Project management Trends – Project managers

The number one project management trend we covers in this series is that more and more Project Managers are becoming Independent Consultants

Project Management jobs are starting to open up as we slowly move out of this economic recession of 2008.

Companies have been trying to cut expenses and save money, so new projects have been rather sparse in 2009, as multiple PMI Chapter Board members have shared with me recently.

Project management trends

“It will take companies a while to start up new, large projects.  And there’s a good possibility that they will look to use contractors to supplement the staff that they were forced to let go last year,” said one of the PMI Chapter Board Members.

When I talked to professional recruiters around the country that specialize in placing Project mangers and MBA’s – I heard over and over again that “few new projects started in 2009“.  But there is good news for 2010.

“…more projects will be approved this year over last year, as confidence builds throughout the year.  Pessimism is quickly turning into optimism.  More projects means more jobs and more money spent in the economy.  So it should be an exciting year to come,” said Jason Westland, CEO of  Method123 Corporation which provides project templates among other things.

We will see more and more Project managers venture out on their own to become independent contractors (ICs).  The larger companies seem to be especially interested in hiring independent contractors.

This allows this companies to hire new project managers for the length of a specific project or to complete projects started by previous staff that were let go in 2008 and 2009.

With the trend of 3 to 6 month contracts for Project managers, we will also see ICs building trusting relationships with companies that will call on them to “get the job done”. This frees these companies not have to always train up new Project managers .

It certainly benefits companies to utilize project managers as independent contractors that understand their environment, culture and processes already in the company.

These managers can hit the ground running on projects as soon as hired.  An added benefit, there is not a long ramp up and learning phase.

As this year progresses, these contracts will be renewed and extended as new projects are approved.

Keeping the Project managers around that are trusted and know the culture and business processes are also a cost savings that companies are realizing and can’t afford to lose.

Most these project managers have used the project management software which these companies already use. This is an added incentive to work with these managers when new projects starts.

Credit goes to Donna Reed in CM Crossroads, who originally covered this issue.