM would not have the necessary technical knowledge on how to proceed on with the project. Furthermore, some technical knowledge is important because it gives a PM better judgment on how to handle the project especially for the risk management aspect of project management and make a decision on costs. Moreover, compared to a software company and medical device company, the regulations for a project to meet and the requirements documents for a specific project would greatly differ. For instance, for the software company, the government requires cybersecurity regulation, such as the Data Security and Breach Notification Act, which requires software companies to provide notification if an individual’s security is breached. A phenomenally PM in a medical device company may not be aware of this regulation because this type of regulation is not common in the biomedical industry since most federal regulation on devices is regulated by the FDA.

References
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141005232306-13261887-project-management-across-industries
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/177

Project Management has a general process such as identifying requirements of the project, creating clear objectives, balancing demands of time, cost and quality. However, it would be different for a project manager from one industry to switch into another because their are differences on the pace of deliverables and environment. According to our lecture project managers assists their team to reach the end goal which will require the Project manager to have the skills and knowledge for that particular industry/project. A good Project Manager will have to adapt to other industries and projects but it will be challenging to adjust to the changes in how a particular sector goes about completing a project.

Overall, I believe that project management ultimately depends on the way you look at the project, whether it is the same industry or within several industries. While all projects follow the same PDCA cycle as mentioned by someone in an earlier post, the nuances between a top-down approach and a bottom-up approach is different. A top-down approach is a major project started by top management that trickles its way down to functional groups. Here, project management is essentially the same in no matter any industry you look at. Top level executives deal with project life cycle, the stages of a project, and study how one phase of a project transitions into another as mentioned in the lecture. This process is typically used in any industry, in a top-down approach.

The difference is in a bottom-top approach. Here, functional teams create the projects and relay them to their managers and eventually up the corporate ladder. The way the projects are managed are different in different industries. Take for example an aerospace industry would have to apply technical skills in aerodynamics and design whereas an IT group would have to take into consideration software and coding expertise into their projects. While sometimes top-down models are trickled down into functional groups and become technical projects, other times, projects are created by functional teams that eventually reach up to management. Project management across industries depends on the way the the project is going.

To answer the second part of the question, it depends on which end of the corporate ladder that I am being thrown in. If I am being thrown into a top level management side where my main focus is to ensure the proper steps are being followed as per my plan and whether or not we're on schedule and meeting our goals, I can do this in any industry. However, if I am being thrown into the functional side and I have to take into consideration coding or software skills (as in an IT company) or structural stability and engineering (in a construction company), the results will be different.

I would say project management as a skill, as a profession and transferable between industry. That is the case you can transfer the skills because the procedures and processes are equally applicable to building a building to building construct the construction industry to the electronic industry to aircraft industry to the oil industry. The techniques, procedures and processes are same. The difficulty will be transferring that skill from one industry. Another is that you got to really understand the industry. That is the big issue. People always don’t pick technology where they don’t understand the technology. So certain extent that limits the amount of movement you could as a project manager would be pretty difficult to go from a civil engineering contract to electronic read any project and then the in the defense industry for example that would be a quite challenging thing to do. But nevertheless, the techniques that you would use to run the civil engineering project are exactly the same as the techniques that you use to run an electronic program in the defense industry. So I would say its transferable skill out differences it that experience that you get. The worst thing you can do is walk into a situation where you don’t understand what engineers are talking about because they will tell you what you want to hear. As project manager should able to filter it out which information are good and which are bad.

I believe a majority of project management skills are applicable across the multiple disciplinary fields. These include effective communication, leadership, team management and organizational skills. These skills can be effective regardless of the industry. However, to be an effective project manager, I believe a certain level of knowledge in the respective field is necessary. This is due to the differences between various fields and the ability to guide other team members with their respective tasks. Also a project manager should be able to quickly adapt to new projects which could help across different fields and allow a medical device pm to quickly learn the necessary basics for other fields.

Romany Botros

It's not easy for a PM to adopt himself into a domain where he has no connections. PM can be thrown out of his field to work for another but before working under a project which is not related to him, he should learn basic ideas of the project and its process.
Lets's take two different PMs working in a Constructions projects and Software Developments.
PM who does works in construction of buildings has huge vision of the plan, field work, requirements of a construction depending upon its use, maintaining the quality and problems that should be faced in each and every step. Only he can estimate the time period required to complete a manual work.
PM who does works in Software developments has immense knowledge in scheme and strategy for a particular software project. He would have huge plan regarding the design requirements, programming platform, testing of the software and difficulties he would face if the project gets to some complications.
When this both PMs are expert in their own field, its not easy for them to change their positions since they don't have any proper idea for other field. Since PMs major work is to interact with people's minds, team members would be reluctant to take the word of PMs who is from other domain.
Its better to be where they are. But in case if there comes a situation where one must take up the work in other domain, he should learn details from the prior projects done by the domain.

Akshaya Kirithy Baskar

I have read opinions from other classmates and I agree and disagree with each one of them at different points. I agree that project management basics of being a good leader and other similar skills are uniform in any industry. However, the knowledge necessary for another industry is crucial. As someone mentioned in a biomedical engineering industry regulations and FDA is a very important factor. Yes the team will have a regulatory body, but that does not demolish the importance of having a project manager with the basic understanding of these regulations. Similarly, in other industries like building a skyscraper, there goes more than just leading the team but the knowledge behind regulations to carry on a safe building is necessary.

