challenges of project based learning

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www.elsevier.com/locate/ijproman International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 41–52

Project managers and the journey from good to great: The benefits of investment in project management training and education

Jalal Ramazani ⁎, George Jergeas 1

Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada

Received 29 September 2013; received in revised form 10 February 2014; accepted 27 March 2014 Available online 10 May 2014

Abstract

There is a gap between what education providers are offering and what is needed to deal with projects in today's complex work environment. This paper explores how education and training institutions can educate and prepare great project managers for the future by evaluating project management development from the perspective of working project managers. The authors report on a qualitative study of project managers working in the oil and gas sector in Calgary. This paper formulates three main areas which educational institutions should consider in developing and preparing future project managers: 1) developing critical thinking for dealing with complexity, 2) developing softer parameters of managing projects, especially interpersonal skills and leadership as opposed to just technical skills, and 3) preparing project managers to be engaged within the context of real life projects. The authors argue that the education and training systems must do more to prepare project managers on their journey from good to great. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. APM and IPMA. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Project management education; Project management training and development

1. Introduction

Projects play an important role in modern enterprises. In an increasing number of industries, project-based systems are complementing or even replacing traditional functional and divisional structures (Davies et al., 2011). According to the Project Management Institution (PMI, 2013), between 2010 and 2020, 15.7 million new project management roles will be created globally. Along with job growth, there will be a significant increase in the economic footprint of the profession (PMI, 2013). As project management becomes more central in executing projects, effective education and talent management for those in charge of managing projects is vital for organizational com- petitiveness. This is one of the main reasons that graduates of university project management programs have been in high

⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 403 801 1732. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (J. Ramazani),

[email protected] (G. Jergeas). 1 Tel.: +1 403 220 8135.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2014.03.012 0263-7863/00/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. APM and IPMA. All rights reserved.

demand in all types of industries. At many universities and business schools, project management is an important part of the engineering, MBA and executive education syllabi.

Along with increasing the importance of the projects and project-based organizations, industries are wrestling with signif- icant challenges in managing their projects yet projects continue to fail at an astonishing rate. In many projects, the expected performance of a project management practitioner, group of project managers, or project management office is less than the actual perceived performance (Hammoud, 2008; Jergeas, 2008; Jergeas and Ruwanpura, 2009; Pomfret, 2008; Stanley and Uden, 2013; Tabernik, 2009). For example, according to the Chaos Report of 2009, 68% of all projects end up failing (Johnson, 2009). Researchers believe that to overcome challenges in managing projects, fresh approaches to practitioner development are needed (Atkinson, 2008; Córdoba and Piki, 2012; Egginton, 2012; Reif and Mitri, 2005; Rolstadås et al., 2011; Winter et al., 2006). Teaching and learning project management has become the focus of numerous research proposals, debates and studies. The fact that the current approaches of educating and training project management professionals do not meet the need of modern

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enterprises is now well accepted (Córdoba and Piki, 2012; Ojiako et al., 2011). In this paper, we first briefly comment on project management education and training to provide back- ground context for the paper. Next we look at the experiences of practicing project managers to identify what changes are necessary to further improve the quality of project management education.

1.1. Challenges in educating and training project managers

Interest in the education and development of project managers is growing extensively (Egginton, 2012; Rolstadås et al., 2011; Winter et al., 2006). Realizing the need for management development and capability integration in projects, industries have started to invest significantly in the area of project management development (Winter et al., 2006). The expenses devoted to training, certifications and project methodologies are huge; however, the failure rate is still high and the gaps between expected and actual results are still there (Starkweather and Stevenson, 2011). It seems that current education does not adequately prepare managers to deal with the complex realities of the real world (Winter et al., 2006). Thomas and Mengel (2008) argued that current project management education is not suited at all to prepare project managers for managing projects. Crawford (2005) and Starkweather and Stevenson (2011) explained that there is little or no empirical evidences that certified project managers with the popular methods of project education are any more successful than non-certified project managers. Similar ideas are discussed by Seidler-de Alwis and Hartmann (2008); who believe that the traditional approach to educating project managers has relied substantial- ly on throwing a lot of data at the human mind and hoping it will generate the right programs and processed data. Similarly, Papke-Shields et al. (2010) found that project management practices that make a difference may not be the most frequently used. In fact, project management training and education fail in preparing project management students to deal with the increasing complexity that they face in today's working environment and make little use of existing innovative learning environments and techniques (Thomas and Mengel, 2008). Researchers believe that it is time to review our understanding of project management education and reflect upon how we develop project managers to deal with the increasing level of complexity and uncertainty in project environments (Winter et al., 2006).

