PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
April 2016
251
P
roject
M
anagement
In the Geospatial Community
By Raquel Charrois PMP, CP, CMS | EVP
As the technology advances in the geospatial profession so
does the knowledge base of its stakeholders. The internet has
made accessible to the masses what was once only available
to industry insiders and industry professionals. The ongoing
changes in technology coupled with the change in the general
knowledge base of geospatial stakeholders have demanded
that the role of the project manager grow.
Project Management itself as a discipline has seen a
real emergence in recent years as the world has begun to
recognize the importance of proper planning, risk mitigation,
and successful project execution to a company, agency or
governments financial profile. Bundled tight in those three
simple areas are our profits, stakeholder satisfaction and
ultimately things like our ability to fund capital expenditures
to keep up with technological changes taking place around
us. This has resulted in garnered visibility and respect for
the project management profession. With that comes the
increased demand for success from each project manager.
The project manager (PM) tasked in our disciplines face
complex and unique challenges that require the flexibility,
knowledge of strategy, knowledge of technology and general
tenacity of spirit equal to the diversity of the projects
themselves. We function in an industry that is
ever changing and at the direct mercy of many
uncontrollable variables such as weather; and all
that within very lean operating budgets that many
other professions wouldn’t dream of.
Given all the constraints that we face in successfully
managing our programs we are faced with evaluating
when we need dedicated project managers and what
their value truly is or will be. Further along in the
project management evolution lifecycle we then
need to assess, or at least consider when we should
The Project Management Professional (PMP) and the Geospatial Profession—The Evolution: Part 1
implement a Project Management Office. What either of those
two things really mean to our everyday lives and the function
of our companies is a whole other question. As with everything,
having titles or labels in place does not in any way define or
dictate their success. It does nothing more than acknowledge a
need or requirement. What we do with that knowledge is where
things get interesting. So how do we know?
The natural evolution of the project manager in our
industry tends to be very organic and not at all strategic.
It is something that many individuals simply stumble into,
or more appropriately often “fall” into. Without a strategic
approach we can find ourselves with staff wearing the hats
of project managers without the necessary skills and support
to make them successful. Instead it is a learn as you go and
trial by fire approach. While that is definitely one method it
is at best a very stressful one and at worst catastrophic from
the point of cost, revenue, schedule, quality and customer
satisfaction, or any combination thereof.
To fully understand the organic evolution of the geospatial
project manager we need to understand the natural evolution
of most businesses.
Seller/Doer
In their infancy newly created businesses start out with the Seller/Doer
model. The Seller/Doer is an individual or a small group of individuals
who work each day to sell the wares of the company and upon completion
of a sale they then shift some if not all of their efforts to production,
working diligently to complete the work. Their time is spent shifting
between getting sales in the door and products out.
Seller and Doer
As sales increase and the business matures the Seller/Doer breaks apart
to become two separate roles, the Seller and the Doer. This is driven by
the realization that one person can no longer effectively support both
rolls. It becomes evident that there must be two completely separate
roles. The separation of roles allows each person the time to focus their
efforts on their role. This is the first step in creating a dedicated sales
team and a dedicated production group.
Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing
Vol. 82, No. 4, April 2016, pp. 251–252.
0099-1112/16/251–252
© 2016 American Society for Photogrammetry
and Remote Sensing
doi: 10.14358/PERS.82.4.251