Thank you,
Lamiaa

I think project management skills are transferable to the different industries to a certain extent. Project managers possess the skills such as leadership, communication and punctuality that can be applied to any type of project in different industries. Good project manager can utilize these skills to drive the project to the completion in a timely manner. Generally project management require meeting deadlines, establishing priorities and coordinating people; and organizing activities. However, some projects require technical competency and knowledge that are only managed by project managers with niche skill in that industry. These projects require confirming to the technical specification and industrial regulation that are only executed by the experienced manager in that industry.

For a Project Manager, the difficulty in hopping from fundamentally different projects would be in executing project planning. The inventory of necessary materials, equipment, and specialists, time management, and overall project execution for skyscraper construction are completely different from those for software development.

In addition, as other posts have mentioned, some projects many require the PM to have a strong knowledge of certain relevant regulations and quality standards (e.g. FDA, OSHA) or even hold certifications, these would require training to obtain.

I agree that other qualifications of a PM are to have great administrative and interpersonal skills and that these are easily transferable between different projects; however, I believe such skills are much more easy to pick up then, for example, understanding the nuances of C++.

With the above mentioned, a great and versatile PM would be one with an interdisciplinary background; one of the reasons I chose Biomedical Engineering was because it can offer such a background.

References: PMBOK Guide

I tend to agree with the above post. I believe that the responsibilities of a project manager are largely similar across most industries. BB254 listed the primary ones: identifying requirements, creating objective, balancing time demands, cost and quality. Also mentioned is the fact that in order for a project manager to effectively assist their team in meeting goals, they will need to have skills and knowledge from that particular industry/field. I do not believe that technical knowledge is a trivial thing. It is something that is acquired from years of experience at many different levels of an organization and between departments within the same organization.

My personal work experience has given me an example of this. There are two PM's whom I work for in various capacities. One deals with quality issues and projects, the other with process and operations. The one who deals in quality has not spent considerable time on the bench or in the lab, so does not appreciate the intricacies of challenges faced by many of his team members. This often leads to frustration on both the manager's side and the team member's side. The manager for operations and process has spent time as a technical engineer, process engineer, and plant manager. He is intimately aware of every aspect of the responsibilities of his team members, even though he acquired this knowledge over his career at different companies in different, albeit related, industries. He is capable of directing and coordinating his team members efficiently and effectively.

The gap/difference between industries will dictate how transferrable a project manager can be. While all of the intangibles will translate, the technical knowledge that is essential to directing a team to its goals as well as communicating effectively to that team is not so readily translated.

A project manager in this day and age should be able apply his or her skills to any project with the right preparation. As stated in the lecture, at least 70% of being a PM is having good interpersonal skills, and some successful few get by with having little to no technical skills. I do believe however that some level of technical skills are required to have an effective PM. Today with all of the information on the internet and in literature, a good PM has every opportunity to learn at least the basics of any project and technical skills are best learned hands on, of course under the supervision of someone on the team with technical experience. The PM do not have to be an expert, but they do have to be informed enough to lead and serve their team successfully.

The differences that would be involved in starting a foreign project would be familiarizing themselves with any Federal Regulations associated with the project as mentioned in the other posts. A software company PM going to a production warehouse would have to familiar with GMPs and Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) as stated above. This can also be researched with little issue by a PM given the correct resources. The technical skills will still be the most challenging but again, those skills can be learned.

Project managers, in my opinion, ensure the completion of a project or a product. They are the ones who are in charge of organizing the schedule and the logistics of a given project. Although, he/she may not be directly working on the project, he/she must be able to contribute to its development.
With that, I believe that to be a successful project manager, you must be well-versed in the field at which the project will be focused on. He/she must know the little tips, nuances, and details that pertain to the development of a project in order to ensure its complete success. In the case of the development of a medical device, a medical device project manager has to be versed in different legal, financial, and medical requirements in the development of any medical device. I believe that this is important because in order to create a solid schedule and a bill of essential components, he/she must be able to factor in every single detail so that each milestone accounts for successful completion of the project. If the project manager or the team fails to include an essential component of the project, then that may cause problems and in terms of big businesses, problems in the form of millions of dollars.
Of course, knowledge could be built through experience. Prior experience from one field to another can be transferred and may contribute to the success of a project in a different field. Overall, the project manager is responsible for the organization of the project. The leader must be able to unite all the different groups that are within the project and increase their overall efficiency. Transferring from one field to another may be difficult, however, I believe that projects can be accomplished by any project engineer.

for any PM in any industry should have some skills like communication skills, leadership, team management, risk management, and planning skills.
In the medical device industry the project managers must have a particular skill set in order to be able to efficiently control medical device product development. The competencies needed for this role include the ability to initiate, plan and control the project, guide the team towards the end goal, and close the project. It means being familiar with the medical device development process and understanding best practices, it also requires the ability to work in accordance with several important standards and regulations. Project managers who are unfamiliar with medical device development require further training in order to effectively fulfill their duties.