Clearly, there appears to be a gap between what education providers are offering and what is needed to deal with projects in today's work environment. Accordingly, this research study explores how education and training institutions can prepare project managers for the future by evaluating project management development from the perspective of working project managers. The authors argue that understanding the experience of project managers will enable institutions to address educational factors more effectively in the future. In this research we investigated the role of both academic education for project managers at universities and also corporate training and development for improving the role of practicing project managers. The goal is to identify what changes are necessary to further improve the

quality of project management training and education. Our intention is to contribute both to the debate about the future of project management education for students, and corporate training and developments for working project managers. The authors subsequently discuss practical implications.

2. Methodology

2.1. Questions

This study aims to answer the following question: How can project management education and training turn technical engineers into great project managers? What more must the education system do to help good project managers evolve to become great?

2.2. Respondents

The study targeted project managers and project engineers working in the oil and gas sector in Calgary who were able to discuss their experiences in detail. Participants were selected using a combination of two sampling procedures. The study began with convenience sampling; informants were first contacted by telephone or email, informed of the nature and purpose of the study and invited to participate. Those who indicated interest were asked to arrange a time for an interview, which would last approximately one hour. After data was generated from the first two interviews, the process of additional sampling was guided by the principles of theoretical sampling (Glaser, 2008) to ensure that only those project managers who were active and also had responsibilities in a project environment were included. Table 1 shows the demographic characteristics of the participants in this study.

2.3. Analysis

Applying the grounded theory approach and constant compar- ison method of analysis (Glaser and Strauss, 1967), the data was collected and analyzed simultaneously. Using the principles of theoretical sampling, it was confirmed that all interviewees had in-depth insight about the project. Analysis of the data started with the first two interviews, aided by standard software for qualitative analysis, namely NVivo. A group of twenty nine project managers were interviewed, composed of 8 females and 21 males. After analyzing data the result was reviewed with a group of project managers using a focus group. In this phase, a small group of participants gathered to discuss the results of the interview analysis under the guidance of a facilitator (researcher) who often played a detached role (Klenke, 2008). Three focus groups were held with thirteen project managers.

2.4. Validation

To increase credibility of results, information-rich cases were selected for in-depth study as well as different sites for maximum variability (Giacomini and Cook, 2000; Mays and Pope, 2000; Patton, 2002).

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of the participants.

Characteristic Value Frequency Percent

Gender Male 21 72 Female 8 28

Education Bachelor 18 62 Master 8 28 PhD 3 10

Job level Project manager 16 55 Senior project manager 4 14 Project engineer 9 31

Age group 30–34 2 7 35–39 1 3 40–44 5 17 45–49 9 31 50–54 4 14 55–59 5 17 60–64 3 10

Years of experience 1–5 0 0 5–10 2 7 10–15 5 17 15–20 9 31 20–25 9 31 25–30 4 14

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The study also used maximum variation in order to identify important common patterns (Maycut and och Morehouse, 1994). We also attempted to overcome one of the downsides of theoretical sampling, limited variation between chains of similar informants, by actively aiming to interview project practitioners with diverse roles and positions. Triangulation for this study was established through focus groups supplemented by member checking methodologies. While the focus group sessions allowed for the verifying and mapping of critical findings, supplementing the focus groups with member checking enhanced the depth of inquiry (Guba & Lincoln, 1994).

This study is subject to the general limitations of gen- eralizability associated with qualitative studies. However, as McCracken (1988) explained, the issue of qualitative inquiry is not one of generalizability. The purpose is not to discover how many people share a certain characteristic. The purpose is to gain access to categories and assumptions. In this study like other qualitative inquiries, reference is made to analytic and not statistical generalizations (Pandit, 1996). A second issue is that the sample was limited to the geographic boundaries of the Calgary oil and gas sector, it is important to recognize that a potential limitation of the research is that the experiences of participants may be shaped by the culture of the region, containing unique characteristics of organizations that may not be representative of experiences in other parts or other sectors.

3. Findings

Selected data are presented in this article to answer the research question: How can project management education and training turn technical engineers into project managers? What more must the education system do to help good project managers evolve to become great? The findings of this study are presented in the following sub-sections.

3.1. Complexity of managing projects

Interviewees believed that managing projects is getting more complex every year. The speed of change looks significantly faster than ever and project managers need to be able to rapidly respond to changing economic, social and technical situations.

“Today there are more unknowns in each project. There are a lot of unexpected changes and along with that is a factor comparing when we were just doing one project at a time to when we are doing six at a time. And when we are doing six at a time, there is more and more people involved and the complexity of the schedule in that job is more and the job is getting complicated. You interact with lots, and lots of different groups, so when things start changing, they have huge effects, dramatic effects, and they can affect multiple projects because they are changing all the time.” (Interviewee 4)

Interviewees observed that newly trained project managers were often unprepared for the complexity of managing projects. They believed that the challenge of how projects can be better managed in complex situations should be brought into the educational domain. The competency to work in increasingly dynamic and complex environments should be developed during the education of project management students. It can reduce the complexity shocks and surprises when they take charge as future managers.

