Finding Your Way to GIS Project Management
Everyone’s journey to their current role can be a roller coaster. You may be in a technical role now, but you may not have started that way. You could be living through a time in your life where you need something new in your professional life. As people grow, the needs from their career change; you love being a GIS analyst, GIS developer, or other technical role, but what happens if you are feeling the need for something different?
A STEM degree is a powerful start, but there are so many other roles in the professional world, especially in the world of GIS. GIS Project Management is one of them.
In this blog, I will outline:
- What is a GIS Project Manager?
- Skills needed for the role
- What you can do to take the initiative
What is a Project Manager?
The tactical skills needed for managing a GIS project come naturally for certain personalities but will need to be nurtured in others.
GIS Project Managers ensure a larger idea is brought from the brainstorming phases all the way through to completion and implementation of GIS technology. Skills required to get projects across the finish line include, but are not limited to:
- planning and organization
- managing risks
- delegating tasks
- budgeting
- facilitating meetings
There are reactive and predictive project management methodologies that outline specific ways to complete these tasks. Successful project managers maintain communication skills that ensure teams of individuals, across various backgrounds, can come together to achieve a common goal. A GIS Project Manager will not only interact with GIS professionals; they will interact with developers, marketing, invoicing, and other business professionals.
Skills Associated with a GIS Project Manager
What are the daily tasks that a GIS Project Manager does to support the success of a project? Below are some examples that I have outlined from my own experience as a GIS Project Manager:
Soft Skills
Meeting facilitation. Facilitating team meetings is solely in the GIS Project Manager’s toolbox. Keeping meetings on topic, on time, and ensuring action items are documented is an art form. Ensuring each member of the team has their moment to provide their expertise will ensure all team members feel heard, included, and remain productive.
Be flexible. Adapting to changing requirements, timeline, and personnel will require flexibility and discernment.
One instance I experienced: My customer added a new cyber security need to the GIS application my team was building. The impact of this new requirement was substantial. My technical team needed more time to support the change, we could not use the same data sources we had planned, and the final product was now going to visually appear different than the prototype.
Risk management. Knowing when the overall project can undertake a new requirement or schedule change is where risk management skills are needed. GIS Project Managers are responsible for not only navigating around these risks but anticipating and mitigating them.
In the above example, I did not anticipate a new cyber security need, but once it was provided, I needed to mitigate the impact. I had to empathically listen to my technical team about their concerns; I needed to communicate these concerns back to the customer; and I needed to have a collaborative conversation with the customer on what the new GIS application will look like and how it will operate based on these new security needs. By mitigating this risk, the project was still able to progress forward. If I did not handle the situation in this manner the customer may have been unhappy with how the final product was developed.
Leadership Skills
The leadership needed from a GIS Project Manager is more than developing a plan and then telling the team, “Go!”
There will be instances when you may be needed to assist if a technical shortfall is discovered; when a team member needs to take unanticipated time away from the project; and other scenarios or dynamics that may impact the project reaching a successful completion. In these moments, team members will be looking to you for solutions and leadership.
Approaching these situations with the mindset that you may not have all the answers, but you will all work together to find a solution will greatly enhance your success as a project manager.
Business Skills
In addition to working with your team members, you will also need to work within business-related constraints including budgeting, resource availability, and managing milestones and timelines.
Maintaining a pulse on how fast or slow work is occurring, when large events need to be scheduled, or if a troubleshooting exercise is spinning off the rails will all effect a project’s success.
Understanding and analyzing business-related reports and metrics may feel like you are still in a technical role, but you will need to develop actions related to the outputs of these reports and analytics, and that is a different skillset all together.
Understand What You Need
Take some time to consider what you are looking for out of your career. If some of the above qualities sound like a good answer to your personal wants, here are a few places to start learning more:
LinkedIn Learning. LinkedIn Learning has numerous short courses and webinars on individual skills needed as a project manager.
Project Management Institute (PMI). PMI is the leading professional association for project management. They offer webinars, publications, and learning events to improve your skills. They are also the certifying organization for the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification.
On-The-Job Training. Ask your current managers or mentors how you can begin developing some of these skills on the job and raise your hand if an opportunity comes knocking. You can offer to shadow current project managers or ask to look at the reports or metrics on your current project.
Reach out to Subject Matter Experts in the field. I am just one GIS Project Manager, and you are welcome to reach out to me directly at jechevarria@esri.com if you have questions about where you can find the right professional development for you. There are also GIS Project Managers across Esri, and across the industry, that you can ask how they came to the role. Every journey is different, and you may find your path by speaking with others who have paved the way.