IPMA Perspective Competence Element — Resourcefulness

In my last article on IPMA, I wrote about the fourth competence element in the People Area, Conflict & Crisis. In this article, I am writing on the next competence element of the People Area: Resourcefulness.

This competence element is to enable the individual to effectively handle uncertainty, problems, changes, limitations and stressful situations by systematically and continuously searching for new, better and more effective approaches and/or solutions.

What’s the definition of a project? It’s a temporary endeavour with a definite Start & End to develop a unique product, result or service. Thus, it is common to encounter a particular situation for the first time when we run a project or our business. When something happens, and we need to tackle it, we need to be resourceful in handling such situations.

Being resourceful does not limit us to finding a solution ourselves but also knowing who could help resolve it. It is thus beneficial for a Project Manager to learn and engage broadly instead of getting oneself deep into a specific area. The solution might not be direct, and it might require expertise from a different field or seeing it from a different perspective to solve that.

A situation might not solely means a problematic challenge in how we run a create a solution. It might also mean reaching someone who might hold an essential aspect of solving the current situation. There’s a well-known study that we can get connected to anyone in six or fewer connections. So knowing how to get connected to someone can also be the key to resolving our problems.

At times, we should not be too fixated on solving the problem now. Instead, take a break and let our brain do the sorting out itself. We might have already acquired some prior information that we can’t access if we focus on something. Let the brain run wild, concentrate on other aspects, and your internal resourcefulness might just give you the answer.

Execution of this CE depends on the other CEs and cannot happen in a silo. The other CEs include Design, Goals, Objectives & Benefits, Risk & Opportunity and others.

Thank you for reading, and I hope it gives you a glimpse into this Resourcefulness CE. In my next article, I will write on the “Negotiation” competence element.

If you are keen to know more about PMAS, you can check this link out https://pma.sg/ and follow my hashtag to learn more about the CE in IPMA Individual Competence Baseline (ICB) Version 4.0

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