“…as engineers, part of it is that we're not trained to deal with this level of complexity, we didn't do enough economic modeling, simulation, in-depth practices and we cannot. We didn't expect this much difficulty, we don't look at that, that's uncomfortable for us so we don't pay attention to it enough.” (Interviewee 14)

Interviewees mentioned that much of the training provided for project managers is comparable to giving them a tool box without helping them to understand the application of those tools. As a result, practitioners do not know how to use their tools in dynamic environments. Managing projects is getting more complex, therefore it is necessary to teach managers how to reflect on complexities instead of merely focusing on training in some generic tool.

“The training that I'm talking about is not a tool box training where you are given tools. You're not given tools to apply them and to show your skills with the tools or whatever, you know, it's not like that. What I'm talking about is training that massages the brain and your understanding, and how do you apply this? The moment you walk out the door of the training institution, it's with you. So the moment you go back to work its already built in you and it always comes naturally, the application of performance is natural.” (Interviewee 6)

They explained that the education systems do not provide enough preparation on learning to reflect upon what is happening around them. They believed that some practitioners leave the

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educational institutions and enter the workforce with the mindset that they already have the answers to all possible questions. They come to the workplace with a “one size fits all” approach, with the belief that the style or procedure they learned in their learning institutions fits in all related applications and situations. This is the reason that they are not able to reflect on the different situations and make good decisions. They need to learn how to act in the middle of complex and chaotic situations by choosing the right technique at the right time.

“The education system should place a greater emphasis on problem solving and critical reasoning than on the regurgita- tion of information. Ability to recite a textbook or lecture has not aided me in my professional career and I am sure that it won't help others… Universities should encourage students to be open minded and understand all the different ways to approach becoming a good manager.” (Interviewee 12)

Interviewees asserted that managing a project requires different expertise to be integrated. They explained that in most workplaces it is expected for project managers to demonstrate a mixture of skills including technical project management competencies, interpersonal, and leadership be- haviors. So this necessary mixture of skills should be supported by project management education.

“Successful managers should possess many qualities. Education systems should encourage the growth and nurturing of skills such as interpersonal relationships, face to face communication skills, decision making skills (such as how to approach and react to different types of conflicts/ situations), and opportunities to practice using these qualities with different types of people in different types of environments. This will help students prepare for situations in the real world, in which they will often have to use their own judgment, and vary their behaviors due to ever- changing conditions and environments.” (Interviewee 23)

3.2. Developing project managers' competencies

The data showed that different types of knowledge and skills are required for project managers. Based on the interviews, the skills have been divided into two categories: technical knowledge and skills, including project development and analysis, planning and so on. The second category is the leading one which includes leadership skills such as: communication, motivating project teams, managing relationships, enthusing passion and commit- ment in project members; team working skills and understanding the project context.

3.2.1. Leadership competencies required for project managers Interviewees indicated concerns about leadership and

management skills for managing projects. They observed that leadership and management capabilities are essential for effective project management. About two-thirds of the

interviewees talked about skill deficiencies in the area of leadership.

“If you don't have a well-rounded leader, if you have one that's primarily focused on the technical per se, then it may be very difficult to deliver the project success that the project is expected to deliver.” (Interviewee 7)

They explained that many newly trained project managers were not familiar enough with the application of variety leadership abilities, such as communicating effectively, inspiring and motivating project groups. However, they explained that putting emphasis on leadership training does not mean everybody is going to be a great leader as a result. They discussed the role of individual differences such as personality and abilities:

“You can provide the opportunities for the training to project managers. Only a portion of them will become very good leaders. Just like in business, just like in medicine, just like in anything else there will be a small portion that will rise to the top and do really well. There will also be some people in the middle and some people that are technically capable but will not be inspirational, will not be able to lead people and I think that part of it, what we have missed in our industries is that we've focused on: you have to have an engineering degree to be able to be a project manager and I don't think that's the case because as a project manager you do need technical back- ground in our industry but I don't think you need to be as much an engineer as you do need to be a business man, a leader, and we could probably get better project managers if we looked in with the technologist theory and we we're able to bring guys in who have all those backgrounds.” (Interviewee 28)

When they were asked further about leadership competen- cies, they explained some necessary management skills including problem solving; influencing people, persuasive public speaking, effectively organizing and running a meeting, fostering employees' development, evaluating their perfor- mance, and communicating effectively. There was a general sense among the respondents that education programs do not provide enough training in these skills. They explained that the education system should go beyond merely providing technical skills for project managers.

