User:Maurice Iyalla/sandbox

Domain factor in Project Management.

Often times, companies require Project Managers to have domain knowledge of the company or environment they intend working in but in doing so they miss out on some very skilled resources who are experts project management and nowhere is this more visible than in the Healthcare Domain.

Now do not misunderstand my point, many healthcare PMO's have Directors who have a very diverse background, come from various other domains and understand the value add in hiring skilled PMs from other sectors but this is just a very small percentage, many still prefer PMs with healthcare domain experience.

Some still stick to the old argument that only engineers or those with engineering backgrounds can work on engineering projects or only doctors and nurses can work on healthcare projects which to some degree is true but there in itself lies the "beauty" of project management and today’s world of versatility and the ability adapt to changes.

Project Management is the art of successfully managing projects, the concept and principles is the same across the board regardless of domain. Yes, it can be "tweaked" to suit the different domain needs but even then it must adhere to the PMI concept and standard.

In my illustration about the engineer & doctor, the difference between them and a Project Manager is that while these are professions that focus solely on a particular domain, a top notch PM is more versatile, meaning that the skill set of a PM will enable him / her to get onboard, quickly learn the environment and successfully manage projects in either a healthcare, engineering or any other domain.

All that is required of a skilled PM is to understand the "domain framework" the organizational structure and the type of projects being executed by the company.

In today's world, 95% of all companies in nearly every domain, implements I.T projects, of which the process of managing them and the methodologies used is the same across the board. I.T. projects are either: New implementation, major enhancement, build or buy, desktop rollouts etc. and the methodologies used in execution remains the same, either it's the traditional PMI methodology, SDLC, waterfall, ASAP or Agile.

I make a case that a skilled PM well vast in managing I.T projects or projects in general can indeed be successful in the healthcare domain, all that is required is an “overview” of Healthcare domain structure, EMR / EHR applications & modules, and an opportunity to work in that environment.

So to borrow a line from a Beatle song “all we are saying, is give PMs a chance”