Project management, especially in an industry like utilities, is an exciting career if you enjoy organizing, planning, and leading the execution of high-impact projects. Breaking into utility project management involves making sure you have the right skill set and industry knowledge.
If you are looking to break into this exciting field, here’s a game plan to follow:
1.) Plan to Work Your Way Up
Even if you have a project management degree, don’t expect to start off as a lead project manager in your first job right out of school – especially in a complex field like utilities. It’s more likely you’ll need to get a feel for the industry and prove yourself as an assistant project manager (APM), in a project support role as a project coordinator or as a project engineer.
As you work your way up, you’ll start to gain more autonomy over smaller projects and then eventually, be tasked with running your own larger project.
2.) Brush Up on Your Industry Knowledge
There are project managers across multiple fields and industries. Although the core skill set needed to manage a project from start to finish might be the same, you also must be able to talk the talk of the industry you’re working in. Within utilities specifically, there will be a lot of discussions with various team members and stakeholders, so you want to be sure you understand the industry lingo.
Even if you’ve been a project manager in another technical field where most skills are transferable, it would be difficult to jump into utility project management with no prior utilities experience.
3.) Learn About Scheduling and Cost Estimating
As a project manager in the utilities space, your knowledge base needs to be broad, because each project will bring different levels of responsibility. For example, not every project you work on is guaranteed to have dedicated schedulers or estimators on staff. In those cases, cost estimating, and scheduling responsibilities fall on the shoulders of the project manager.
For scheduling, it is pivotal that a project manager has working knowledge of how tasks can roll up into summary tasks, how logic ties are built out, and how tasks run in conjunction with one another. Even if you don’t know how to build a schedule out on your own, having that working knowledge of how scheduling works gives you a high-level picture, and allows you to collaborate with your team and key stakeholders to build out those schedules. Familiarize yourself with popular scheduling tools such as Microsoft Projects or Primavera P6.
For cost, estimating, and estimate to complete (ETC), the project manager may be responsible for forecasting costs for the day, the month, the year, and even the decade. When a utility is projecting costs, they need an accurate estimation of what a project is going to cost over the span of several years.
That number needs to be as accurate as possible, so that when they take out a loan it’s large enough to cover the project, but not so large that they end up paying interest on excess cash that they didn’t need. The ability to have a clear understanding of the costs associated with the project is a huge benefit for a project manager and will help you stand out.
4.) Be Open to Other Utility Project Opportunities
Once you have some experience in a utility position as a project manager or APM, don’t be afraid to explore roles in another utility. For example, if you are working in nuclear or gas, you might switch to solar or electrical at some point. Though there will still be a learning curve, you’ll at least have a strong foundation to draw from.
5.) Do Some Project Management Training
Many schools have full-fledged project management degree programs nowadays, but if you’re not interested in that route, you can look into getting a project management certification. Project Management Institute (PMI) is a professional organization that offers certification programs that are internationally recognized. While there are several options when you’re first starting out, you can pursue the CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management).
Once you’ve been in the industry for a while, the gold standard certification that some employers will look for is the PMP (Project Management Professional) certification.
6.) Develop Your Soft Skills
In addition to gaining utilities knowledge and earning credentials, there are a number of skills that successful project managers have in common, including:
Negotiating
The ability to negotiate effectively is a valuable asset for project managers as it enables them to resolve conflicts and reach a consensus among stakeholders. By understanding the needs and concerns of each party, project managers can craft solutions that satisfy everyone involved. This not only fosters positive relationships, but also ensures that the project progresses smoothly and efficiently.
Verbal and Written Communication
As a project manager, you’ll have to communicate vertical and horizontally across the company as well as have constant check-ins with the project team. Whether it’s being able to give clear updates to stakeholders, advocate for more budget, or step in if team members are butting heads, being a diplomatic and clear communicator is important. It will also help you create strong relationships, which is so important because having a good rapport with your team can make or break your project.
Organization
Projects can be complex and have a lot of moving parts. If you aren’t organized and out in front of each step, things can get missed causing delays, confusion, and finger-pointing. Having an effective method for keeping your thoughts, actions and deliverables organized and staying consistent is key.
Time Management
It’s rare that a utilities project manager only has one project at a time. You may be working on a handful of things that are in different stages of completion, and you have to be able to prioritize and juggle it all.
Analytical Problem Solving and Critical Thinking
As a project manager, it’s up to you to recognize and diagnose problems before they get out of control and come up with a plan. Your job is to not only think through the next steps, but to also put the right people in the room together so they can troubleshoot and make improvements.
Leadership
Not every project is going to go smoothly. This is when it’s important for your leadership skills to kick in. Getting your team to mobilize and keeping them motivated over the course of a months-long project – even when challenges arise – requires strong leadership skills.
7.) Consider Contract Work
When breaking into project management, taking on a contract role might set you in the best position moving forward. While full-time work at one particular company may be your end goal, in a field like utilities, working as a contract consultant can give you a lot of exposure to an array of different project types.
You can gain real on-the-job experience within the utilities space (as an APM, for example) without committing full-time to an organization. Furthermore, many organizations like to bring consultants in for a project to test them out before they offer a full-time position.
Once you’ve gained that experience, you’re now equipped to put yourself out there for utility project management roles. Sometimes, getting outside your comfort zone offers you the opportunity to learn new skills that you can take with you for future projects.
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by Aubre Williams, Deputy Program Manager, PFES