“People skills are the most important role of a project manager if you don't read someone very quickly and communicate effectively, then that person is really uncomfortable and he won't really succeed.” (Interviewee 8)

3.2.2. Team working competencies required for project managers Interviewees emphasized the importance of project teams, and

how they develop as a way to help projects move towards project completion. Hence they explained that the education system should prepare project managers for developing and managing teams.

“Continued use of group projects, allows students to take on many roles throughout their degree which leads to greater

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understanding of types of people and how to work best with them.” (Interviewee 11)

“More practical applications of the theories should be learned in university courses along with group activities and projects where students may encounter those real life problems or situations and have the opportunity to recognize them and perhaps apply their knowledge.” (Interviewee 18)

In interviewees' experiences, the lack of leadership skills along with a lack of the ability to work in a team may be remedied through reevaluation of the education system for project managers and also over time, with mentoring, collegial support, continuing skills development and practice monitoring.

3.3. The importance of engaging with context in project management education

Managers interviewed elaborated upon the importance of the context of managing projects. They explained that the education system does not prepare managers to be engaged within the context of projects. They recommended a fresh approach to teach some aspects of project management in real settings, so that managers will be able to develop a better understanding of the project context.

“I think hands on experience puts learning into perspective if you do more situations where you can “act out” different scenarios, it would help give students an idea of what to expect and how it could be handled.” (Interviewee 14)

Interviewers emphasized a disconnect between what they have learned at universities and training institutions and requirements for managing projects. They explained that in educational institu- tions, some generic knowledge on project management is offered, while the practical ones are gained in practice-related settings. The dilemma is that these two types of knowledge are dis- connected from each other. They urged the importance of having a connection between these two types of managerial knowledge.

“They need to teach more practical approaches to things rather than focusing solely on theoretical work. This is a big complaint that I have heard in the corporate world about university grads.” (Interviewee 23)

“I didn't study planning and risk analysis well, but I did pass all my exams when I was at university. By now I know how stupid I was, but at the time I didn't care, I was just not interested. Now I regret not having studied harder for important topics. There should be a chance for students to practice and exercise important concepts before entering the professional world. Sometimes inviting experts coming to the class as guest speakers could be useful to see how they go about their daily activities.” (Interviewee 15)

“There was a big difference between the theory and playing a part in the real world, where things actually happen. Then

you realize what is going on: it is about real things, not stupid theoretical facts anymore; real project which could fail. This is the reason that I believe students should learn in the same environment they are to apply what they learned.” (Interviewee 21)

3.4. The importance of continuing skills development for project managers

The data shows the importance of continuing skills develop- ment for current practitioners.

“I am talking about those people that are already in the industries and already have long years of experience and they are good but not ideal and you want to improve them. Yes you can funnel them back through course designs in many management institutions around the globe, and these courses are designed specifically for project management roles and planning phases, scheduling, change management, removing a bad personnel, how to hide yourself and how to tell others what they are doing wrong or whatever. From there then they are trying to polish and more or less remove any wrinkles in your capabilities and try to polish you a bit more and you come out of there knowing that you have go back, knowing that you have weaknesses, and you have differences and you have also learned a lot of techniques such as management of change and stuff like that.” (Interviewee 6)

They emphasized the need of managers and practitioners to constantly update their knowledge and understanding within their own fields.

“When new engineers or managers join the group, sometimes you don't know whether they don't know or whether they have forgotten, but you'll have to repeat what is needed.” (Interviewee 18)

The interviewees explained that some project managers view PMI certification as the end goal of project management development rather than the starting point. So they don't see significant need for further learning and development.

“We need continue training for our managers. I usually try to bring that issue up at the beginning of the project because people need to understand the balance. In our industry, because engineers are so technical, people tend to focus more on the schedule and cost. So the prime is to try and train people or to try and focus on not so much the technical parts of a project's execution. Some of them take PMI certification and then believe that they know everything, it is hard to convince them that this is just the beginning.” (Interviewee 5)

“We all need training. It doesn't matter how you do it. What we've done in our company is pull the guy out from the job, take him away for a few weeks, and give him some effective project management, some effective courses; courses that

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take the manager and even sometimes owners and funnel them though a course designed for them to learn many of these skills, whether its project management or regular management.” (Interviewee 6)

4. Discussion

This research study explores how educational institutions and training efforts can educate and prepare project managers for the future by evaluating project management development from the perspective of working project managers. The authors try to identify what changes are necessary to further improve the quality of project management education and project management development.

The result shows that educating project managers and developing their competencies should be viewed as a multi- dimensional and complex process. Interviewees identified three main areas which both academic institutions and training agencies should consider in educating and training project managers: developing critical thinking for dealing with complexity, creating softer parameters of managing projects, especially interpersonal skills as opposed to just technical skills, and preparing project managers to be engaged within the context of real life projects. These factors will be discussed in more detail.

4.1. Developing critical thinking for dealing with complexity

Managing projects is getting more complex every year. This study shows that project managers are experiencing increasingly dynamic and complex environments. The speed of change looks significantly faster than ever and project managers need to be able to rapidly respond to changing technical, economic, and legal situations. Facing these challenges is not a transition, it is today's reality of managing projects, and it is here to stay. The rapid expansion of knowledge, information, and sophisticated technol- ogy also has placed greater demands on project practitioners to adapt and learn quickly on the job. The skills of many of today's students fall short of what is needed for future occupations. Overcoming this challenge requires different expertise to be integrated.

As interviewees discussed, there is a need to realize that a one-size-fits-all approach to project delivery is not practical anymore. The high level of complexity of projects creates a need to develop reflective and critical thinking by going beyond routine and generic technical orientations in project education. In the same line with the results of other research, interviewees in this study call for developing reflective skills to deal with complex situations (Pant and Baroudi, 2008; Rolstadås et al., 2011; Thomas and Mengel, 2008; Winter et al., 2006). They believe that developing reflective skills depends on the co-production of knowledge between academics and practi- tioners. They explained that cooperation of academic institutions and practitioners using real cases, simulations, role modeling, and other active methods of teaching will prepare project manage- ment students to become creators of knowledge rather than simple knowledge recipients. Such demands require significant

changes within institutions that teach project management. These institutions, in cooperation with practitioners, should allow students to become proactive problem solvers and critical thinkers instead of passive recipients of theories and generic knowledge.

In order to deal with complexity, interviewees also empha- sized the importance of working as a team. They believe that in a majority of projects, the project manager does not have all of the required skills and relevant knowledge, so it is critical to develop competency in forming and managing teams to deal with complexities. Others might have the required knowledge, and putting them in practice, every individual has something to contribute to the success of a project. They can also help increase learning opportunities for everyone. This was the reason that a majority of participants in this study emphasized the importance of team working and developing this competency for project managers using new methods of education and training.

4.2. Developing both interpersonal and technical skills for project managers

The need for both technical and leadership skills for project managers was well accepted by almost all the interviewees. The result of the study shows a need for a balance between project managers' technical and leadership competencies. The challenge is that the education system does not create this foundation of balance for project management educators. Interviewees believed that the focus of most project management education in the context of universities has been on the technical skills deemed essential to achieve project success. One of the reasons for the tendency towards placing emphasis on technical skills is the fact that a vast majority of projects are in engineering and IT. Although it should be acknowledged that today, other industries such as communications and health care have started to deliver projects as well. Those in charge of managing projects are mainly some practitioners with more technical rather than management backgrounds. Another possible reason for the tendency of educational institutions to focus more on technical project management skills rather than soft skills is that it is believed that technical skills are easier to teach compared to soft skills (Carbone and Gholston, 2004). There is another research that supports the results of our study and shows that in the engineering context, leadership development is not as comfort- able or as logical as technical training (Ferraro, 2008). Meeting the expected softer characteristics of project practitioners creates new teaching and pedagogic implications for academic institu- tions. These institutions need to constantly modify themselves to meet the technical and behavioral demands of industries.

4.3. Creating knowledge in the context of its application

The result of this research shows the importance of under- standing the project context for project management students and project practitioners. Situating training in meaningful con- texts enables students to see the utility of knowledge and to understand the conditions for its use. Interviewees believed that the behavior of a project cannot simply be inferred from the

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behavior of its technical components; the context and environ- ment play a significant role. Informants in this study explained the importance of engagement with the context of projects in enhancing the chances of project success. However inter- viewees explained that project management education is lacking in developing this competency. Project management education needs to take into account the generic nature of project knowledge to be developed in students, as well as how they can put this type of knowledge to use in different practical contexts. They believed that academic institutions need to facilitate students studying project management in the context of its application. Therefore, there is a need for project manage- ment students to be involved in real settings. This is one of the best ways to facilitate the transition from theory to practice.

It is obvious that the development of these competencies is easier said than done. Developing these competencies requires more commitment and cooperation from both educational institutions and participants. Educational institutions should mimic the project situations that the participants are most likely to encounter in their world. This is not going to happen unless there is a close relationship and cooperation between educa- tional institutions and industries. Educational institutions need to have a deep understanding about what is happening in real settings. If faculty members and educators gain this level of knowledge, they will be able to make a link between theory and practice and make the learning environment meaningful for the learners. A vast body of research in adult leaning supports the idea that since adults are immensely pragmatic learners, they will retain and implement educational insights only if they see the practical implications and an immediate benefit (Jarvis, 2012; Mezirow, 1991; Nicoll and Edwards, 2012)

4.4. Paying attention to both academic education and continuous training and development

During the interviews, project managers expressed their concern on both project management education at universities and corporate training and development. They explained that the world is always changing and all project environments are dynamic. As a result, educational institutions will never be able to plan for all scenarios during the undergrad or graduates programs. So there is a need for continuous, phased training during the professional life of project managers to enhance the probability of achieving project success. Interviews also explained that it could be many years from graduation before project managers will be able to apply their learning to their project management and leadership roles. The challenge, identified by the respondents, was regarding what happens when they step into real management roles, many years after their graduation; will they even remember what they learned some 6 to 10 years ago in the classroom? They also emphasized the fact that the world will have changed immensely since their studies, so there is no way but to upgrade their learning.

Relating to this need, there is a tremendous growth in attention to knowledge-based certifications such as PMP®. A study of the project management training industry in 2004 found that over 500,000 individuals participated in project

management training through PMI's Registered Education Providers (Zerby, 2005). There are some specific institutions in charge of training project managers. For example, Project Management Institute (PMI) is one of the world's largest not-for-profit membership associations for the project manage- ment profession, with more than 700,000 members and certification and credential holders in more than 185 countries (PMI, 2013). The other institution is the International Project Management Association (IPMA). Founded in 1965, IPMA is the world's first project management association. IPMA provides standards and guidelines for project management (IPMA, 2014).

Interviewees in our study believed that having these cer- tifications is not a guarantee of competence. These certifica- tions alone do not fill the project management development gap in today's demanding environment. Interviewees believed that the depth and breadth of training and development is not something that can be accomplished in one or two courses or by receiving a certification. The result of our study is in line with some other research in the area of project management training and development. For example, Starkweather and Stevenson (2011) found that there was no difference in project success rates between projects lead by PMP®-certified project man- agers and uncertified project managers. As a result, corpora- tions in different industries have their own investments in continuous project management training and development as well. Corporate training and development refers to planned efforts by organizations to make possible the learning of job-related behaviors. Training prepares project managers to do their current job and development prepares them for their future responsibilities (Schwind et al., 2013).

Despite all of these efforts, there is still significant room for improvement. We found that continuous developing of project managers requires a longer commitment and a far more multifaceted and systematic approach, both in the content and process. For example, our respondents believed that strong coaching and continuous mentorship programs are critical to achieving this goal. These training efforts should transform project managers to become reflective practitioners. They identified a lack of transferring tacit knowledge and experi- ences from experienced project managers to other managers. To some of the interviewees, this lack was so noteworthy that they felt frustrated to see significant differences between perfor- mance of successful and not so successful project managers working in the same corporation. They were surprised that corporations do not have a system in place to transfer best practices to provide coaching or mentorship for young or less experienced project managers. One of the interviewees explained that:

“I personally tried to approach some of top project managers to learn from their experiences, but I found that the feeling is more like competition rather that cooperation and coaching.” (Interviewee 25)

They explained that there is a need to trigger project managers' awareness on the value of their own experiences,

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skills, and abilities, and those of other group members and other project managers, thus encouraging them to learn from each other in order to accomplish often uncertain and complex tasks together. This is an effective method on continuous learning through interaction, practice, and sharing of perspectives.

Interviewees also believed that it is critical for corporations to identify specific strategic goals for the project management training and development first and then measure the value- added for the established strategic goals subsequent to content delivery. Otherwise, the corporate training will be conducted based on fad and fashion without significant value added to the corporation. Based on the ideas of the informants in this study, this is the reality surrounding some of the corporate training conducted today.

Academic education and continuous training are ongoing efforts which require much commitment and planning. This ongoing effort should be multifaceted and systematic, both in the content and process of learning. Cooperation between universities and industries provides a strong foundation for both project management education and capability integration.

4.5. Practical considerations of the findings

During the interviews, project managers expressed opinions about the causes of gaps between expected and actual per- formance of project managers and talked about possible ways to mitigate them. They mentioned the role of individual characteristics such as personality, abilities and motivation in managing projects and also the significant role of training and education which was the focus of our study. Fig. 1 is a summary of what they believed to be necessary for a competent project manager:

As a practical matter, most said that after selecting the right individuals to manage projects, some of the gaps could be filled or largely mitigated during the education and continuous training process. They explained that modern project management constantly deals with complexity, uncertainty, and continual technological and organizational change. It requires adaptability, technical competence as well as skills in human relations.

The result of our study is compatible with the concept of ‘the eye of competence’, introduced by IPMA which describes the combination of three competence elements for project man- agement; technical, behavioral, and contextual (IPMA, 2014). It is also in line with the results of other research which call for project management competencies through education and training (Pant and Baroudi, 2008; Rolstadås et al., 2011; Thomas and Mengel, 2008). This study shows that project management graduates need to have strong critical thinking and leadership competencies such as communication and team working skills; but as it stands, they do not have the necessary competency in these fields. Although, traditional project man- agement education has excelled in providing an extensive knowledge base for learners, this paper discusses the necessity to go beyond that. Based on the experience of working project managers in this study, in many areas of project management education and corporate training, the traditional method of lecturing is not always sufficient or appropriate. We asked our

interviewees and focus group panels about their courses in project management, the method of delivery and the degree to which they found those courses useful. They explained that the dominant method of project management education and training they experienced were lecturing. This is a fact, because in a majority of educational institutions, the content for much of project management requirements is communicated through traditional lectures, regardless of its ineffectiveness (Ferraro, 2012; Rynes and Bartunek, 2013). Table 2 is a summary of participants' input. It also shows the perspective of interviewees on the effect of project management curriculums received by them on the key competencies necessary for project managers. We collected this information using the Delphi technique which is summarizing the various responses and reporting the finding to the respondents to get their feedback (Keeney et al., 2011). Summarizing and feedback were repeated three times with the focus groups and two times with the rest of respondents to ensure the agreement of respondents' opinion on the information.

As Table 2 shows, the popular method of education and training which they received was lecturing. They explained that they had experienced a rather abstract and merely theoretical approach to project management instead of preparation in critical thinking, key concepts, and skills necessary to become a capable project manager. A majority of the respondents explained that instead of learning key skills and competencies through education and training, they learned them through trial and error methods.

They believed that many decisions and practices in project management are complex and messy because of a high level of complexity. Accordingly, for students and practitioners to develop a deeper understanding and to reflect on their own knowledge, dialogical approaches to learning are needed; where the issues can be discussed and explored through inter- action, practice, and sharing of perspectives. For this reason, we believe that there is a need for developing student-centered learning in mainstream project management and engineering education. Student-centered learning helps project management education go beyond passive methods of education and in- corporates active ones such as project-based learning to develop critical thinking, problem solving, and collaborative learning. To encourage learners to develop flexible knowledge and intrinsi- cally motivate them to learn, the education system must also embed learning in the contexts that require the use of these leanings.

Project management education must prepare learners to be adaptable, thoughtful, and able to recognize the necessary changes. In order to do so, depending upon the content and context of learning, the education and training methods must choose the appropriate process: to be teacher-centered (lecturing), or student-centered (facilitation, case studies, project based learn- ing, role modeling, simulation,…) or a combination of these two. Project management learners should also be encouraged to start a learning process that will continue for the duration of their professional lives. Table 3 shows a summary of our findings.

From the perspective of the practitioners in our study, faculty members in project management educational institutions should have practical experience to be able to adequately relate theory to

Fig. 1. The requirements for competent project managers.

49J. Ramazani, G. Jergeas / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 41–52

practice. Current promotional systems at universities reward research activities but not practical experiences or interactive teaching expertise. Project management development must also be flexible, customizable and real enough to meet the needs of ever changing industries.

From the perspective of the informants in our study, some of the people in charge of managing projects have not had sufficient project management training or have not received continuous development in this field throughout their professional career. In many instances, project managers in a lot of cases have been selected based on their technical competency. While this may

Table 2 The effect of popular project management curriculums on key competencies necess

Project management curriculum

P o

p u

la r

d el

iv er

y

m et

h o

d

Lecture L

Critical considerations in developing project managers

• Adaptability

• Critical thinking

• Collaborative skills

• Multidisciplinary

• Technical skills Moderate

• Planning /scheduling Low M

• Estimating Low

• Risk management Low

• Interpersonal skills

• Leadership

• Communication Low

• Teamwork Low

• Problem-solving skills Low

P p c

Fundamentals of project management

Developing skills for dealing with complexity

Developing technical skills

Developing interpersonal skills

Creating knowledge in the context of Its application

lead to brilliant technical solutions to project requirements, a lack of management ability has resulted in failed projects.

We summarize the results of our analysis and practical considerations in the following model in Fig. 2.

Based on the model, both universities and industries can play a pivotal role in the journey of project managers from good to great. These institutions could use educational resources to improve both the technical and leadership side of managing projects, and leverage research resources to measure and monitor the impact of changes, complexities and innovations. The model emphasizes the need for co-production of knowledge

ary for project managers.

ecture Lecture Lecture Lecture Lecture

Low

Moderate Low

oderate

Moderate Low

Moderate

Low

Low Low

Low

Low

Risk management

Law/ethics for project manager

Human factors for managing project

Project cost / procurement management

roject lanning/ ontrol

Table 3 Practical considerations for educating and developing project managers.

Critical factors in developing project managers Educational considerations

Developing skills for dealing with complexity

• Adaptability • Critical thinking • Multidisciplinary • Collaborative skills

Educational models: Should incorporate complexity as an interpretive paradigm of thinking, Should have enough flexibility that will support and foster continuous change, creative and critical reflection, coping with uncertainty and complexities, Should develop comprehensive development which consider technical and people aspects of managing project and enable practitioners to select appropriate combinations of technical and interpersonal knowledge, Should foster critical thinking and responsible decision making, Should consider the multidisciplinary nature of project management including: cross discipline with other project managers, interdisciplinary with other leads and managers, and multidisciplinary with groups, Should reflect on learning content as well as the process of learning in different levels of their curriculum, Case studies, simulations' problem based learning and project based learning, role modeling, mentorship, and other active methods of teaching could facilitate this process.

Developing both interpersonal and technical skills

• Technical skills • Planning, estimating/scheduling skills • Leadership • Interpersonal skills • Communication • Problem-solving skills • Team Working

Educational models should enable practitioners to select appropriate combinations of technical and interpersonal knowledge, practice and behaviors that will increase self-knowledge and the ability to build and contribute to high performance teams. Case studies, simulations' problem based learning and project based learning, role modeling, team working, mentorship and other active methods of teaching could facilitate this process.

Creating knowledge in the context of its application Educational models: Should provide knowledge delivery in real contexts such as simulations and real case studies, Should consider learners (individually and collectively) as active agents in construction of knowledge, Reconstruction between theory and practice at different levels is necessary including: course planning, teaching, research Cooperation between universities and industries provides a strong foundation for both management development and capability integration. Faculty members in project management should have practical experience to be able to adequately relate theory to practice.

Fig. 2. Training and education and project managers' journey from good to great.

50 J. Ramazani, G. Jergeas / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 41–52

between academics and practitioners, knowledge delivery in real contexts, and innovative methods of teaching such as simulations and problem based learning. In order to meet this goal, there is a need for joint participation of universities and industries in the transition of project managers from academic to practice. There is also a need for joint participation in educational planning. By doing this, there is confidence that the educational system is designed in a way that meets the ever changing demands of the industry. The model also shows the importance of paying attention to both content and the process of educating and developing project managers. Educational approaches should enable learners to select appropriate combinations of knowledge, practice and behaviors that will support and foster continuous change, creative and critical reflection, coping with uncertainty and complexities, increasing self-knowledge and the ability to build and contribute to high performance teams. There is a critical need for more investment in continuous project management training and development. The depth and breadth of training and development is not something that can be accomplished in one or two courses. It requires a longer commitment and a far more multifaceted and systematic approach both in the content and process of education. For example, strong coaching and continuous mentorship programs are critical to achieving this goal. Again, cooperation between universities and industries provides a strong foundation for both management development and capability integration.

As discussed, some of the changes needed to prepare project managers will be beyond the scope of what educational institutions can reasonably do. Both corporations and project management institutions such as PMI and IPMA play an important role in this phase. They should reflect on learning content as well as the

51J. Ramazani, G. Jergeas / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 41–52

process of learning in different levels of their curriculum. Training project managers in such settings will help to address the gaps in developing future project managers and build the workforce that will be needed in the future.

In the end, it is important to emphasize that practical guide- lines developed in this section are based on the idea of informants interviewed and also participants in the focus groups. There is definitely a need for more research to find more supporting evidence that an investment in these practical suggestions will lead to a change in the quality of the project managers that are coming into the industry from these institutions. Furthermore, a cost/benefit analysis should be conducted to further solidify the idea that the suggestions proposed are both practical and useful to project managers.

5. Conclusion

The present paper studied the increasingly important subject of project management education. The core message that can be taken away from this study is that, educating managers and developing their competencies should be viewed as a multi- dimensional and complex process. Interviewees identified three main factors which educational institutions should consider in developing project managers: developing critical thinking for dealing with complexity, developing softer parameters of manag- ing projects, especially interpersonal skills as opposed to just technical skills, and preparing project managers to be engaged within the context of real life projects.

They also explained that none of these factors are sufficient by themselves. This implies that successful project management is a complex process always involving alignments of multiple factors. Project practitioners are likely to be successful if they succeed in coping with complexity by applying both interpersonal and technical skills while simultaneously paying attention to context. Since successful project managers need to perform these complex processes, they should receive an appropriate level of training to develop these competencies. Based on the findings of this research, and accepting its limitations, project management teach- ing and learning initiatives require new and nontraditional ways of thinking in the delivery and design, in order to transform managers to reflective and creative practitioners.

In line with other researchers in the field of management edu- cation, we introduce the idea that educational institutions should move away from the delivery of standard package solutions and technique-orientated pedagogy to “learning and development which facilitates the development of reflective practitioners who can learn, operate and adapt effectively in complex project environments.” (Winter et al., 2006).

Conflict of interest statement

There is no conflict of interest in this research.

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